Apprenticeship< < How to become a solicitor       Next Page >>

The underlying principle of the professional education of a solicitor is that if involves a combination of practical in-office training and formal academic instruction. The period of apprenticeship as it is known will commence on the first Monday in September each year for applicants using routes 1 and 2 the period of apprenticeship will be 2 years. For applicants choosing route 3(a) it will generally be 4 years and for route 3(b) it will be whatever period the Society determines.

The 2-year apprenticeship runs as follows:

(a) September to December - spent in-office,
(b) January to December - spent at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, and
(c) January to August - spent in-office.

In order that a student can take up their place at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies (of which there are 95 for solicitor students) he/she must register with the Law Society by 5.00 p.m., on the Monday two weeks before the first Monday in September (i.e., the date of commencement of apprenticeship). He/She must have a master (a solicitor with whom the applicant proposes to serve his/her apprenticeship). Registration involves the completion and lodging of a set of forms provided by the Society. Finding a master is the responsibility of the applicant although help may be available from the Society in certain circumstances.

It should be noted that applicants do not need to wait until they have been offered an Institute place before registering with the Society and re advised, on securing a Master, to register conditionally. If they do so they will be in a position to take up a place even if it is offered late. If they do not receive an offer the conditional registration will lapse.

The Society would advise that arrangements to enter an apprenticeship should be made at as early a date as possible and would emphasise that anyone who fails to lodge the Apprenticeship Contract by the due date will not be considered for registration as a student of the Society.