Trainee solicitors and graduate solicitor apprentices

Applications for summer vacation placements, training contracts and graduate solicitor apprenticeships open in November 2024 and close in January 2025.

Our summer vacation placements take place in our Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Reading offices. We advise candidates to apply for a summer vacation placement at the same location in which they would like to start their training as it offers a great snapshot into what life is like in that Gateley office. 

You can apply for a summer vacation placement if:

• you are in your penultimate or final year of a law degree, or have graduated after completing a law degree
• you are in your final year of a non-law degree, or have graduated after completing a non-law degree. 

• Complete our online form once applications open.
• After we have received your application all applicants will be invited to complete an interactive assessment.
• All applications and interactive assessments will be reviewed after the closing date so don’t be concerned if you do not hear from us straightaway.
• If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to attend a virtual assessment centre which includes an opportunity to meet some of our trainees and emerging talent team.
• If you are successful at the assessment centre, you will be invited to join one of our summer vacation placements which usually take place in June and July.
• Training contract offers are made within two weeks of completion of the placement. If you are unsuccessful, we will let you know what you could have done differently or better, to support you with future applications at Gateley or elsewhere.

Complete the form here to receive a notification when applications for summer vacation placements open.

Everything you need to know about training at Gateley, as well as how to qualify, can be found in our Early Careers brochure.

We usually offer 25 training contracts and graduate solicitor apprenticeships, however this is reviewed each year to ensure it meets business needs.

Academics are important and you should aim for the best school/ college and university grades as you can. However, we understand that individuals may have mitigating circumstances and there is a section on our application form where you can detail these. 

We always look at applications and your summer vacation placement experience as a whole. If you have shown strengths in other areas and have demonstrated elements of our Gateley Team Spirit, we will consider all university degree grades. 

Our trainee salaries are reviewed annually.

The September 2024 salary for first year trainee solicitors and graduate solicitor apprentices in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham is £31,000, increasing to £33,000 in the second year.

The salary for trainee solicitors and graduate solicitor apprentice in our Reading and Guildford offices is £33,000 in the first year, increasing to £35,000 in the second year. 

Trainee solicitors and graduate solicitor apprentice in our London office receive £39,000 in the first year and £41,000 in the second year.

Trainee solicitors in our Belfast office receive £25,000 in the first year and £26,000 in the second year.

We are now sponsoring our future trainees to complete the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). If you have not already completed the LPC and have accepted a training contract offer from us, we will ask you to study the LLM in Legal Practice (SQE 1 and 2) at the University of Law. If you need to complete a conversion course and have accepted a training contract offer with us, we will sponsor you to complete the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) at the University of Law.

If you have any extenuating circumstances which may affect where you can study we would be happy to discuss this with you.

When you accept your training contract, we will provide financial support for your law school studies. 

We want to help you get settled into life at Gateley as soon as possible so you will be invited to our Gateley Graduate Get-Together events before you join to help you get to know us more and feel part of our team. You will also be assigned a current trainee solicitor or graduate solicitor apprentice buddy and be able to contact our emerging talent team whenever you need to. 

Our training contracts and graduate solicitor apprenticeships are made up of four six-month seats. We do our very best to ensure at least one of these is a seat of your choice, in line with SRA guidelines and business needs. 

We require trainee solicitors and graduate solicitor apprentices to do seats in the following core legal areas:

Yes, many of our trainees have spent very rewarding and insightful seats working on client secondments. Let us know during your second seat if you are interested in a secondment for your third or final seat.