Training Contract - 2026 - White & Black Ltd

Application closing date: 6 January 2025

Join as a trainee and become a solicitor with our SQE Training Contract route to full qualification. Our SQE Training Contract gives you a straightforward route to full qualification and the chance to become a solicitor at White & Black.

We are now accepting applications for our 2026 SQE Training Contract. Applications will close on 6th January 2025. Please read the Application Process information carefully.

What you get

• Starting salary of £26k rising to £28k after SQE1 and £30k after SQE2*
• Immediate training positions for exceptional candidates = qualify quicker
• Fast track your legal career at a Chambers top tier ranked firm*
• Flexible application/start dates with entry from any degree (not just law)
• City quality work in Oxford alongside specialist leading lawyers**
• Financial support for your SQE exams***up to £4k and paid study leave
• Funding for professional qualifications and memberships
• Pro-Bono opportunities
• Seats across our practice areas, bespoke to fit your interests
• Direct mentoring with senior partners and client contact from the start

What we need from you

• Demonstrate a strong intellect & have excellent written and communication skills
• Working towards 2:1 + in any degree discipline (unless mitigating circumstances apply)
• Show an ability to act innovatively, think independently and work collaboratively
• Have commercial savvy – to be ambitious and self-motivated
• Want to become part of a team that is centred on excellence & collaboration
• Desire to become a complete specialist not a ‘jack-of-all-trades’
• An appetite to become a leading expert in Corporate, technology or IP
• Have a broad range of life experience or interests

The White & Black SQE training contract enables candidates from any undergraduate discipline to work and earn immediately after university. You can gain qualifying legal work experience with us while sitting the SQE1 and SQE2 exams to qualify as a solicitor. The introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) offers us a unique opportunity to craft a training contract experience that is fast, thorough and fair.

We encourage applications from both law and non-law students. We offer two years of qualifying work experience (QWE) which start once you pass your SQE 1. You can take the fast-track route to studying SQE1/2, work part-time or study full-time as suits you.

We believe that the best way to learn is through involvement in the business from the start – you can complete the SQE 1 while working at W&B as a paralegal and begin your QWE after your SQE 1.

Our training is designed to rapidly accelerate your legal career, putting you on the path to becoming a specialist from day one. That’s why in most cases, we require Trainees to carry out two years of Qualifying Work Experience at White & Black.

Our routes to qualification

Track 1
Complete your SQE 1 & 2 while working with us and begin your period of QWE after passing your SQE 1.

Track 2
Join us after completing your SQE 1 and begin your period of QWE while studying for your SQE 2.

Track 3
Complete your SQE 1 & 2 before you start your two-year full-time period of QWE with us.

To find out more and how to apply, click Apply.