Oversupply of Scottish Law Students

THERE are still significantly more students than training contracts in the Scottish legal market, despite the number of people enrolling on diploma courses dipping by three per cent in the current academic year.

Statistics from the Law Society of Scotland show that 675 students are currently studying for the post-graduate legal diploma, which must be completed before prospective lawyers begin a traineeship either at a law firm or an in-house legal department. In 2015/16 the figure was 691.

While the number of graduates embarking on a training contract rose by two per cent to 549 in 2015/16, the figures mean that if everyone who starts the diploma completes it well over 100 are likely to be left without a traineeship to move on to.

Despite this, Katie Wood, head of admissions at the Law Society, said law graduates should not be dissuaded from moving onto the diploma stage, which typically costs around £7,500 in fees.

“Those considering the next step in their legal career, in particular those thinking of doing the diploma in professional legal practice or currently on the diploma and looking for a traineeship, should be encouraged by the latest figures,” she said. “The number of training contracts continues to rise at a consistent pace year on year and there has been a very slight decrease in the number of diploma students commencing their studies in 2016/17. As such we would not anticipate an unmanageable mismatch between graduates and traineeships.”

The Law Society statistics show that while there was a five per cent increase in the number of traineeships on offer in the Central Belt in 2015/16, in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire there was a drop of 26 per cent.

Story Courtesy of the Scottish Herald