TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2026-27

[lauramw36]

Real talk. Is there a specific reason why all law firms decided to either introduce A Levels grade requirements or increase their existing requirements? 🫪

One of the firms at a law fair the other say said firms are introducing/re-introducing requirements because they’ve seen a correlation between better grades and better performance at the SQE. Whether that’s true or not it feels like a massive step back

 

[applying8015]

Hi, I've got an upcoming assessment centre at a firm and they said there'll be a test with various hypothetical questions. Any tips on how I can best prepare? There is no further information given. Any advice would be greatly appreciated please, thank you.

 

[Kakaboo]

Also on the topic of DLA Piper, their discovery days felt like a real opportunity to actually network and then show something good on your applications. Does anyone know what the point of attending them will be this year if their recruiting this year is quite strict?

They told us the VI questions one year when I went!

 

[jojo23]

Has anybody heard from dla's discovery day?

 

[Jonjones]

Does anyone have any insights for the W+C VI?

 

[QuillandCounsel]

They told us the VI questions one year when I went!

Wow, I went last year and it was useful for the application questions

 

[supernovna]

Anyone else try accessing their old application for W&C on allhires and it shows that an error has occurred?

 

[Garak]

@Abbie Whitlock Hi Abbie! Thanks so much for your support - I have obtained a TC offer finally! It's with the GLD!

It commences 2028. I just wanted to ask if there's anything you think I should do before I begin? Any books/material worth reading?

Context: I graduated a long while ago. I did the LPC. I work in a commercial law firm but mainly businss support while doing pro bono on the side.

Though I do feel like i've forgotten most of what I studied... not sure if that's a problem.

 

[Peter Hsu]

Does anyone know the format of HLC stage 2? Is it just SJT + critical thinking qs?

 

[amitonalfo]

hi - anyone have any insight into JD interview? can exchange for HLC, Macs, Latham (all stages last year) and Sidley

 

[Cristiano Ronaldo sui]

Guys what are the advantages of LW open day? trying to weigh the pros and cons of an Open day application.

 

[Jaysen]

Real talk. Is there a specific reason why all law firms decided to either introduce A Levels grade requirements or increase their existing requirements? 🫪

Most law firms I spoke to received a huge increase of applications in the last year or so. It wasn’t uncommon to speak to firms that went from 1,000 vacation scheme applications to almost 4,000. And then AI meant law firms decreased the average standard of an application and made it hard to determine what is ‘good’ or what is an applicant’s own writing.

This makes it hard to filter applicants, especially if a firm has a small team, so they need a way to do this effectively. I think the increasing grade requirements is one element of this because there aren’t many other mechanisms for doing this at scale at an early stage. The other one is online tests, which as you’ve seen, so many firms are now doing.

I think there’s also an element of firms being more transparent about what they actually care about. When some firms start setting higher grade standards, it opens the doors for others to do the same.

I’m sure there are other reasons too e.g. pressure from higher ups to better filter applicants etc.