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Another path ....... and it goes on

244 replies

chopc · 13/05/2023 11:31

New thread

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chopc · 19/12/2025 19:37

@Jng1that’s amazing to hear! Always thought there is more than one way to skin a cat.
DD3 will do a BA in MT. That has been her passion since she was tiny…. Let’s see where life takes her

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chopc · 10/03/2026 12:05

How is everyone?
The stress hasn’t finished yet! We were relived to hear DS1 scraped through SQE1. DS2 still hadn’t secured an internship and the news of youth unemployment hasn’t filled me with hope. DD3 continued her BA
MT auditions…..

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Maggiethecat · 10/03/2026 16:05

chopc · 10/03/2026 12:05

How is everyone?
The stress hasn’t finished yet! We were relived to hear DS1 scraped through SQE1. DS2 still hadn’t secured an internship and the news of youth unemployment hasn’t filled me with hope. DD3 continued her BA
MT auditions…..

Well done to him @chopc!
Apparently SQE1 has a higher fail rate than SQE2; a junior that worked with me failed part one twice and was bricking it on the final attempt. She had a TC lined up and everything was riding on the last shot.

chopc · 10/03/2026 16:46

@MaggiethecatThank you!
ooh I didn’t know they are allowed 3 attempts! Some firms don’t allow any. DS1’s firm allow 1 fail but second attempt needed to be self funded.

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Maggiethecat · 10/03/2026 17:04

The SRA regulates the number of attempts - 3 in a six year period. If fail third attempt you have to wait until six year period ends before attempting again.
But firms will decide how many attempts to allow and I expect TC will be conditional in this respect.
SQE2 should be easier so good luck to your DS for that! 🍀

bendmeoverbackwards · 11/03/2026 01:22

Nice to hear from people! Dd is back on the law path after dithering for a while and considering publishing as an alternative career. She’s spent the last 6 months applying for training contracts/vacation schemes/open days but no success so far. She’s done various bits of work experience at different firms and they’ve been quite impressed with her.

Shes getting a bit disheartened. She’s away travelling at the moment which I’m pleased about as she was getting bogged down with applications. She says if she hasn’t had any luck by the summer she’ll start the conversion course anyway and we’ll lend her the money.

A few questions for those who know - she wants to go to the University of Law, is the application process particularly difficult? Is she more likely to get a TC once she’s further down the line? Would it be wise to consider smaller/non-London firms? She definitely doesn’t want magic circle but has been applying to medium sized firms.

chopc · 11/03/2026 05:40

Hiya @bendmeoverbackwards. Was it your DD1 who was doing MT?

DS1 was unsuccessful in his first attempt at a TC when he was in the third year and got one ar long last in his second attempt during his law conversion after many many rejections. He applied for a variety of firms.
He did his law conversion at BPP and is doing his SEQ at Univ of Law. Application is not difficult but there is a deadline.

I think he was successful the second time round as he was more dedicated to the process, and got better at the inital psychometric tests. I think he got to the last stages in 3 or 5- I cannot recall. His competitors were often paralegals with years of experience.

It’s very tough to get a training contract but if that’s the path she wants to go down then she must persevere. Best of luck!

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Maggiethecat · 11/03/2026 08:44

@bendmeoverbackwards - good to see you here again.

There’s a thread about law conversions which you may have seen that has contributions from people in the know.

There are some testy exchanges but it’s worth checking out if you’ve not done.

Does your Dd have an idea of roughly what practice area might interest her? Does she want corporate? A lot of the discussion on the other thread is about the big corporate firms which have very strict entry processes. For some, the route to TC is through their vacation scheme and it’s very difficult to get these once you’ve finished your degree course.

There are decent size firms in London and regional firms that offer corporate work (if that’s what she wants) and their processes may not be so rigid but they’ll all be very competitive as there are few places for the number of applicants.

What about the firms she worked at - would she be interested in training at any of these? Has she considered paralegal work? In my last role a few paralegals in the team were offered a TC but they had to do the grind of about a couple of years. Some end up not getting an offer, some become career paralegals.

But that experience is invaluable as paralegals are doing the work of trainees and even NQs in some cases.

My Dd1 who was at Bristol with yours considered law briefly but I don’t think she really wanted it and I told her to think very carefully about how much she wanted it before embarking on that path.

Dd2 is in penultimate year of law degree and has all the advantages of being able to access the TC processes so it’s a different ball game for her. But it did highlight for me in a very personal way the difference in qualification routes they would have.

I wish your Dd all the best in the next steps. She sounds very determined and that will serve her well.

chopc · 09/04/2026 17:57

How is everyone doing? This bit of news will only be meaningful for some of you whose DC are into performing arts. If we thought getting into Oxbridge was competitive, the odds were good compared to performing arts. My DD was very very fortunate and over the moon to have received an offer from GSA - over 2000 applicants for 24 places.

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Jng1 · 13/04/2026 15:16

chopc · 09/04/2026 17:57

How is everyone doing? This bit of news will only be meaningful for some of you whose DC are into performing arts. If we thought getting into Oxbridge was competitive, the odds were good compared to performing arts. My DD was very very fortunate and over the moon to have received an offer from GSA - over 2000 applicants for 24 places.

Oh wow! Well done your DD, she must be absolutely thrilled - this has been her dream for ages hasn't it?

DS is now post drama school and confronting the harsh realities of the industry, along with the emerging new issues of AI production and copyright in the screen industries (his particular interest). He has an agent and is getting auditions, but it's very slow and he's still finding his feet with regard to making connections and his own work etc.

chopc · 13/04/2026 17:32

Thank you @Jng1! Absolutely it’s a tough industry but you gotta keep trying until you make or break I guess?

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ChimneyPot · 13/04/2026 22:16

That’s fabulous news about GSA.
an amazing school and do difficult to get in to.

chopc · 14/04/2026 06:01

@ChimneyPotone if yours was at Italia Conti right? I can’t recall if that was for sixth form or BA?

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AvocadoPlant · 16/04/2026 07:17

@chopc oh wow!! That’s superb - well done to her! Such a great school.
DD got as far as being wait listed for their acting course but it never got converted to an offer.
And ultimately she chose the different path - as per thread title! 😊

AvocadoPlant · 16/04/2026 07:26

When I last posted DD was hoping to leave home, pleased to report she moved into a very central flat with a friend last month. The girls are enjoying city life and DD particularly likes that she’s only a 2 minute walk from work - they have a 3 day in-office policy.

chopc · 16/04/2026 07:52

@AvocadoPlantacting is so tough to get into compared to MT so it’s great to even get waitlisted! For my DD GSA is also “another path’ as she had her heart set on ArtsEd and only got Foundation there. Hoping like her brothers, her other path will work out well for her.
Did your DD find work straight out of uni? Worried for my second son as he hasn’t secured an internship yet and also he has no clear idea what area of work he wants to go into.

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AvocadoPlant · 16/04/2026 08:24

@chopc - what is your DS studying? Apologies if you said earlier.
I think the employment market has got harder even in the couple of years since ours graduated.

DD worked part time at a local primary school after she graduated while applying for “proper” jobs.
Despite summer internships, and working part-time at the university (in the career zone of all things) throughout her degree, she didn’t get any of the big grad roles that everyone seems to apply for. Though the timing of those was really tricky given the competing pressures of final year exams, dissertations, roles in clubs/societies etc. which obviously applies to everyone but I don’t think it allows applicants to show their best selves to employers.
I think what did help was that she was very pro-active about reaching out to people she didn’t know but had also been to her uni and were working in companies she was applying to (drama training was great for giving her the skills and confidence to do this), and whilst in her gap year she had worked in sales (with targets, commission etc) and those skills are valued by employers.
But ultimately I think it came down to luck and presenting herself well when given the chance to interview in person rather than yet another set of tests in front of the computer.

AvocadoPlant · 16/04/2026 08:25

Yikes, didn’t appreciate how long that post was!

chopc · 16/04/2026 13:21

@AvocadoPlantDS2 is also History. He made it to the interview stage in 2-3 internships but have been rejected from the self assessment in many which must be demoralising.
I hear you re ways of getting in. I keep telling him but I guess necessity will be the mother of invention!

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