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Training contract deadlines 2025

targetjobs editorial team

18 Jun 2025, 11:33

Are you a graduate that is unsure which commercial law firm to apply to first? Our handy list of training contract deadlines will help you to plan and prioritise.

Picture of pins in a calendar signifying training contract deadlines

Graduates and non-law graduates hoping to begin a training contract (or ‘period of recognised training’) in 2026 or 2027 need to apply in 2025. So, if you’re a law student, you should have applications tailored to the firms you are interested in ready to be sent off in your second year and non-law students in your final year. 

Most firms take applications from final-year, non-law undergraduates at the same date as they accept law students’ applications, this varies. So, if you’re on a conversion course, be sure to double-check the dates and entry requirements on the firms’ targetjobs profiles or on their websites.

Don’t wait until the deadline date

Many commercial firms start inviting candidates to assessment centres and interviews before this, so being organised and submitting your application well before the deadline could pay off.

Submission dates for training contract applications:

  • 1 January 2025 – Mills & Reeve
  • 2 January 2025 – Bristows
  • 6 January 2025 – DWF Group
  • 6 January 2025 – Trowers & Hamlins
  • 8 January 2025 – Mishcon de Reya
  • 12 January 2025 – Vinson & Elkins
  • 13 January 2025 – Squire Patton Boggs
  • 15 January 2025 – Osborne Clarke
  • 15 January 2025 – Lewis Silkin
  • 16 January 2025 – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • 31 January 2025 – Hogan Lovells
  • 28 February 2025 – Winckworth Sherwood
  • 28 March 2025 – Ashurst
  • 30 March 2025 – Ashfords
  • 31 March 2025 – Bates Wells
  • 31 March 2025 – Mayer Brown
  • 1 April 2025 – Baker McKenzie
  • 6 June 2025 – Dentons (rolling deadline)
  • 20 June 2025 – Burges Salmon
  • 23 June 2025 – RPC (London)
  • 24 June 2025 – Watson Farley & Williams
  • 25 June 2025 – Morgan Lewis & Bockius
  • 27 June 2025 – Macfarlanes
  • 30 June 2025 – Paul Hastings
  • 13 July 2025 – White & Case
  • 18 July 2025 – HFW
  • 31 July 2025 – K&L Gates
  • 31 July 2025 – Stephenson Harwood
  • 31 July 2025 – Hogan Lovells

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This describes editorially independent and impartial content, which has been written and edited by the targetjobs content team. Any external contributors featuring in the article are in line with our non-advertorial policy, by which we mean that we do not promote one organisation over another.

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