Vacation Schemes

Our vacation schemes are the perfect opportunity for you to experience life with our firm, in either our Edinburgh or Glasgow office. You’ll spend two weeks with us and, although some of your time will be about you getting to know what we do and who we work with, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know our trainees, associates and partners too.

Overview

If you’re keen to embark on a career in law, a vacation scheme with us could be the perfect stepping stone. Our schemes will give you a real insight into our firm and the opportunity to learn how the law is applied in our core industry sectors, and we’ll always aim to enable you to be placed in the department of your choice.

The vacation scheme is your opportunity to get to know us and our chance to get to know you. At the end of the scheme, you will have a strengths-based interview. We'll use these and feedback from your supervisor and team to decide whether to offer you a training contract.

Applications will be open from the 7th September to 19th November 2027.

Click here to apply to our Edinburgh Vacation Scheme.

Click here to apply to our Glasgow Vacation Scheme.

Programme structure

Throughout your time with us, you can expect unrivalled training and support. You’ll have a dedicated buddy on hand to help you over the two weeks – and beyond. You’ll also receive guidance from a senior fee earner along with coaching and support from our early careers team – especially when it comes to your training contract interviews.

Be immersed in our firm and the work we do from day one

See how our lawyers provide a complete legal service to clients in our core practice areas

Experience real work by observing cases, drafting responses, providing advice and preparing research

Attend court hearings, arbitrations, and mediations to see the different types of litigation available first-hand

Get involved in significant deals, meetings and negotiations

Attend seminars, networking events and social events with colleagues and clients

Carry out work first-hand

Edinburgh: casualty, healthcare and professional and financial disputes; Glasgow: casualty and employment

And you'll be rewarded too by earning £520 per week

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.

Assessment centre

Our assessment centre is the final stage of the process. Here, we are assessing candidates based on the strengths that will deliver success in a role. As part of the assessment day, you will take part in a preparation task which includes a written and presentation element, plus a group exercise and a strengths-based interview.

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!

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About you

At Clyde & Co, we recruit our Scottish trainees exclusively via our vacation schemes. As we recruit two years in advance for our training contracts, you should apply for a vacation scheme during the penultimate-year of your law degree.

AAB at A-Level or Highers, 2.1
Penultimate or final year Scots law undergraduate or accelerated LLB student

We are unable to sponsor visas for the Scotland Training Contract, so if you require visa sponsorship, we recommend applying to the London vacation schemes instead.

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.

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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.

Insight Days

Please find more information on all our announced Insight Days here.

Learn more