Co-op Legal Services launches new solicitor apprenticeships

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Today, the Co-op Legal Services is launching five new Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships in Bristol, Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The apprenticeships will be open to school leavers who’ve attained three A levels and five GCSEs and will be completed over a six-year period. Salaries start at £19,400 and will increase year on year until apprentices qualify as solicitors in their sixth year.

Co-op has designed the apprenticeships to provide an alternative route into the legal profession, noting that apprentices are typically around £80,000 better off financially compared to taking the traditional degree route. 

Co-op is also launching up to five Level 3 business administration apprenticeships from its Bristol office. There are no minimum academic requirements to apply for the 18-month course, as it’s been designed to help remove the barriers associated with routes into the legal profession.

Current Co-op Legal Services solicitor apprentice Zoe Stevens commented: “From it [the apprenticeship], I would gain valuable ‘on-the-job’ learning, combined with a qualification at the end, and a sense of financial security in knowing I would be earning a salary without incurring the costs of a University education.”

Both the solicitor apprenticeship and business administration apprenticeships have been launched off the back of Co-op’s own research, which revealed that one-third of 12 to 18-year-olds are more likely to do an apprenticeship now than they were three years ago. In addition, 51% of those surveyed said that the opportunity to develop skills was an important consideration when thinking about their future career path and 43% believed that getting paid while also training was an important factor.

This, in conjunction with research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which showed that 58% of lawyers are from a professional family background, motivated Co-op motivated to launch these new apprenticeships.

Managing director of Co-op Legal Services and Life Planning, Caoilionn Hurley, said: “Apprenticeships mean candidates can get ‘on-the-job’ experience from day one, as well as the opportunity to start earning straight away. With fears over the high level of student debt proving to be a barrier to university for many, coupled with the rising cost of living, we want to send a very clear message that apprenticeships can be a great springboard into your chosen career. We’re incredibly excited to welcome our 2023 cohort as we look to erode the misconception that a career in law is for the privileged few.”

Co-op Legal Services is the UK’s largest regulated provider of wills, estate planning and probate services.

Interested in apprenticeships, check out the Apprenticeship hub and legal apprenticeship vacancies board on LawCareers.Net.