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An end to earning while learning?

07 February 2025 / Rhicha Kapila
Issue: 8103 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Diversity , Career focus , Training & education
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Cutting apprenticeships is a step backwards for the profession & for social mobility, says Rhicha Kapila

National Apprenticeship Week (running from 10 to 16 February) should be something for us all to celebrate, however, the government is currently rethinking its funding for level 7 apprenticeships, which has the potential to seriously impact social mobility in the legal profession. Launched in 2016, the level 7 (higher or professional) apprenticeships create a qualification path for graduates that is the highest level of apprenticeship in the UK. Apprentices spend 80% of their time working for their employer, and the rest of their time working towards their level 7 qualification through a training provider. How this route differs from many others into the legal profession is that the apprentice is paid, and they don’t have to pay for training.

City Century, a collaboration of 50-plus City of London law firms, was launched in 2022 to help promote these apprenticeships. It described the path as ‘a debt-free option where students can earn

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
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