Training Contract in Law - How do people afford it?

[makumaku]

My dd wants to become a lawyer after her history degree at Cambridge. She is applying for jobs now but so far not had much luck.

She needs to do a law conversion course and then the SQE courses. Lots of companies she applied to have a maintenance grant for the conversion & they pay the fees. She has to do the GLD/conversion in central London.

We are from the north east so can’t help with free accommodation. The grant is “only” £10,000. One firm has told her that students should not have part time work.

How do people afford to do the conversion? £10k is not enough to live in London for a year from our research.

Gap year to save up - especially if it takes a while to secure a training contract and she doesn't start straight out of uni.

Career development loan to plug the gap?

I did it distance learning over two years and worked. I worked in law (secretary and then paralegal) so that massively helped me get the training contract. I did the same with the LPC but did get the fees paid by the firm I got a training contract with.

I was told by a lot of people that no firm would look at me for doing it that way but I found that to be not true.

Presumably there are student loans available? As trainees in these firms are earning 50k plus in their first year, and NQs 100k plus, it will be well worth the investment.

Regarding the applications, has she done summer vac schemes?

Some of the bigger city firms pay £20k maintenance

My friend did the conversion in 2010, from a working class background, no parental help. He took out bank loans to pay his living costs. He was quickly earning very good money once qualified and was debt free within a few years.

It's a case of short term sacrifice for long term gain. Definitely geared towards those with family help though.

Family subs.

There aren’t govt student loans for the postgraduate law conversion diploma. Successful applicants to city firms will have fees paid and contribution to living expenses. I believe graduate bank loans are available.
If she hasn’t secured a training contract yet then she’s looking at working and keeping applying so will have opportunity to save.
Theres more to law than London city law. Nothing to stop her applying for trainee solicitor jobs in NE and living at home.

Also some city firms do condensed courses ( ie a two year course-GDL followed by SQE over 18 months). That then works out at £20,000 over 18 months which is very doable
If not, then £10,000 should more than cover a room in a shared house for a year in zone2-3. You might need to subsidise her living expenses, but when she starts her training contract on £40,000- £50,000 per annum, she’ll have plenty of spare cash to pay you back.

I took a big old bank loan tbh (though not sure I'd recommend it)

I have often wondered this, especially given that quite a lot of students don't secure a training contract before starting

She also doesn’t technically need to have a law degree or postgraduate law conversion to be a solicitor just pass SQE1 and SQE2 exams. The reality is most firms are still insisting on a law qualification and I can’t imagine passing SQE1 without studying law would be possible.

There are now places offering a conversion masters which do in fact qualify for regular masters funding .

Most decent firms pay law school fees and many also give a living allowance. You apply in your second year of uni for these. For many firms including the one I work at, if you've done a summer vac scheme successfully, you'll be offered a TC after that. So getting summer vac schemes is important. Those are for the summer of your second year of uni.

I am a lawyer and would never advise anyone to pay their own law school fees because if you end up not getting a training contract, it's a lot of money wasted on something that is not really transferable to a different career.

Re rent in London - I'd look at living further out somewhere commutable where rents are cheaper. You don't have to live in London, you just have to get into London to college.

She could look at other options. For example, several public sector organisations will have qualification routes. They may be slower but not impossible.

Also, she doesn’t need to do the conversion course in London. There’s lots of cheaper places to study and live. It makes the bank loan cheaper. Could she live at home with you and get a loan for fees?

@Chocolateisameal for many law firms it is mandatory to do your law school qualification at the law school specified by that firm, which is usually one of the London ones.

Thanks I didn’t realise they now offered a LLM to cover the pgdl. It’s only fees you can borrow though not living expenses.
I know they offer the LPC now SQE prep as an LLM to attract masters funding.
As far as I know you can only get one masters funded.

I honestly thought the magic circle firms paid well enough to meet living expenses for this

Do a masters Law conversion online and live at home.

I think many pay £6-10k maintenance. Magic Circles a bit more. It hardly covers rent let alone other costs of living. However many don't mind where the PGDL is taken and just insist on SQE through a certain provider so often many stay at home for PGDL and save some of the maintenance for the following year. Also PGDL is shorter so still a long summer break allowing for paid employment to save for SQE year

It sounds like your DD is considering self funding?

I am not a lawyer, I’m not even British born, but my impression is that it is risky to do what she proposes. She should go through the talent pipeline now to get a training contract with a law firm. As difficult as it seems now, it would be even more difficult to pop up later with a conversion and to start looking.

@makumaku which year is your DD in at Cambridge?

https://www.slaughterandmay.com/careers/trainee-solicitors/the-training-contract/salary-funding-and-benefits/

This is at the top end of grants. It's a bit of a squeeze in London on £12k for the first year but for obvious reasons the firms aren't going to front load on the grant front. Ime very little top up is required with the Magic Circle grant. I would say the less family funding available, the more ambitious a prospective trainee should be. Easier said than done of course to bag a TC at one of these firms.

Apologies if you've since this already OP - you almost certainly have - but the page sets out the benefits and salary very clearly, so I though worth a link.