Receiving an offer
If you are in your final year of undergraduate study, studying for a postgraduate degree or have already graduated, we aim to communicate the outcome of your training contract assessment day to you within a day. Otherwise, we will communicate our decision from 1st September of your final year of undergraduate study, as per SRA guidelines. However, in the case of vacation scheme applications we aim to let you know as quickly as possible whether we are making an offer – irrespective of your year of study.
Your training contract offer will be followed by a phone call from a partner to congratulate you and to answer any questions you may have. In the meantime an offer pack will be on its way to you, including an offer letter and all the information you will require to make your decision.
We'll also put you in touch with a current trainee, who will act as your 'buddy'. Buddies are there to answer any additional informal questions you may have, either on the telephone or in person – someone with whom you can keep in touch during the period leading up to the start of your training contract.
We generally allow four weeks for you to consider your options; however, this is not set in stone and we won't rush you into making a decision. We advise you to stay in touch with our Graduate Recruitment team as they can help you with any questions you may have about the offer process and can provide any additional information you may need to help you decide if a training contract with Clifford Chance is right for you.
When you accept an offer, the Graduate Development team will contact you to discuss the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and will continue to communicate with you until you join us on your training contract. We'll keep you up-to-date on developments at the firm, and inform you of the many opportunities you will have to get to know us at lectures, case studies and presentations by partners, as well as drinks evenings and lunches at our offices in Canary Wharf.
Start dates and deferment
We recruit two years in advance which means we are currently recruiting for candidates to start their training contracts in August 2011 and February 2012. However, we sometimes have opportunities to join us earlier and hold assessment days throughout the year. The earliest intake available is detailed on our training contract application form.
Deferring your start date
If after having accepted a training contract offer for August you subsequently decide that it would be preferable to start in February, you may have the option to defer for six months.
Many trainees prefer to take this route as it gives them the opportunity to take a break from their studies or work, and use the time to do something interesting and gain new experience.
Deferment bursary
If you take the deferment option, you may be eligible for financial assistance in the form of a bursary. What you choose to do during the six months is entirely up to you, but to qualify for a bursary you must be able to demonstrate that you've considered your plans carefully. You’ll need to show that your project will contribute to both your professional and personal development.
For example, we'll consider funding you if you have plans to improve a foreign language, spend time working abroad, or take on some voluntary or community work. We'll match your own contribution to the direct expenses of your project up to a maximum of £2,000.
In recent years, our bursaries have helped trainees fund activities such as participating in a conservation project in South America, work experience with the UN in The Hague, studying and teaching in Italy and working as a paralegal in Sydney, Australia.
