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Our applications are open! Our training contract comprises four seats, across any of our six key sectors, with the opportunity to take part in our Virtual Trainee Programme. Come and work with amazing people in a culture that really is refreshingly human and achieve your full potential.
The deadline to apply is 31 January 2024.
There are many great reasons why you should consider a training contract at Foot Anstey.
Learn from some of the more experienced people in our firm through direct contact time with Partners, senior leaders and your peers.
Our innovative Virtual Trainee Programme and secondment opportunities offer you excellent opportunities to work directly with clients.
We offer support for Trainees with sponsorship for SQE and law conversion, as well as grants for each year of study.
We have an A* rating from Legal Cheek for our quality of work. Plus, an A for our training, peer support, Partner approachability and work/life balance.
Experience four different seats (each six months in length) across a variety of teams and get a real breadth and depth of experience.
There are many great examples of our people progressing their careers through the firm.
On Tuesday 28 November 2023, we are holding an Insight Day for students and graduates interested in our training contracts and vacation schemes. It’s a day packed full of useful content – you’ll hear from Partners describing the work we are doing across our different sectors, from Trainees talking about their experience, and from our Early Careers team on what it takes to succeed here. Application for our Insight Day will be open from early October.
There are three key stages to our application process: an online application, followed by an online assessment based around future potential, and if you’re successful at these first stages, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre at our Bristol office.
We have partnered with Rare Recruitment to ensure everyone who applies to us has a fair and level opportunity – no matter what their background. This is incredibly important to us; we are keen to grow the diversity of our firm and this is one of the many steps we are taking to make this happen.
We pride ourselves on being a supportive employer, and we’re always looking at what our people need; to enjoy the best of work and life.
From fertility checks to enhanced parental leave.
From birthday leave to taking a sabbatical.
From our health cash plan to free eye tests.
From saving money on everyday purchases to investing in your pension.
Hear from some of our recent Trainees. Find out why they joined, what their highlights have been, and how they see their future at Foot Anstey.
We’re excited to hear from you and help you start your career journey. Check out our FAQs below and if you have any other questions, complete our contact form or get in touch directly.
For our vacation scheme, applications open from Monday 4 September 2023 and close midday on Tuesday 2 January 2024. For our training contract, applications open from Monday 4 September 2023 and close midday on Wednesday 31 January 2024. Please make sure you don’t leave your application to the last minute. Take your time and make the best possible application you can.
Our vacation scheme is a great way to experience Foot Anstey, and see the work you could be doing here. It’s a great way to help you secure a training contract in the future. Of course, if you’re ready to apply for a training contract, go ahead. We look forward to receiving your application.
There are three key stages to our application process: an online application, followed by an online assessment based around future potential, and if you’re successful at these first stages, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre at our Bristol office.
No. Some people do a vacation scheme here or at another firm, or don’t do one at all. However, they are a useful way to get insight to and help you make decisions about firms. But we know a lot of people don’t have that opportunity, and we want to be fair to everyone in our recruitment process so it isn’t a prerequisite.
During your onboarding process, we ask you to select a base office between Bristol, Exeter or Southampton. Our Trainees work across all three locations (and occasionally others) depending on the location of their seat. We don’t require individuals to relocate for each of their seats but provide support for trainees to spend a reasonable amount of time in the relevant office with their supervisor.
We have a very high retention rate and would love everyone who starts with us to go on and enjoy a career with Foot Anstey.
Yes. We take mitigating circumstances into consideration when reviewing applications. There is space on the application form for you to let us know what your mitigating circumstances relate to.
Yes. If people are close to the educational requirements we consider these as a whole with your application. In addition, we ask you to detail your grades so we can use our contextualised recruitment platform to contextualise your grades in comparison to your peer group.
Yes. The firm can sponsor work permits and the Early Careers team will discuss this with your throughout the process.
For our future intakes, we will be supporting all our trainees through the SQE route.
The firm will only sponsor successful applicants through the SQE. However for those who have self-funded the LPC, we will not require you to take the SQE 2 as a conversion but there may be some opportunities during the training contract that are reserved for those on the SQE route, as they focus on slightly different competencies to those needed to tick off the practice skills standards under a Period of Recognised Training.
We currently take in 12 Trainees per year on our direct training contract.
We have two main routes to qualify as a Solicitor, one is through our training contract and the other is our Advance programme which supports our Paralegals through the SQE. To find out more about Paralegal opportunities, please take a look on our legal careers page.
Our intension it always for all our Trainees to stay with us on qualification; however, this isn’t always possible based on the individual teams trainees want to qualify into and the capacity in those teams. So we also discuss other opportunities across the firm.
Yes. We currently use a system which asks our Trainees to rank each seat in order of preference. The system will then allocate seats based on those preferences and the number of seats available within each team.
Yes. The firm will provide a maintenance grant, in addition to funding SQE, for those who haven’t already completed the course/exams.
Yes. The firm covers the cost of the exams in addition to the cost of the preparation course.
Yes. Through the process the Early Careers team will be able to discuss the options for study, including studying online or/on a part time basis.
Yes. For our internal applicants, we have our Aspire programme. This provides the opportunity for internal applicants to join a vacation scheme and assessment centre for a training contract.
Please complete the below form with any questions you have for our Early Careers team.
