Vacation Scheme

Vacation schemes

Our spring and summer vacation schemes in London, summer vacation scheme in Dubai, or summer internship in Hong Kong will give you a real taste of life at the firm.

Learn a lot about us - and yourself

There’s no better way to experience the firm than on one of our vacation schemes. Sample our culture and the way we work. You'll get a real feel for whether we’re the right firm for you.

What you'll be doing

Nothing beats on the ground experience.

Join our vacation scheme and we'll make sure you're involved in quality work and will try to help you experience any areas of law you're particularly interested in. You'll be sitting with qualified lawyers and tackling some case work. You'll also benefit from an organised programme of interactive sessions, talks and social events.

A vacation scheme gives you a great opportunity to talk informally to existing trainees, lawyers, partners and support teams to find out just why the law and Stephenson Harwood are such attractive career options.

For our London scheme, we'll provide you with an allowance of £485 per week and provide lunches. We will arrange and pay for accommodation for those who meet our social mobility criteria (for those not resident in London).

Our London and Dubai vacation schemes will include training contract assessment centres, so vacation scheme candidates must be eligible to begin a training contract in the year we are recruiting for.

Who can apply?

Vacation schemes are open to anyone in their penultimate year or final year of a law degree, or final year of study of a non-law degree. We also welcome applications from postgraduates and individuals who have pursued other careers before committing to the legal profession. You must be eligible to begin your training contract in the year we are recruiting for to apply for a vacation scheme.

Application process

You should complete our online application form. If we're impressed by your application form, we'll ask you to complete our online future potential assessment. This includes some situational judgement questions, giving you an insight into the role of a trainee, followed by some video interview questions.

If we offer you a place on our vacation scheme after the interview, we'll automatically consider you for a training contract which means that you'll take part in a formal assessment day during your scheme.

Application dates

London spring vacation scheme

13 April - 24 April 2026

Applications open: 10am on 6 October 2025

Applications close: 10am on 30 January 2026

London summer vacation schemes

22 June – 3 July 2026

27 July - 7 August 2026

Applications open: 10am on 6 October 2025

Applications close: 10am on 30 January 2026