Bright Futures Programme

Our Bright Futures programme aims to support currently under-represented individuals in the legal sector by giving them an opportunity to gain insight into life at an international law firm.

Overview

Our Bright Futures programme aims to support currently under-represented individuals in the legal sector by giving them an opportunity to gain insight into life at an international law firm. On this three day programme you’ll get insight into how we help our clients achieve their commercial goals, work with experienced lawyers and have the opportunity to progress onto our summer vacation scheme the following year. And we’ll pay you a salary for the three days, plus additional funds to help with travel and accommodation expenses.

Bright Futures is our pipeline programme for the London vacation scheme. Participants will be considered for a place on our 2028 vacation scheme and assessed via an assessment centre at the end of the programme.

Applications will be open from the 7th September to 19th November 2026.

Apply here

Programme Structure

Our Bright Futures programme is three days long, and you’ll need to be able to commit to the full three days and virtual assessment centre held for the vacation scheme after. The programme will be taking place from Tuesday 3rd - Thursday 5th August 2027.

Here’s a summary of what you can expect to encounter during your time on our bright futures programmes:

Pre-programme support

In the weeks leading up to the Bright Futures programme, we will run a series of virtual sessions to help prepare you for the week and get to know the firm.

During the 3 day programme you'll

During the 3 day programme you'll learn about the firm from our partners, hear from Bright Futures alumni and participate in various development and upskilling sessions. You will get to know your fellow participants and learn about your own strengths with an L&D professional in order to understand how to maximise your potential.

Shadow trainees

You will also spend a half day shadowing a trainee which will allow you to experience one of our teams and network with a fee earner.

At the end of the programme

We finish the programme with an assessment centre, this is your opportunity to be considered for our vacation scheme. Prior to this there will be a day of prep sessions and dummy exercises to ensure you feel fully prepared.

Mentoring for future vacation scheme students

If you are successful at obtaining a place on our Vacation Scheme the following year, you will receive on-going support to prepare you. You will be assigned a mentor from our fee-earner population, and will be invited to various virtual sessions with the Early Careers team.

Our process

Our strengths-based recruitment process is based on fairness and equity. It’s designed to help us identify what motivates you to work at a city law firm, over your learnt experiences, and helps you show us the most authentic version of yourself. Here’s how it works:

Applications open

For all programmes, you’ll need to make your application online via our online application system. At this stage you’ll just need to complete your basic personal information. No lengthy written tasks for you to complete here.

Online assessment

If you meet our eligiblity criteria, you will be invited to complete an online assessment. This includes a critical reasoning test, as well as our Clyde & Co strengths-based assessment, which contains a mix of question types including written and order ranking. It is designed to present you with some of the challenges you can expect to face at Clyde & Co.

Video interview

If you perform well in our initial online assessment, you will then be invited to complete a pre-recorded video interview. This means that you will be asked questions and will need to record your spoken response via video interview on our assessment platform. Some of these questions will be situational, but others will focus on your motivations for the role and Clyde & Co.

Virtual strengths based interview

This is the final stage of the process. Here we are assessing candidates based on the strengths that will deliver success in a role.

Offer

Our favourite part – the offer. We’ll notify you by phone if you’re successful, if you’re not, we’ll offer you some feedback for development. Don't worry, you will hear from us either way!

Montreal 9.Pair Catherine & Octavio 027 (Large)

About you

This programme is for first-year law and penultimate-year non-law students.
Please note: law students on a four-year course should apply in their second year. All applicants should have obtained AAB at A-levels (or equivalent) and be on track for a 2:1 at undergraduate level.

Candidates must have attended a state / non-fee-paying school (unless on a full scholarship) AND meet at least one of the following criteria:

You were eligible for free school meals (you do not have to have received them).
You spent time in local authority care.
You are or have been a carer.
You had refugee or asylum seeker status as a child.
You have experienced homelessness.

Please note we will be using Rare’s contextual recruitment system, built with fairness and equality. We also take into account any mitigating circumstances.

Useful resources

Please find resources to help you navigate your application. See below to register to our Insight Days.

UK Candidate Hub

Everything you need before you apply. Check which programmes you're eligible for, gain insight into the work we do through a virtual work simulation, and access helpful resources to prepare your application.

FAQs

FAQs for our UK based early careers programmes.

Montreal 10.Pair Louis & Stephanie 008 (Large)

Early Careers Learning Hub

Whether you're preparing an application, developing your professional skills or exploring career opportunities, our Learning Hub offers resources, guidance and insights to support your journey.