If you are planning a career as a solicitor, our Training Contracts hub brings together everything you need to know about securing and completing a training contract at a commercial law firm.

A training contract is the final stage of qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales. It is the two-year period of supervised practical legal work that, alongside passing the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, qualifies you to practise as a solicitor. Everything that comes before it, the degree, the conversion course if applicable, the SQE preparation, the vacation schemes, the applications, is preparation for this stage. The training contract is where academic legal knowledge becomes professional legal skill.

This guide covers what a training contract actually involves, what trainees do on a day-to-day basis, how the qualification process works, what firms pay trainees, how competitive the market is, and how to approach the process strategically.

What a training contract involves

A training contract at a commercial law firm typically lasts two years and is divided into seats: six-month rotations through different practice areas within the firm. Most firms offer four seats, though some firms structure theirs differently. Freshfields, for example, runs eight seats of three months each. Jones Day operates a non-rotational model where trainees build experience across departments without a fixed seat structure.

During each seat, trainees work within a specific practice group under the supervision of a partner or senior associate. The work is real: trainees contribute to live matters from the outset, under supervision that becomes progressively lighter as their capability develops. The seat rotation structure is designed to give trainees exposure to different areas of law before they choose a qualification seat at the end of the training contract, which determines the practice area they qualify into as a newly qualified solicitor.

Most firms also offer the opportunity for a client or international secondment during the training contract, typically in the third or fourth seat. Client secondments place trainees in the legal team of a major client, giving them in-house experience. International secondments place trainees in one of the firm's overseas offices. Both are competitive within the trainee cohort and depend on the firm's relationships and the trainee's performance.

What trainees actually do

The day-to-day work of a trainee varies significantly between practice areas and between firms, but there are common threads across most commercial training contracts.

In transactional seats (corporate, finance, real estate), trainees spend significant time on due diligence, reviewing documents, updating transaction management lists, drafting ancillary documents, and managing completion logistics. The pace is driven by deal deadlines, which means some periods are genuinely intense and others are quieter. As trainees develop, they take on more responsibility, running smaller matters under supervision and contributing substantively to larger ones.

In contentious seats (dispute resolution, litigation, arbitration), trainees work on research tasks, disclosure reviews, drafting witness statements, assisting with trial or hearing preparation, and attending court or tribunal proceedings. The work is intellectually demanding and often requires sustained engagement with complex documents and competing arguments.

In advisory seats (employment, competition, regulatory), trainees research legal issues, draft opinions and advice notes, and assist with client communications. These seats often involve more direct client contact at an earlier stage than transactional work.

Across all seat types, trainees are expected to develop a set of core professional skills: managing their own workload, communicating clearly with colleagues and clients, producing accurate work to deadline, asking for guidance when it is needed, and building the commercial judgment that distinguishes a good lawyer from a technically competent one.

The seat rotation and qualification process

Trainees typically discuss their seat preferences with the graduate recruitment team before each rotation. The allocation process varies between firms: some operate a formal preference and matching system, others are more discretionary. Popular seats, particularly in practices where there are fewer qualification opportunities, can be competitive within the trainee cohort.

Qualification takes place at the end of the training contract. Trainees apply to qualify into a specific practice area, and the availability of newly qualified positions in each team determines how many trainees can qualify there. At most large commercial firms, the qualification retention rate is reasonably high, but it is not guaranteed. Understanding the qualification dynamics at a firm before you accept a training contract offer is worth doing: some firms hire significantly more trainees than they intend to retain, and knowing this in advance is useful information.

For a full explanation of how the SQE fits into the qualification process alongside the training contract, see our SQE guide.

Training contract salaries

Trainee salaries vary significantly across the market. At US firms in London, first-year trainees typically earn £60,000 to £70,000 and newly qualified solicitors earn £174,000 to £180,000. At Magic Circle firms, trainees earn £56,000 to £61,000 and newly qualified solicitors earn £150,000. At Silver Circle and large international firms, trainee salaries typically range from £45,000 to £62,000. At regional and national firms, trainee salaries range from around £28,000 to £50,000 depending on location and firm size.

Most firms that fund SQE preparation for trainees also provide a maintenance grant during the study period before the training contract begins. Magic Circle firms currently offer maintenance grants of around £15,000 to £20,000 per year.

For a full breakdown of salaries at every tier of the market from trainee through to partner, see our law firm salaries guide.

How training contracts connect to vacation schemes

At most large commercial firms, a vacation scheme is the primary route to a training contract offer. Firms use vacation schemes to assess candidates in a realistic working environment over one or two weeks before deciding whether to make a training contract offer, and the majority of training contract places at Magic Circle and Silver Circle firms are filled through the vacation scheme route.

This is why firms run vacation schemes at all. Interviews and application forms give firms limited information about how a candidate will actually perform in a working environment. A vacation scheme gives them direct evidence of how the candidate communicates, approaches tasks, responds to feedback, interacts with colleagues, and presents themselves in a professional context. For candidates, a vacation scheme provides the same information from the other direction: insight into the firm's culture, work, and expectations before committing to a two-year training contract.

The implication is that the training contract application process and the vacation scheme application process are not separate things. For most candidates targeting large commercial firms, securing a vacation scheme is the first objective, because the training contract offer typically follows from a successful scheme rather than from a direct application.

For guidance on vacation scheme applications, see our vacation scheme guide.

Why do firms recruit through vacation schemes?

Vacation schemes allow firms to assess candidates in a realistic working environment rather than relying solely on interviews. They enable firms to evaluate how candidates communicate in professional settings, how they approach tasks and feedback, how they interact with colleagues and clients, and whether they demonstrate genuine motivation and commercial awareness. For candidates, vacation schemes provide insight into the firm's culture, work, and expectations before committing to a long-term role.

How competitive are training contracts?

Training contracts are highly competitive, particularly at large commercial firms. Many firms receive thousands of applications for a limited number of places each year. Rejection is common even for strong candidates, and often reflects the volume of competition rather than a fundamental lack of ability or suitability.

The application process at most large firms involves multiple stages: an initial application form, online assessments (typically including the Watson Glaser critical thinking test), a video interview, and an assessment centre including interviews, group exercises, written exercises, and case studies. For a guide to the Watson Glaser specifically, see our Watson Glaser guide. For the assessment centre, see our guides on group exercises, case studies, and presentations.

Successful candidates typically demonstrate clear and specific motivation for the firm and role, strong written and verbal communication, evidence of transferable skills from legal and non-legal experience, and a genuine understanding of the firm's clients and work. Consistency across multiple applications, honest reflection on unsuccessful ones, and strategic preparation tend to matter more than a single perfect application.

Is a training contract the only route to qualification?

No. While the training contract is the most common route at commercial firms, alternative routes exist.

The Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship allows candidates to qualify as solicitors while working at a law firm, without going to university first. The apprenticeship is funded through the employer and takes approximately six years from start to qualification. For a full comparison of the apprenticeship and university routes, see our apprenticeships vs university guide.

Qualifying work experience under the SQE framework is broader than the traditional training contract: it can be accumulated across up to four different legal organisations and includes paralegal roles, in-house legal positions, and pro bono work, provided a solicitor signs off on the experience. However, for candidates aiming to qualify at large commercial firms, securing a traditional training contract remains the most established and reliable route.

What happens after qualification

On qualification, a trainee becomes a newly qualified (NQ) solicitor and joins the firm's associate pool in their chosen practice area. The first year post-qualification is a significant transition: from a structured rotation with explicit supervision to independent responsibility for matters, with a higher billing expectation and more direct client contact.

Most NQ solicitors remain at the firm where they trained for at least their first one to two years post-qualification, building expertise in their chosen practice area. From there, careers can develop in several directions: progression through the associate ranks toward senior associate and eventually partnership, a move in-house to a client organisation, a lateral move to a different firm, or a transition into a different area of law or career altogether.

The training contract is the foundation for all of these paths. The practice areas you experience, the relationships you build, and the professional habits you develop during your two years as a trainee shape everything that follows.

For a complete timeline showing how the training contract fits into the full qualification journey, see our guide to how long it takes to become a solicitor.

Ready to start the process?

The Future Trainee Academy covers the full training contract and vacation scheme application process, from written applications and online assessments through to assessment centres and interviews. It is taught by a recruiter who has interviewed over 10,000 candidates and includes insight from future trainees at leading firms who have been through the process recently. Free to access.

For a bank of 80+ real interview questions used by leading law firms across every category, see the Interview Question Bank.