What’s the difference between training contracts and qualifying work experience?

Dear Oracle

I’m qualifying via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam but don’t understand the difference between training contracts and qualifying work experience. How do I know what’s best for me?

The Oracle replies

Training contracts and qualifying work experience (QWE) are ultimately the same thing. It sounds simple when we put it like that – and it mostly is, once you’ve wrapped your head around it.

According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), under the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) QWE refers to “any experience of providing legal services that helps a candidate to develop some or all of the competencies (minimum of two) required to practise as a solicitor”, including working in a law firm, as a legal apprentice or as a paralegal.

Find out what other work counts as QWE in this Oracle.

While there are differences in terms of structure and flexibility, the traditional training contract (that many law firms use) falls under the definition of ‘QWE’. This means that two-year training contract can be used to meet the SQE’s QWE requirements. Despite the change in phrase to QWE, the term ‘training contract’ is holding its ground and remains popular among law firms and aspiring solicitors.

Building up two years’ QWE is one of the four requirements to qualifying as a solicitor – and a two-year training contract is one of the many ways that candidates can satisfy this requirement.

Deciding whether to pursue a traditional training contract or to embrace the flexibility that QWE (as it’s intended) offers is a personal choice. We hope that the below breakdown helps you to understand the difference in structure between a training contract at a law firm and the more flexible training options available with QWE.

Training contract

Many law firms recruit their future solicitors via a traditional two-year training contract, which will count as QWE.

The way that training contracts are structured varies from firm to firm. For example, some law firms might offer a non-rotational system (ie, the trainee seeks the work and there are no specific seats), while others might offer a rotational system (this could be in the form of a six-seat programme in which trainees sit in different departments across the two years).

You can find out more about how the SQE will impact training contracts in this Oracle.

Other variations to consider include law firms that require their future trainees to prepare for and complete:

• SQE1 and SQE2 before starting the training contract; or
• just SQE1 before starting their training contract, with SQE2 completed during the two-year training period.

Trainee solicitors will prepare for the SQE with the law firm’s chosen education provider, with non-law students likely required to take an additional preparation course to get them up to speed with their peers who are law graduates.

You can find out more about non-law students, law conversion courses and the SQE in this Oracle.

The training programme will be specific to individual law firms, so they can ensure their trainee solicitors are prepared for life as a solicitor at their firm – some also have bespoke ‘plus programmes’ with education providers to prepare trainees for life at a specific firm. Many law firms want to maintain control over how their future solicitors are trained, so won’t always accept any previously completed QWE. In fact, most law firms require  all of their trainee solicitors to complete the two-year training period as a training contract with them, regardless of whether the candidate already has accredited QWE. As a result, if you’re certain on which law firms you’d like to apply to, make sure you’re aware of their training plans.

Law firms offer funding for the SQE and trainees also receive a trainee salary. In most cases, aspiring lawyers should apply for training contracts two years in advance of your training contract start date.

Find a list of training contract deadlines via LawCareers.Net’s Training contract deadlines page.

QWE

So, while the training contract counts towards a candidate’s QWE, there are various other ways that aspiring lawyers can build up the required work experience to qualify via the SQE.

Instead of completing your training in a single two-year period at a law firm, the QWE system offers candidates the chance to build up the work experience element in up to four different placements, including law firms, law centres and university pro bono clinics. The experience can also include paid or voluntary experience.

Find the right pro bono scheme for you with LawCareers.Net’s guide.

In order for your role to count as QWE, it must offer you the chance to develop:

• the legal skills and knowledge required to practise as a solicitor; or
• some or all of the competencies on the SRA’s statement of solicitor competence.

The SRA won’t confirm whether your work meets these requirements; it’ll be determined by the solicitor or compliance officer for legal practice who’s signing off your QWE.

‘How do I get my QWE accredited?’ – we answer this question in The Oracle.

There are also no rules on whether you complete your QWE before, during or after taking SQE1 and SQE2. That said, the SRA suggests that the practical experience you build up during your QWE will help you to prepare for SQE2. With a training contract, most firms set out when you complete each element of the SQE (ie, passing SQE1, SQE2 before starting your QWE/training contract).

Due to the nature of QWE, candidates can begin building up their work experience straight away. It can also be completed anywhere in the world as long as it’s signed off by the appropriate person for meeting the SRA’s requirements. 

Find out more about The University of Law's SQE preparation and law conversion courses today.

How to choose?

As with any decision you make, research is key. Find out what your shortlisted firms are doing. If they accept applications for training contracts, this might make the decision easier for you. If you’re not sure on which law firm you want to work for yet, maybe building up a variety of experience that counts towards your QWE makes the most sense.

It’s important to weigh up the pros and cons of each route. Determine what it is you want out of a career in the legal profession and what structure (eg, the formalised training contract or more flexible QWE) suits you, your working style and circumstances the best.

It won’t be an easy decision, they never are. So, just make sure it’s an informed one.

Head to LawCareers.Net’s SQE hub, sponsored by The University of Law, for more information on QWE.

Interested in studying at The University of Law? Find out whether there’s an open day coming up!

Olivia Thorne (she/her) is the content manager at LawCareers.Net