Confused about TC deadlines and conversion options for non-law students

[a2931]

Hi everyone!

I've been looking at TC deadlines recently and there seems to be a big divergence, with added confusion based on the change from the GDL to SQE, which not all firms have clarified their policies on.

I'm a non-law student who will graduate in summer 2024 - as I understand, the final year is the time to apply for TCs, assuming you've already had a vac scheme. But it seems a lot of the deadlines are built around penultimate year non-law students applying, rather than final ones.

It seems different firms recruit at very different times (and this might be related to what courses they want you to do before starting your TC) - so, for example:

• Slaughter and May's 2025 TCs have closed already,
• White & Case's are open from September 2022-July 2023 for their 2025/6 intake.
• Clifford Chance's 2025-6 TCs seem to have closed for applications somewhere around Jan/Feb

Does it just vary substantially from firm to firm both when their TC app deadlines are (whilst it seems vac scheme deadlines were more clustered), and also how long the preparation/education period before you actually start your TC is?

• White & Case, for example, seems to suggest on their site that it will only take 11 months of study with a partnered course before you actually start your TC there.
• Clifford Chance, on the other hand, says you will first do a PGDL, then do an SQE prep course and their exam. I assume this would take longer than 11 months.

So, in terms of figuring out when to apply for TCs, does it just differ between firms as to how long they want you to study before you start training with them? Do you have to look at the different preparation programs they've come up with to understand which year you should be applying to start the TC in?
Consequently, it seems a lot of TC opportunities have already ended - would the second half of 2023 be better spent, then, with me applying for more vac schemes and trying to get recruited from there instead?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Izzy1026]

Hi everyone!

I've been looking at TC deadlines recently and there seems to be a big divergence, with added confusion based on the change from the GDL to SQE, which not all firms have clarified their policies on.

I'm a non-law student who will graduate in summer 2024 - as I understand, the final year is the time to apply for TCs, assuming you've already had a vac scheme. But it seems a lot of the deadlines are built around penultimate year non-law students applying, rather than final ones.

It seems different firms recruit at very different times (and this might be related to what courses they want you to do before starting your TC) - so, for example:

• Slaughter and May's 2025 TCs have closed already,
• White & Case's are open from September 2022-July 2023 for their 2025/6 intake.
• Clifford Chance's 2025-6 TCs seem to have closed for applications somewhere around Jan/Feb

Does it just vary substantially from firm to firm both when their TC app deadlines are (whilst it seems vac scheme deadlines were more clustered), and also how long the preparation/education period before you actually start your TC is?

• White & Case, for example, seems to suggest on their site that it will only take 11 months of study with a partnered course before you actually start your TC there.
• Clifford Chance, on the other hand, says you will first do a PGDL, then do an SQE prep course and their exam. I assume this would take longer than 11 months.

So, in terms of figuring out when to apply for TCs, does it just differ between firms as to how long they want you to study before you start training with them? Do you have to look at the different preparation programs they've come up with to understand which year you should be applying to start the TC in?
Consequently, it seems a lot of TC opportunities have already ended - would the second half of 2023 be better spent, then, with me applying for more vac schemes and trying to get recruited from there instead?

Thanks everyone!

Hi there, fellow non-law student here and I'm facing the exact same situation. I did not apply for Vac Schemes in my second-year because I was focused on getting my grades up and trying to explore opportunities in other industries like consulting. Also the firms I wanted did not take non-law penultimate year students for VS. Now as I am researching on law firm applications it seems that most TC requires/would benefit from having done a VS before so perhaps we should just focus on VS applications first I'm hoping to get a winter VS and hopefully secure a TC for 2026.