Law Work Experience Open Now

Legal work experience: what is available and how to get it

Work experience in law takes many forms depending on your stage of education. For GCSE and A-Level students, the most common options are: school insight days (typically one day at a law firm), virtual open days, and programmes run by social mobility charities such as Pathways to Law. These are designed to give you an introduction to the profession — visiting a firm, hearing from solicitors and barristers, and understanding the different areas of legal practice. For university students, first-year insight programmes (sometimes called discovery days or first-year schemes) are run by most major law firms and provide a more structured introduction with assessed components and networking opportunities. These are distinct from vacation schemes, which are aimed at penultimate-year students and are the primary route into training contracts. All legal work experience counts — even a one-day insight event at a regional firm shows initiative and gives you material to reference in future applications. Focus on having something genuine to say about each experience rather than accumulating names to list.

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