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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

Does anyone have advice on how to navigate requesting time off from work to complete a vacation scheme? I don’t work in a legal role so it’s not something that’s commonly done
Take your annual leave. I’d recommend against telling them you have a vac scheme, it’s against the terms of some employment contracts to undertake work whilst employed elsewhere and they may not let you do the scheme.
 
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Hi @Abbie Whitlock I have a question about Stephenson Harwood's application. In Q3, it says "In up to 350 words, please outline a challenge that you think Stephenson Harwood will face over the next five years. You should draw on your current awareness and your commercial awareness to answer this question." In my answer, I first outlined the challenge the firm will face, and then stated how the firm is well positioned to face the challenge with its expertise. May I know if the structure is fine? Thank you
 
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Anyone emailed CRS about when we’re going to hear back?
Am leaving it alone bc I would think it won’t be til end of this week-ish depending on how long they gave ppl who got offers end of last week to accept them—what do I know, but I would think they’d want to see if they could give any more offers without having to tell people they got it late bc they were reserve
 
Hey not vac scheme related, but does anyone have any tips for revising for law? I have closed book exams for my modules and i’m really struggling with the volume of things that I would need to memorise.
Hey!

In general, what I found most helpful when revising (both in my undergrad, and for SQE1) was to make sure that I actually understood the concept and didn't just remember the wording of it. By approaching it that way, even if they tested a slightly different variation of the topic, I could usually figure out how the law would still be applied (rather than panicking!). I also found it helpful to condense my notes into shorter summaries or mind maps so that I could see the structure of a specific topic, and visualise how the cases and principles worked together. As I understood the concept, rather than memorising the wording of the textbook, this meant that I had to go over it less - even if the initial step of ensuring I understood it took slightly longer!

For closed book exams, active recall really helped me for the memorisation side of things too (+ it is what I'm currently using for SQE2). For example, I use Quizlet a lot to test myself on key principles and cases, and they have a great Learn feature that I thought was a great way to switch up the way I was learning (alongside the flashcards). Additionally, one of the best ways to remember topics is to teach it to a friend or course mate, as explaining it out loud usually makes it very clear what you actually understand and what you still need to go over. Over time, this made the volume feel a lot more manageable as I could focus on the areas that I knew I was weaker in.

Wishing you the best of luck with your exams - I'm sure you'll smash it!! :)
 
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