Solicitor Apprenticeship (school leaver) - August 2025 - DWF

Deadline: 23 December 2024

Our legal apprenticeship is a great opportunity for A-level students looking to start their career within the legal sector, without the cost or time associated with university. It's also great for people without a law degree looking for a new career in the legal sector.

An alternative to university

We understand that university is not for everyone and appreciate that practical work experience, alongside studying, works better for some individuals.  DWF offer exciting apprenticeship opportunities for those looking to start their career as a Solicitor Apprentice.

You will gain valuable legal experience at a global legal business, working towards an LLB (Hons) Law and Legal Practice, complete the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, and receive a competitive salary at the same time.

We recruit once a year for our Solicitor Apprenticeship, and in order to be considered, you must be available to start employment in September 2025. 

Law graduates are not eligible to apply for a Solicitor Apprenticeship.

ll applicants must have proof of their right to work in the UK.

Application

The first step to securing a solicitor apprenticeship is to complete an online application. During your application, you will be asked details of your academics, work experience and you will also be asked to complete a personal statement which outlines your motivation for a solicitor apprenticeship. From this we are trying to ascertain what skills you have which would be relevant for a solicitor apprenticeship. 

Tip - We don't expect applicants to have legal work experience so please don't worry if you haven't gained any yet, but part time work experience or work in other industries can allow you to develop lots of transferrable skills. 

Interview

If your application meets our criteria, you will be offered the chance to complete a video interview. The video interview will take around 15 minutes to complete and will include a mixture of strengths based and competency based interview questions. 

Tip - A strengths based question tends to be more forward thinking, asking you to consider the role of a solicitor apprentice and reflect on what skills you have which would allow you to thrive in this role. A competency based interview would ask you to provide examples of previous experience to demonstrate a skill. 

Assessment Centre

Our third and final step would be to invite you to attend an assessment centre in one of our offices. Our assessment centres comprise of three exercises; a strengths based interview, group exercise and a written task. You will also attend an informal networking session to give you the opportunity to find out more about the role. 

Tip - We'd like to find out more about your motivation for a solicitor apprenticeship and your understanding of the role, so make sure that you can demonstrate your understanding throughout each exercise. 

Offer

If you pass the assessment centre stage, you will be offered a solicitor apprenticeship.

Once offered, we will keep in touch with you to make sure that you achieve the required grades, we'll share relevant updates and we'll invite you to attend social events with your peers before you start. 

For more information, click Apply.