[1] In Scotland, future solicitors will instead study the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice before commencing their traineeship.
[3] Many law firms offer vacation schemes (one- or two-week internships) as a way of assessing candidates for training contracts.
The vacation schemes usually involve real work in one of the firm's departments, various assessment exercises and an interview.
[4] Graduates unable to obtain a training contract will have accrued sizeable debts with no guarantee of being able to qualify as a lawyer other than by way of the poorly documented, and relatively recent Equivalent Means route.
For a legal executive, who normally does not hold a law degree, a training contract is not normally required to qualify as a solicitor.
They typically advance toward qualification by passing exams administered by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), while working under the supervision of a solicitor.