Solicitor apprentices

Learn from the best.

We recruit for our Solicitor Apprentices bi-annually. Applications for our September 2026 intake will open in September 2025. The apprenticeships will be available in our London office.

Eligibility & Application Process

Applications for our London 2026 Solicitor Apprenticeship programme will open in September 2025

We’re looking for smart, committed and passionate people, ready to succeed in a fast-paced office environment. 

Key skills we want to see are:

Excellent written and oral communication skills
A good eye for detail
Strong organisation and time management abilities
Creative thinking and analytical skills

We also look for the following qualities:

An excellent team player
Ability to follow instructions
Motivated with a strong commitment to learning
Desire to provide excellent client service

In order to be considered, our Apprenticeship provider requires a minimum of three A Levels totalling 128 UCAS points (ABB or equivalent) in addition to 5 GCSEs or equivalent qualifications, including English and maths.

Application Process

Stage One: Application Form

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Stage Three: Assessment Day

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Stage Two: Pre-Selection Exercises

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Pre-selection stage

After reviewing initial applications, candidates will then be shortlisted and invited to complete our preselection exercises. This will include a video interview and a written exercise. This is your opportunity to really showcase the skills you highlighted in your application.

Video Interview

In regards to the video interview, please rest assured that we know these may feel a little…unnatural. We are not assessing you on your screen presence. We are assessing you based on how you approach the questions asked of you and your approach to presenting information. Please use the time given to you, and consider how you structure your response. You'll be given some time after being asked the question to digest what has been asked of you, take a couple of notes, have some water, and then you'll be given two minutes to provide you response. If you do find video interview's a little daunting, we recommend practicing in advance. This can be simply recording yourself answering any questions, and watching it back. At the very least, this can help you move past the discomfort of being filmed.

Written task

The written task will not require any legal knowledge but will assess some of the skills that you will rely on as you start your legal career. We will be reviewing your commercial awareness, your approach to solving problems, and how you relay information. This will be timed, and of course, reasonable adjustments will be made if required. Please consider how you use your time. We recommend planning out your answers and considering the structure of your response.

This task is designed to give you a taste of what life will be like as a solicitor apprentice.

It will be split into two parts:

Prioritisation exercise
You’ll have several emails to sort through and rank in order of priority. There is no right or wrong way to order the emails, and there’s a lot of room for personal interpretation. Think of a logical way you’d handle the situation in real life and make your reasoning clear and concise. Tell us why you’ve ranked each particular email in that order of importance.
Written task
You’ll be asked to reply to one email from the selection you’ve been sent. This section will involve researching a specific legal case, writing a short summary and including it in a reply to the email.

Angel Skyers, Solicitor Apprentice

"Everyone is so supportive and friendly; I have never been afraid to ask a question which means I now have a much more varied skill set than when I started the job! ... I wouldn't change my decision on taking the apprenticeship route as I have not had any doubts about my experience."

Tom Glenn, Solicitor Apprentice

"The decision to join Lewis Silkin as a Solicitor Apprentice is one of the best decisions I have made. I have enjoyed every minute of my time here and have absolutely zero regrets."

A.J. Wynter, Solicitor Apprentice

"I'm immensely grateful for the opportunities and mentorship I've received during these three years. My solicitor apprenticeship has not just been a job; it's been a transformative learning experience that has set a solid foundation for my future legal career."

"We are delighted to be widening access to the legal profession for aspiring solicitors through our Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme. We introduced our programme in September 2020, and it is an integral part of our strategy to recruit diverse talent and open alternative pathways to the profession. I am personally very passionate about this and am excited to be more involved in our programme as Apprenticeship Partner."

Nick BucklandPartner, Dispute resolution