Legal Apprenticeships

Are you driven and committed to take ownership of your career from the word “go”?

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A fantastic alternative route into the legal profession

You will be learning every day, on the job, from your colleagues and will receive training and support from a mentor assigned to you within your department.

For the core areas of knowledge that you need you will also be supported by experienced external training providers. They will also help ensure that you are developing the skills you require and that you can demonstrate these both to us and the independent assessor who will carry out the “end-point” assessment at the end of your apprenticeship.

You will spend 20% of your paid working time in off-the-job learning which includes internal and external training, self-study and other forms of learning. In addition to this you will also need to do some study in your own time.

Qualifications required for an apprenticeship in law

For the Legal Administration Apprenticeship: Usually three A-Levels or equivalent + GCSEs in Maths and English – Grade 4 or above

For the Paralegal Apprenticeship: Usually at least three A-Levels grade C and above or a successfully completed Legal Admin Apprenticeship + GCSEs in Maths and English – Grade 4 or above

For the Solicitors Apprenticeship: Usually at least three A-Levels grade B or above + GCSEs in Maths and English – Grade 6 or above. We will also usually require you to complete a Level 3 Apprenticeship before applying for the Solicitors Apprenticeship. In exceptional circumstances (outstanding work experience and academic results) we may consider offering a Solicitors Apprenticeship straight away.

What is an apprenticeship and how long does it take?

An apprenticeship is a blend of a full time paid professional job, with all the responsibilities that come with employment, as well as a programme of study consisting of training and assessments that will develop and appraise your growing competence.

Your knowledge is tested by way of exams and assignments and your competence is tested primarily through the development of portfolio evidence.

Depending on what legal apprenticeship you choose it will vary how long it will take.

Level 3 Legal Administration Apprenticeship: 18 months
Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship: 24 months
Level 7 Solicitors Apprenticeship – 6 years

(please note that you can apply for a Solicitors Apprenticeship after successful completion of the Paralegal or Legal Admin Apprenticeship)

Personal qualities to be a successful legal apprentice

Most importantly you will have the personality and passion to eventually become a key member of our team, delivering outstanding personal service to our clients.

If you are self-motivated, driven and truly committed to take ownership of your career from the word ‘go’, with a real can-do attitude, resilience, and team spirit then an Apprenticeship at Goughs could be the perfect choice for you.

You will also have a professional manner, be flexible, have great attention to detail and possess strong organisational skills.

Studying and working at the same time is very rewarding as you are able to use your new skills straight away and develop into a competent team member quickly; it is however also a big challenge and whilst you will have regular paid time for study you need to be willing to invest some of your own time on a regular basis.

Your Legal Apprenticeship questions answered

What Apprenticeships do you offer?

We take a flexible approach to our biannual Apprenticeship intake, matching the applications we receive with the current training capacity within our departments and the business needs overall.

In principle we offer the following:

Level 3 Legal Administration Apprenticeship
Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship
Level 7 Solicitors Apprenticeship

How much will I get paid?

Although Apprentices are often only paid the ‘National Minimum Wage for Apprentices’, at Goughs you will contribute to our team effort from day one and hence we believe in paying the National Living Wage for over 25s to all our Apprentices regardless of age.

Where will I be based?

You will be based at one of our seven offices in Wiltshire. The exact office location varies depending on which Apprenticeship you are undertaking. For some Apprenticeships we may require you to be flexible to travel to several of our offices on a regular basis.

Which external training providers do you work with?

We currently work in collaboration with Damar Training Ltd for our Level 3 Apprenticeships and with The University of Law for the Level 7 Solicitors Apprenticeship.

What qualifications will I receive at the end of the Apprenticeship?

Completion of the Legal Administration Apprenticeship results in a Level 3 Diploma in Legal Administration
Completion of the Paralegal apprenticeship results in a CILEx Level 3 Certificate in Law & Practice
Completion of the Solicitors Apprenticeship means you will be a fully qualified Solicitor and hold a Law Degree from the University of Law.

How will completing an Apprenticeship shape my future career?

An Apprenticeship is only the beginning of your legal career. Following on from successful completion you will have plenty of options open to you in the future.

Following successful completion of the Solicitors Apprenticeship you can apply for the same ‘Newly Qualified Solicitor’ roles as anyone who qualified via the traditional/University route.

Following completion of our Legal Administration Apprenticeship you can apply to work as a Legal Assistant in one of our Departments.

Following the Paralegal Apprenticeship, you can apply to work as a Trainee Paralegal (with the opportunity of moving from Trainee Paralegal to Paralegal once you have enough experience to look after your own legal matters)

Alternatively, you may decide to continue with your learning and gain further qualifications following either of our Level 3 Apprenticeships or you may wish to take some time to consolidate and continue your studies at a later stage.

When and how do I apply?

We do not have any openings to recruit new Apprentices in 2024. When places become available we will advertise these on the Current Vacancies page so please keep an eye on our website for further details. It is advisable to apply early when an advert goes live, as we will close for further applications once we have received sufficient interest at the required levels.

Please include the following in your application:

Your up-to-date CV
Actual or predicted A-Level results
GCSE results
The Apprenticeship you would like to apply for (Level 3 Legal Administration; Level 3 Paralegal or Level 7 Solicitor) and any thoughts/preferences regarding the area/s of law you are particularly interested in (if applicable)
A statement of approximately 1,500 words (+/- 10%) describing the following:
- What attracts you to a career in law?
- Why would you like to work for Goughs?
- Why taking the Apprenticeship route into law is attractive to you?
- What attracts you to the particular Apprenticeship you have selected?
- A situation/situations in which you have demonstrated that you are self-motivated, resilient and have a strong work ethic