Trainee solicitor numbers drop 1.7% across 109 top firms as apprenticeships shift intake

A 1.7% drop is modest, but the aggregate number conceals uneven movement at firm level. Twenty-five firms raised their advertised trainee intakes, 24 reduced them, and 60 kept figures steady. That pattern means many firms are maintaining or increasing opportunity even as a few make notable cuts.

Why some firms are cutting advertised TCs

The report points to solicitor apprenticeships as the most important factor behind some reductions. Firms expanding six-year school-leaver programmes are recruiting future lawyers through apprenticeship routes that are not always captured in traditional training contract headcounts.

Linklaters' programme is used as an example. The firm currently recruits about six school leavers a year into its solicitor apprenticeship. When successive cohorts are counted across the six-year programme, roughly 40 people will have entered the apprenticeship route by the time the first cohort reaches qualification. Those trainees and apprentices often perform work similar to paralegals and trainees, which reduces the need to advertise the same number of traditional training contract places.

Clifford Chance does not run a solicitor apprenticeship programme and has therefore kept its advertised trainee intake unchanged at 100. That contrast suggests that headline training contract figures can understate total early-career recruitment where apprenticeship routes are significant.

The dataset shows some US firms continuing to hire increasing numbers of trainees in London, supporting overall market stability. The Legal Cheek table lists a mix of increases and decreases across both UK and international firms, indicating the market remains segmented rather than uniformly contracting.

Applicants should read advertised training contract numbers alongside information on solicitor apprenticeship routes, graduate programmes, and firm-specific recruitment plans. Some firms with lower advertised TC figures may still be recruiting broadly through apprenticeships or other early-career pathways.

Linklaters told Legal Cheek: "We remain committed to recruiting high-performing talent that meets the evolving needs of our business and our clients."

Advertised training contract numbers across major firms have fallen only slightly year-on-year. The main driver of reductions at several large City firms is a shift toward solicitor apprenticeships rather than an across-the-board pullback in early-career hiring. Applicants should investigate both training contracts and apprenticeship options when mapping routes into law.