Apprenticeships
Intermediate, legal administration or business administration apprenticeship These apprenticeships provide training in administrative roles, which involve tasks such as research, secretarial work and dealing with confidential information. Paralegal apprenticeship The Paralegal Apprenticeship trains apprentices in the skills needed to work in a certain area of law (eg, personal injury). Paralegals support solicitors on legal matters and do many of the same tasks. Find out more about paralegals on the next page.
You don’t have to go to university to start a career in the legal profession – a legal apprenticeship enables you to gain qualifications while in paid work, through on-the-job training at a law firm. Legal apprentices can eventually become solicitors, chartered legal executives or paralegals without the tuition fees and living costs involved with going to university. Some types of apprenticeship take 18 months to complete, but the more advanced levels provide training over five or six years – around the same amount of time as it would take to qualify through the university route. You don’t have to start paying a student loan back until you are in a job paying at least £25,000 a year, so high fees should not necessarily put you off higher education. But there are many reasons why you might decide that going to university is not right for you – and a legal apprenticeship is a genuine – and free – alternative. This section is a basic introduction to legal apprenticeships. To learn more, read the companion to this guide, The Law Apprenticeships Guide 2021 , for everything you need to know about the different types of apprenticeship. Pick up a free copy from your school or read it online at LawCareers.Net. Am I eligible? To become a legal apprentice, you must be 16 or over, not in full-time education and a UK citizen/ someone who has right of residency in the United Kingdom. Most legal apprenticeships require candidates to have five GCSEs (or equivalent) graded A* - C, including maths and English. The paralegal apprenticeship requires at least two A levels, while the solicitor apprenticeship requires three A levels, but grade requirements vary between employers. Earn and learn The minimum wage for a legal apprentice is £4.15 (as of 1 April 2020) an hour for people aged under 19, as well as for people aged over 19 who are in the first year of their apprenticeship. All other apprentices over the age of 19 are paid at least the National MinimumWage. There are four levels of legal apprenticeship.
Chartered legal executive apprenticeship
This programme trains apprentices to qualify as chartered legal executives, a type of lawyer that is similar to a solicitor. Candidates don’t usually start this apprenticeship straight after leaving school – it is recommended to complete another qualification first, such as CILEx Level 3 or a Paralegal Apprenticeship. Solicitor apprenticeship This apprenticeship is a six-year programme which integrates studying for a law degree with on-the-job training at a law firm, ending in qualification as a solicitor – a role which was previously reserved for those who took the traditional university route.
If you are considering applying for an
apprenticeship, you can learn more by reading The Law Apprenticeships Guide 2021 and then start your search for the right employer on LawCareers.Net’s apprenticeship jobs board. Further reading The Law Apprenticeships Guide 2021
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