For guidance on securing a training contract, see our training contracts hub

What is a training contract?

A training contract is a two-year period of supervised legal training that must be completed before qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales.

During a training contract, trainee solicitors work within a law firm across different practice areas, gaining practical experience under the supervision of qualified lawyers. It is the final stage of qualification before admission as a solicitor, following academic study and the SQE or equivalent route.

Training contracts are offered by law firms of all sizes, but they are particularly competitive at commercial and international firms.

What do trainee solicitors do?

Trainees rotate through different departments, known as seats, to gain exposure to a range of legal work. Most firms structure the training contract as:

• Four six-month seats, or

• Eight three-month seats (at some firms)

Common seat areas include corporate, finance, litigation, real estate, employment, regulatory, and specialist practices.

Day-to-day work may involve:

• Legal research

• Drafting documents and correspondence

• Assisting on transactions or disputes

• Attending client meetings and calls

• Liaising with colleagues across teams

The aim is to develop practical skills, judgment, and professional competence.

How is a training contract structured?

Although structures vary between firms, most training contracts include:

• Seat rotations to build breadth of experience

• Supervision by senior lawyers in each department

• Formal training sessions covering legal and professional skills

• Performance reviews at the end of each seat

Many firms also offer secondments, which may include:

• Client secondments (working in-house)

• International secondments (working in overseas offices)

These opportunities allow trainees to develop commercial awareness and understand how legal advice is used in practice.

How do you get a training contract?

For most commercial law firms, the primary route to a training contract is through a vacation scheme.

A significant proportion of training contract offers are made to candidates who have completed a vacation scheme at the firm. In many cases, firms recruit almost exclusively from their schemes, using them as extended assessments.

Candidates who perform well on a vacation scheme are often invited to interview for a training contract either during or shortly after the scheme.

While some firms accept direct training contract applications, these are typically more competitive and still involve assessment stages similar to those used for vacation scheme candidates.