Number of law graduates soars while training contracts decrease

The number of students who graduated with a law degree hit an all-time-high last year, while both the number of training contracts registered and admissions to the roll decreased.

The Law Society's annual statistics report found that, from August 2013 to July 2014, 5,001 training contracts were registered, a 6 per cent decreased from the previous year. Admissions to the roll also decreased by 6 per cent - a decline from 6,758 to 6,345.

This is compared to the 16,116 students who graduated with degrees in law from universities in England and Wales in the same period, a figure the Law Society observed is a new high, and one which does not take into account the number of law students in the UK as a whole, nor the ones who studied a joint honours degree.

Women were seen to be outperforming men at every juncture; they outperformed men with respect to class of degree awarded, just over 60 per cent of training contracts registered in 2013/14 were issued to women, and three out of five solicitors admitted to the roll were women who, on average, were one year younger than their male counterparts.

However, the difference between women proportions of men and women represented at partner level in private practice 'remains substantial' at 24 per cent. The report also found that the number of women partners was down from 8,115 in 2013 to 7,985 in 2014.

Trainee placements

Research also revealed that just over half of all trainee placements were located in London, and that the majority of those were in the City, showing that the capital still holds a strangle hold on law graduates' career opportunities.

By comparison, the North East had the smallest number of trainee placements and held just 2.1 per cent of the market, or 107 training contracts.

Outside of London, trainees fared best in placements in the North West and the South East where they held an 11.1 and 7 per cent share of the trainee market respectively.

BAME students

The report also showed that the number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students represented 36.5 per cent of students who enrolled onto a first degree law course in 2014, a proportion that has been steadily increasing over recent years. The report also found that the percentage of practising certificate holders from BAME groups had more than doubled since 2000 to 15 per cent.

However, the findings show that that white Europeans were more likely than other ethnic groups to be partners, whereas BAME groups were generally more likely than white Europeans to be sole practitioners.

Laura Clenshaw is managing editor of Solicitors Journal 

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