Stats show more training contracts registered in 2015; majority of new registrations to women
updated on 20 May 2016
The Law Society of England and Wales Annual Statistics Report 2015 provides an in-depth breakdown of the numbers, location and gender make-up of training contacts in the 12 months to July 2015.
Key findings related to trainees and training contracts include the following:
- The number of trainee registrations in the year to 31 July 2015 was 9% higher than in the previous 12-month period, jumping from 5,001 to 5,457.
- Of those additional registrations, 384 were by women and 72 by men.
- The number of training contracts was still significantly below levels of the (pre-credit crunch) mid-2000s, when they peaked at just over 6,000 in the year 2007-08.
- Regions outside of London were home to greater proportions of new trainees starting in 2014-15; the share of trainees in the City fell for the second consecutive year to its lowest since 2009-10.
- Private practice firms remained overwhelmingly favoured in terms of where trainees were employed, with over nine out of every 10 trainees entering the profession via private practice.
- The gender split among trainees in private practice was 35% men to 57% women.
- The largest firms maintained the largest share of trainees – ie, those with 26 or more partners accounted for almost half (49.4%) of all traineeships. However, that is a drop from 54.9% for the 12 months to July 2014.
For more information from the report that relates to the legal profession as a whole, see our news story, “Law Soc annual stats survey reveals training contract numbers up”.
