Please note: This is for a September 2025 start.
For those who are currently completing, or have completed their A-levels, our solicitor degree apprenticeship provides you with an amazing alternative to university and those student loans and fees! Over six years, you will obtain an LLB in Law and Legal Practice, be supported through your Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE) and obtain the qualification of solicitor on completion.
As you progress through your apprenticeship you will build a portfolio of evidence of the tasks completed in your role and the experience gained whilst working in legal teams within the business. You will be learning on the job with a robust support network including a Weightmans supervisor and a dedicated buddy. You will have the opportunity to gain experience in a range of departments covering different areas of law during the six-year programme, with the potential for the programme to be tailored to your requirements and career interests.
You will complete your part-time study with BPP University Law School and one day each week will be dedicated to your learning and studies to ensure that you can maintain a good work/life balance.
We want our future lawyers to be both technically excellent and to have the skills necessary to understand our clients' businesses and our own. Therefore, you will also complete our bespoke learning and development programme throughout the six years, which has been designed to develop your core professional and business skills. You will cover areas including digital literacy, marketing, change management, law as a business and project management, in a varied programme which will help to prepare you for your career as a solicitor and enable you to provide the best service to our clients.
Key Dates
1st Stage - Application deadline: 28 November 2024 at 12 noon. We are unable to accept applications after this date.
2nd Stage - HIPO-I (Interactive Online Assessment)
3rd Stage - Interviews will take place: Week commencing 13 January 2025 and week commencing 20 January 2025
4th Stage - In-person Assessment Centre: Week commencing 17 February 2025 and week commencing 24 February 2025
Please note, there are no other alternative dates available for Interviews or our in-person Assessment Centre.
We are looking for a specific type of individual who will fit in well with our ethos and culture. This apprenticeship will be an intense path, so we are looking for those who are passionate about law and committed to a career as a solicitor. You will need to show that you are a resilient individual, with the drive and determination to succeed for our clients.
You will need to have a strong academic background to undergo the learning aspect of the programme. Whilst we are looking for candidates who have obtained or are predicted 128 UCAS points (or equivalent), if you have narrowly missed out on these grades, we would still encourage you to apply as we currently use a contextual recruitment system called Rare, which can identify high performing candidates by putting grades into context, acknowledging candidate academics and social background.
Weightmans is a Top 40 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer and 10th overall employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards 2024 and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK.
We are proud to be an accredited living wage employer.
Click here to find out more about industry recognition for excellence, through our achievements, awards and accreditations.
The independent research showed "Weightmans provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation."
We are truly committed to fostering a culture of equality and diversity, where everyone in the firm is respected and recognised on merit for the work that they do.
We strongly encourage applications from people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustment at any stage of the application process.
Please feel free to note your preferred pronouns in your application.
Work for a firm where people matter – work for Weightmans – We See the possibility in you.
As well as being immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people we offer a wide range of benefits including;
- 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part time)
- Hybrid working including provision of home office equipment*
- Healthcare cover/ Medicash
- Pension plan
- Life Insurance 4 x salary
- Interest free travel loan scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and consumer advice service
- Discounted gym membership
- Discounted dental scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Offers & discounts
- Great reward and recognition scheme
- there are a small number of roles that cannot be performed from home, your Recruitment Adviser can confirm.
Please note
- We encourage candidates to speak to us direct/apply direct for the opportunities we have available.
- Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.
- The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.
- We are open to part time/job share applicants.
Recruitment agencies (PSL /non-PSL)
Weightmans operates a strict 'preferred supplier list' (PSL) and is committed to working closely with the recruitment agencies that feature on that list. As such, Weightmans does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs, profiles or any other introductions from both our PSL and non-PSL agencies. If a PSL or non-PSL agency chooses to submit a speculative or unsolicited CV, profile or introduction without instruction from a member of Weightmans’ recruitment team, we will reserve the right to treat the introduction as a gift and contact the candidate directly without accepting or entering into the agency’s terms nor being liable for a recruitment fee.
Eligibility to work in the UK
Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. All candidates must either already have a right to work in the UK before commencing employment, or meet the Home office criteria for Visa sponsorship. Candidates who require sponsorship should evaluate the Home Office eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa before applying.
