Obtaining Training Contracts

The Law Society is currently examining a number of different initiatives to help manage entry into the legal profession because of concerns that too many students complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC) without then being able to find a training contract. The LPC is a one year mandatory course for students after completing their legal degrees or conversion courses, and can cost up to £12,000.

Amongst the initiatives being considered are incentives for firms to offer training contracts, and the idea of setting an aptitude test.

The Bar Standards Board is currently piloting an aptitude test to assess analytical and critical reasoning as well as fluency in the English language, with the aim of it being introduced for students starting in 2012. If the Solicitors Regulation Authority were to implement such a test it would have to be careful that it not prove a barrier to entry, given the Office of Fair Trading’s opposition to the Bar’s plans, on the grounds that a compulsory test would be overly restrictive and anti-competitive.

At the moment there is a large imbalance between the number of LPC places being offered (an estimated 10,000) and the number of training contracts available each year (5,000/6,000).

However there are a number of questions that have already been raised about aptitude tests:

• Who would set the questions?
• Different areas of law may require different aptitudes
• Who would enforce it?
• Who would pay for it?

The Junior Lawyers Division have suggested the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority have more control over law schools and the number of places they offer. They want them to provide more information at an earlier stage, so that students can make an informed decision whether or not to go on the LPC, taking into account:

• how difficult it is to get a training contract,
• how difficult it is to be offered a job after it finishes,
• the modest wages many people on.

The main concern is that students aren’t currently able to make an informed choice, and that some law schools maybe be painting an unrealistic picture of the availability of jobs.

Oliver Kew

Published on 01/11/2010