Thorough investigation, analysis of opportunities and ensuring you keep to those all-important deadlines are all key steps to qualifying as a solicitor.

The following timetables for law degree and non-law degree students outline what you should be doing, and when.

Law students

Year 1

October to December
Get involved in any student societies or extracurricular activities, such as pro bono work.

December to January
Investigate the possibility of doing work experience with a firm of solicitors, maybe during the Easter or summer vacation. Some firms take up to 70% of their trainees from students who’ve carried out vacation placements with them.

Throughout the year
Prioritise your studies as you will need good grades, but take on positions of responsibility in other areas if you have any spare time.

Year 2

October to November
Attend presentations and research law firms.

December to January
Apply for vacation schemes.

January to March
Attend vacation scheme interviews.

April
Participate in Easter vacation work experience schemes - either in the legal field or any other relevant commercial environment.

June onwards
Apply for training contracts and start a summer internship. Before applying for training contracts, really think about what kind of firm you want to work for and what type of law you want to practise, then target your applications accordingly. Consider aspects such as size of the company, culture, location, etc.

Year 3

September to December
Apply for the Legal Practice Course (LPC).

July onwards
Training contract interviews are held.

July to October
Open days held for those with offers. 

Non-law students

Penultimate year

Throughout the year
Get involved in extracurricular activities. Try to volunteer for roles that involve some responsibility, but also for those that you think will add something to your current set of skills or experience.

Spring and summer term
Investigate the possibility of gaining work experience over the summer. This could be work-shadowing at a firm of solicitors. If you can’t get any law-related experience at this stage, it’s not a disaster – any commercial or meaningful experience will add something to your CV.

Final year

October to December
Investigate different institutions and their legal conversion courses, known as the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).

Apply for summer internships. Some deadlines fall very early (January for February).

January to March
Apply to the Central Applications Board after you have chosen where you want to study the CPE/GDL.

April to June
Register with the Law Society; you must be a student member to enrol onto the LPC. Also find out about funding possibilities, including conversion course scholarships.

Conversion course year

Throughout the year
Apply for the LPC. Deadlines are from January onwards.