‘Solicitor apprenticeship or uni? I can’t decide…’

At this stage, it shouldn’t be one or the other.

You should apply to both university and apprenticeships, see what offers you have by the summer, and then make a decision based on your options and preferences.

Anyone with your best interest at heart will say uni. Genuinely, you will not get the same growth as a person, the same ability to think, and socialise, without uni. A solicitor apprenticeship will be good training and you will be an NQ with the same skills as a university educated one. I completely agree with that. But that does not mean you’ll have got the same out of the process as a whole. Other than genuinely giving up on three to five very nice years of personal growth and just fun to work in a grey office at the age of nineteen (wild), I think the thinking skills you build in uni actually kick in when you are an associate. So yes, going to uni means you’ll have a bit of debt, but it’s safe debt (no one is bankrupting u and if u cant pay it back at all, eventually they just write it off) and if you’re gonna be a solicitor you will be absolutely fine financially. Also, apprenticeships are genuinely hard to get so if u have the ability to get an apprenticeship, you will absolutely be able to bag a TC / vac scheme at a good firm. So don’t stress, you don’t need to get into the MC now, just go to uni and use the knowledge you have now about firms (at 18, we did not) as a head start. Just do freshers week first and dont sleep with your flatmates, that’s way mkre important. – current trainee who had a nice uni experience

Weigh up the choices of unis you can get into vs the calibre of the law firms offering the apprenticeships near you but uni might be the most logical option if the following applies:

1. You can get onto a good course with a top 20 uni (30 at a push). If you’re in a position where you can only get into an average uni but have an offer for an apprenticeship however, the latter is the better option.
2. You are not 100% set on becoming a solicitor and would consider other careers.
3. You want to get into the big City firms rather than stay local (assuming you’re not based in London).
4. You don’t want to forgo the socialisation aspects of uni for work (not saying work isn’t a social atmosphere but it is a very different atmosphere).
5. You don’t have any dependents to provide for.

You’ll have a brighter future working at Pret or Tesco. The law will soon be replaced by AI.