The Student Room Group

im so lost

so im doing law at uni. im 19. done first year exams last week. so what exactly is the route to becoming a lawyer. i always get confused between LPC, training contract. like you can have a training contract after doing lpc? anyways can some give me a detail guideline, how to become a lawyer with full time studies, with also explaining wether a masters is important. and lastly how do I know which area I want to specliase in. like I still don't know if its criminal law, etc for example I get work experience in a firm, get my degree, and lpc. but then how do I know which area I wanna go, and if its corporate law, how do I know everything about that law? because my 3 years of uni wont be enough Im guessing. thanks in advance
1. This summer and next Autumn apply for vacation scheme placements (which are paid) at good law firms in London etc. This will give you a chance to see what those firms are like and what type of work you like. You can start looking at law firm websites now and work on possible applications.
2. I believe as you have just finished year 1 you are under the SQE system for solicitors not LPC but check the transitional rules carefully.
3. Apply for training contracts at firms ideally who will pay for your SQE courses and exams (there is no need to do a masters although people without funding for the SQE sometimes do the SQE course WITH a masters which is only because they want the student finance post grad loan so it is not a normal sort of masters - just a funding kind of one). Look now at law firm websites to see when they take applications for paid 2 year training contracts from students they sponsor through the SQE. I cannot remember if you apply for TCs in year 2 or year 3 is you are doing an LLB. The main piont to note is firms recruit years ahead so you need to get going on this and treat it as a second job whilst doing your LLB. I got my TC during term 2 of year 3 of my LLB after loads of interviews and applications from summer before starting year 3.
4. Pick modules other than compulsory ones relevant to what you might lie eg if you do not really care about earning much money you might do criminal law. If youw ant to buy a house and have a nice life you might go for business/commercial law which was my options in year 3 of my degree deliberately.
Reply 2
Original post by 17Student17
1. This summer and next Autumn apply for vacation scheme placements (which are paid) at good law firms in London etc. This will give you a chance to see what those firms are like and what type of work you like. You can start looking at law firm websites now and work on possible applications.
2. I believe as you have just finished year 1 you are under the SQE system for solicitors not LPC but check the transitional rules carefully.
3. Apply for training contracts at firms ideally who will pay for your SQE courses and exams (there is no need to do a masters although people without funding for the SQE sometimes do the SQE course WITH a masters which is only because they want the student finance post grad loan so it is not a normal sort of masters - just a funding kind of one). Look now at law firm websites to see when they take applications for paid 2 year training contracts from students they sponsor through the SQE. I cannot remember if you apply for TCs in year 2 or year 3 is you are doing an LLB. The main piont to note is firms recruit years ahead so you need to get going on this and treat it as a second job whilst doing your LLB. I got my TC during term 2 of year 3 of my LLB after loads of interviews and applications from summer before starting year 3.
4. Pick modules other than compulsory ones relevant to what you might lie eg if you do not really care about earning much money you might do criminal law. If youw ant to buy a house and have a nice life you might go for business/commercial law which was my options in year 3 of my degree deliberately.


Thank youu so much. It’s much more clear now. But I still have few questions, if you don’t mind answering. Firstly I don’t live in London, I go to Liverpool uni. But i live in Manchester. Secondly idk how I’m gonna get a interview if I don’t have any legal experience. I have a lottt of non legal work experience tho. So I feel like I don’t have anything on my cv. Secondly, I myself was looking to go in corporate or commercial law BUT ofc criminal law is the most interning naturally. And lastly wdym under SQE system? You trying to say that they are getting rid of LPC? also did you do masters? And also how do you apply in firms if I’m not in London? Like is there a special website which helps you, build cv , prepare for interviews . What was your method to apply to firms?? And does your TC contract start after year 3. Like as you said you got yours during year 3. However at that time it would be considered ad work placement right?? And after finishing year 3, they gave you the training contract to fund your LPC. Sorry for asking too many questions. Thank you
Happy to try to answer....
- . Firstly I don’t live in London, I go to Liverpool uni. But i live in Manchester.
I was at Manchester University and during my LLB there had lots of interviews at London law firms. The firms recruit from all over.

- Secondly idk how I’m gonna get a interview if I don’t have any legal experience. I have a lottt of non legal work experience tho. So I feel like I don’t have anything on my cv.
Positions of responsibility at the university societies, taking part in moots, going to courts, volunteering in university law centres if there is one might help. Obviously what helps most of all is very good exam grades. Law firms often want grades in every module in every year of the degree on their application forms. Practise Watson Glaser tests which a lot of the firms have people do to see if they are good enough for assessment stage. Treat the application process as a second job whilst at university.

- Secondly, I myself was looking to go in corporate or commercial law BUT ofc criminal law is the most interning naturally.
Not sure what you mean. Vacation schemes in corporate firms will not involve criminal law. Commercial law is much more interesting than criminal.

- And lastly wdym under SQE system? You trying to say that they are getting rid of LPC?
Yes, look on the Law Society and SRA websites. If you want to be a solicitor you will not be doing the LPC as I believe your year is one of the first which MUST do the SQE exams rather than LPC - you will have no choice if being a solicitor.

- also did you do masters?
No. A masters is of no help at all to careers as a solicitor. Some people add on a small masters element to their SQE year to get a post grad student loan to cover some of the costs but that is not really a true masters in the normal sense and the loan just covers the fees not the SQE exams themselves which cost £4k. If you find a training contract that sponsors post grad the firm will pay for your SQE courses and exams but obviously those are like gold dust with intense competition for them.

- And also how do you apply in firms if I’m not in London? Like is there a special website which helps you, build cv , prepare for interviews .
Just hours and hours of research. Websites like corporatelaw academy and and lawcareers.net can be useful. It is perfectly easy to apply to firms if not in London. Basically you put in all the work whether you are in London or not. If you get through the minimum exam grade state, psych test if any and any online application /interview and are called to an assessment day in London then the firms usually pay your train fares. A lot of trainees are recruited from vacation schemes which last about a week and for which you are paid so definitely apply to a lot of those too.

- What was your method to apply to firms??
If there were an easy answer it would be a different world. I just spent the time, put in the hours, applied and applied and applied on and on and on. I had pretty good exam grades which would have helped. The way to apply is on all the big law firms' websites so just look at what it says there.

- And does your TC contract start after year 3. Like as you said you got yours during year 3.
No. You apply about 2 years ahead and before starting the 2 years TC you take the SQE1 ad 2 courses and exams and bigger firms tend to have additional parts to the course to cover their kind of work eg private acquisitions. Once you have passed SQE1 and 2 then you start your 2 years of training and being paid by the firm.

- However at that time it would be considered ad work placement right??
No, nothing to do with work placements. The law firm chooses those people they want about 2 years ahead, they pay for them to go on the SQE courses and if they pass they the start immediately after on the TC for 2 years.

Some smaller firms do things differently eg paralegal work whilst you do SQE part time and all kinds of different things.
Plenty of people even in bigger firms do not get round to applying until they graduate and might work for a year or 2 as a paralegal before or after the SQE courses.

- And after finishing year 3, they gave you the training contract to fund your LPC.
During year 3 of my degree I got the written offer of the training contract to start the September after the one year post grad course which for me was the Finals, for my lawyer children was the LPC and for you will be SQE - three different courses over the years replacing each other BUT basically the same system - finish LLB, do post grad year, pass exams then 2 years of a training contract, then qualified.
Reply 4
Original post by 17Student17
Happy to try to answer....
- . Firstly I don’t live in London, I go to Liverpool uni. But i live in Manchester.
I was at Manchester University and during my LLB there had lots of interviews at London law firms. The firms recruit from all over.

- Secondly idk how I’m gonna get a interview if I don’t have any legal experience. I have a lottt of non legal work experience tho. So I feel like I don’t have anything on my cv.
Positions of responsibility at the university societies, taking part in moots, going to courts, volunteering in university law centres if there is one might help. Obviously what helps most of all is very good exam grades. Law firms often want grades in every module in every year of the degree on their application forms. Practise Watson Glaser tests which a lot of the firms have people do to see if they are good enough for assessment stage. Treat the application process as a second job whilst at university.

- Secondly, I myself was looking to go in corporate or commercial law BUT ofc criminal law is the most interning naturally.
Not sure what you mean. Vacation schemes in corporate firms will not involve criminal law. Commercial law is much more interesting than criminal.

- And lastly wdym under SQE system? You trying to say that they are getting rid of LPC?
Yes, look on the Law Society and SRA websites. If you want to be a solicitor you will not be doing the LPC as I believe your year is one of the first which MUST do the SQE exams rather than LPC - you will have no choice if being a solicitor.

- also did you do masters?
No. A masters is of no help at all to careers as a solicitor. Some people add on a small masters element to their SQE year to get a post grad student loan to cover some of the costs but that is not really a true masters in the normal sense and the loan just covers the fees not the SQE exams themselves which cost £4k. If you find a training contract that sponsors post grad the firm will pay for your SQE courses and exams but obviously those are like gold dust with intense competition for them.

- And also how do you apply in firms if I’m not in London? Like is there a special website which helps you, build cv , prepare for interviews .
Just hours and hours of research. Websites like corporatelaw academy and and lawcareers.net can be useful. It is perfectly easy to apply to firms if not in London. Basically you put in all the work whether you are in London or not. If you get through the minimum exam grade state, psych test if any and any online application /interview and are called to an assessment day in London then the firms usually pay your train fares. A lot of trainees are recruited from vacation schemes which last about a week and for which you are paid so definitely apply to a lot of those too.

- What was your method to apply to firms??
If there were an easy answer it would be a different world. I just spent the time, put in the hours, applied and applied and applied on and on and on. I had pretty good exam grades which would have helped. The way to apply is on all the big law firms' websites so just look at what it says there.

- And does your TC contract start after year 3. Like as you said you got yours during year 3.
No. You apply about 2 years ahead and before starting the 2 years TC you take the SQE1 ad 2 courses and exams and bigger firms tend to have additional parts to the course to cover their kind of work eg private acquisitions. Once you have passed SQE1 and 2 then you start your 2 years of training and being paid by the firm.

- However at that time it would be considered ad work placement right??
No, nothing to do with work placements. The law firm chooses those people they want about 2 years ahead, they pay for them to go on the SQE courses and if they pass they the start immediately after on the TC for 2 years.

Some smaller firms do things differently eg paralegal work whilst you do SQE part time and all kinds of different things.
Plenty of people even in bigger firms do not get round to applying until they graduate and might work for a year or 2 as a paralegal before or after the SQE courses.

- And after finishing year 3, they gave you the training contract to fund your LPC.
During year 3 of my degree I got the written offer of the training contract to start the September after the one year post grad course which for me was the Finals, for my lawyer children was the LPC and for you will be SQE - three different courses over the years replacing each other BUT basically the same system - finish LLB, do post grad year, pass exams then 2 years of a training contract, then qualified.


Thank you so much, like genuinely no one had answered my questions like that before on this forum, so appreciate it.

I know I keep asking more, but I got few more questions.
Firstly, I see that you did law at uni or Manchester which is ofc considered very prestigious university. I’m doing at uni of Liverpool which is a Russel group uni too but it might be not the most popular for law. So I was thinking maybe if I do masters at uni of Manchester and my CV might boost? Or is uni of Liverpool enough to get attention of recruiters and ofc I know good grades really matter, but I’m guessing for big law firms there might be some bias towards Russel group unis. What you advice me on this? Cause I personally don’t wanna do masters but I keep seeing law students doing masters especially the one you mentioned which is like half masters technically.

Another thing is I just done first year and i don’t even know if my uni had moots etc, there is law society but that’s very expensive, and I just spend my time doing a part time job with it. Other than that I haven’t seen much of events. Ofc I’ve been joining online law events and how to research firm etc. maybe in second year it gets better,

And lastly good grades do matter however as the statistics show only about like 21 percent of people in whole UK get a first in law. Which is the lowest for all degrees. Any advice how to go about things in my degree?

And this is a bit personal question, but as you said your children are lawyers too. I just wanna know your experience, how long you been a lawyer, was it worth it, any advice during your career. The salary or should I move to London in my later part of career?

Thanks again.
Firstly, I see that you did law at uni or Manchester which is ofc considered very prestigious university. I’m doing at uni of Liverpool which is a Russel group uni too but it might be not the most popular for law.

No, a masters does not help. Just do lots of work experience, volunteering, holiday jobs and of course applications for vac schemes and TCs.

To qualify after your LLB you need to pass SQE1 and 2 (and have 2 years training). Most students need a post grad loan for SQE1 and 2 courses which is the reason the masters is added on as that is the only way to get the loan and therefore for them the only way to fund the course. From that point of view the masters is a financial necessity to get the loan finance (for those not sponsored by a law firm).


Another thing is I just done first year and i don’t even know if my uni had moots etc, there is law society but that’s very expensive, and I just spend my time doing a part time job with it. Other than that I haven’t seen much of events. Ofc I’ve been joining online law events and how to research firm etc. maybe in second year it gets better,

Just check. I did moots. It was very stressful and hard work but seemed to pay off. I did pay to join the law society. However I did not have a part time job in term time so probably had more free time. Some law firms even have first year schemes, kind of tasters for under graduates. You need to start looking into this kind of thing, there are virtual one day programmes with law firms and things like that. Make sure you have a very good linkedin profile too and add those things in and any associations or clubs particularly if you have a leadership role in them at university.

And lastly good grades do matter however as the statistics show only about like 21 percent of people in whole UK get a first in law. Which is the lowest for all degrees. Any advice how to go about things in my degree?

Just do your best. You don't need a first but for many firms you will need a 2/1.

And this is a bit personal question, but as you said your children are lawyers too. I just wanna know your experience, how long you been a lawyer, was it worth it, any advice during your career. The salary or should I move to London in my later part of career?

I am quite old as children are grown up but yes I enjoy my legal career, been a lawyer my whole life since I qualified. it is good fun. It is harder to move to London later than start there so if you can get a training contract there so much the better. See if you are eligible for any contextual programmes you could join or anything like that. Liverpool has some good law firms. I have even been up there to give some law talks to solicitors who are members of the Liverpool Law Society a long time ago. You can have a good career there too. I picked London because the biggest firms are there with the highest pay, but had I stayed in the NE where I am from I am sure I would also had a good career there too.

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