Hi! I received an offer for Cam's LLM program and now I'm trying to understand the training contract system. I have some questions and I would really appreciate some insights from people who know the situation there!

1. Would Cambridge LLM help me to find a training contract in London? I am not a qualified lawyer in my home jurisdiction (fresh graduate) but I have lots of internship experience.

2. I saw a thing called PGDL. However, I originally planned to pass the SQE exams during my LLM time at Cambridge. I talked to my friend at Cambridge right now and she said it is very practical to study for SQEs during the LLM as we won't have many courses. In this case, even if I passed the SQEs during my LLM, will law firms still require me to complete their PGDL + SQE courses and fund me for it for another two years?That sounds a bit too formalistic for me. I am applying for several training contracts now and wish to start as soon as possible, like in 2025.

Thank you so much in advance!

1. The best they can do is host various sessions on how to apply etc., which is largely the realm of the law society. You'll probably find during the application process that it is your ability to succeed as an applicant is practically fully dependent on how well you perform on the several stages of tests and assessments that these law firms have. Your Cambridge LLM and CV will at best help you clear round 1 out of 5-7. 

2. You'll have to get some anecdotal advice from someone else for this one, I'm afraid. But I seriously doubt that they will require you to take SQE twice, if this is what you're afraid of. Do you really think they'll want to pay for that if they don't have to? :P At least you're doing the right thing by applying already now, as most of the students who arrive in Cambridge with plans for a London career pretty quickly realise that they should have applied before arriving rather than after arrival. 

[Edited by Gobbledygook on Mar 21, 2023]

Thank you so much for the reply! Yes I also realized that I need to pass all those stages of assessment, and Cam LLM wouldn't help much ;-; As for the SQE, I'm willing to do the PGDL but don't know whether law firms will have a more flexible policy on the SQE prep course as I seriously don't want to do it twice! But I guess in the end it just depends on each firm's policy

1. The best they can do is host various sessions on how to apply etc., which is largely the realm of the law society. You'll probably find during the application process that it is your ability to succeed as an applicant is practically fully dependent on how well you perform on the several stages of tests and assessments that these law firms have. Your Cambridge LLM and CV will at best help you clear round 1 out of 5-7. 

2. You'll have to get some anecdotal advice from someone else for this one, I'm afraid. But I seriously doubt that they will require you to take SQE twice, if this is what you're afraid of. Do you really think they'll want to pay for that if they don't have to? :P At least you're doing the right thing by applying already now, as most of the students who arrive in Cambridge with plans for a London career pretty quickly realise that they should have applied before arriving rather than after arrival. 

Thank you so much for the reply! Yes I also realized that I need to pass all those stages of assessment, and Cam LLM wouldn't help much ;-; As for the SQE, I'm willing to do the PGDL but don't know whether law firms will have a more flexible policy on the SQE prep course as I seriously don't want to do it twice! But I guess in the end it just depends on each firm's policy

1. The best they can do is host various sessions on how to apply etc., which is largely the realm of the law society. You'll probably find during the application process that it is your ability to succeed as an applicant is practically fully dependent on how well you perform on the several stages of tests and assessments that these law firms have. Your Cambridge LLM and CV will at best help you clear round 1 out of 5-7. 

2. You'll have to get some anecdotal advice from someone else for this one, I'm afraid. But I seriously doubt that they will require you to take SQE twice, if this is what you're afraid of. Do you really think they'll want to pay for that if they don't have to? :P At least you're doing the right thing by applying already now, as most of the students who arrive in Cambridge with plans for a London career pretty quickly realise that they should have applied before arriving rather than after arrival. 

Yeah I thought about that but when I asked the HRs they all provided very standard answers. I'm just asking here trying to see if anyone has more personal experience on this issue ;-; But still, thank you! I'm gonna send a few more emails

Thank you so much for the reply! Yes I also realized that I need to pass all those stages of assessment, and Cam LLM wouldn't help much ;-; As for the SQE, I'm willing to do the PGDL but don't know whether law firms will have a more flexible policy on the SQE prep course as I seriously don't want to do it twice! But I guess in the end it just depends on each firm's policy

1. The best they can do is host various sessions on how to apply etc., which is largely the realm of the law society. You'll probably find during the application process that it is your ability to succeed as an applicant is practically fully dependent on how well you perform on the several stages of tests and assessments that these law firms have. Your Cambridge LLM and CV will at best help you clear round 1 out of 5-7. 

2. You'll have to get some anecdotal advice from someone else for this one, I'm afraid. But I seriously doubt that they will require you to take SQE twice, if this is what you're afraid of. Do you really think they'll want to pay for that if they don't have to? :P At least you're doing the right thing by applying already now, as most of the students who arrive in Cambridge with plans for a London career pretty quickly realise that they should have applied before arriving rather than after arrival. 

Many of the major law firms have pretty helpful HR recruiters (how else to lure you in, right?). They tend to be relatively responsive to most questions that you may have, including this. Easier to send a few emails that way than ask here, I think. Maybe you'll find some different policies here and there too.