Applying for admission as a trainee

Admission means applying to have your name put on the roll of solicitors. This process only happens once. Once you have been admitted, you must apply for a practising certificate to enable you to perform the duties of a solicitor. This practising certificate will be restricted by the Law Society until your traineeship has been formally discharged.

Find out about what you can and can't do as a trainee, both before and after you have been admitted.

The main elements that will impact trainees are:

1. Trainees can apply for admission after three months of their traineeship, when previously it was one year. This involves completing mandatory sitting-in and an advocacy course.

2. Training contracts must be returned within one month.

3. Trainees will be able to have certain decisions authorised by an appointmed Training Manager at their firm/organisation.

View the complete Admission as a Solicitor (Scotland) 2019 Regulations here.

When can I apply for admission?

The earliest you can apply for admission is after you have completed three months of training. If you wish to apply for admission between three and 12 months, you must complete a mandatory advocacy course and 20 hours of sitting-in. Please find more information below about these aspects you need to consider.

If you apply for admission after the first year of your traineeship, you do not have to complete these additional requirements.

You can also wait until the end of your traineeship and apply for admission at the same time as discharging your training contract. However, if you apply for admission at the end of your traineeship, you should be aware that there will be a period of a few weeks, while the application is being processed, where you cannot call yourself a solicitor or work as one.

We recommend that you speak with your employer about when is the best time for you to make an application.

The whole admission process (Standard Disclosure Scotland check, verification of application, petitioning the court, the petition being granted and our records being updated) can take up to 5 weeks during busy periods.

Things to think about

Disclosure Scotland check

We will carry out a Standard Disclosure Scotland check on you as part of the process - if you need a Disclosure Scotland form, please provide your full name and address in the box below and we'll send a form out to you. You can apply for this before making your application for admission (and it’ll speed the process up if you do!). 

Please note that if we have carried out a Standard Disclosure check on you in the last 6 months, for example when we issued your Entrance Certificate, we do no need to carry out another Disclosure check at Admission stage.

The Law Society must countersign your Disclosure Scotland form, therefore please leave this section blank when you send it to us as well as the payment section (i.e. complete sections A to C only). If you hold a Disclosure Scotland form already for another reason, you will still have to apply for and submit a new form to us, we cannot accept forms obtained for other reasons. Further Disclosure Guidance notes are available at the bottom of this page.

PQPRs and TCPD

When you apply for admission, we will check that your PQPRs and TCPD are up to date. Any PQPR due at the time the application is made must have been submitted and approved by your supervisor. You must have completed at least 20 hours of TCPD prior to applying for admission after one year of training.

Admission fees

Your supervising solicitor must confirm that you are a fit and proper person to be admitted as a solicitor, so must complete paperwork to confirm this as part of your admission process.

The admission fees are set out on the application form – they are subject to change but are currently around £350.

Sitting-in

If you are applying for admission between months three and 12 of your traineeship, you must complete 20 hours of sitting-in training. If you are applying for admission after one year of training, you do not have to complete any sitting-in.

Sitting-in training involves observing a colleague from your own training unit appearing in court, involving proceedings it is intended you as a trainee will undertake once you have been admitted and hold a practising certificate. You must complete a record of your experience through the trainee portal (early admission link) and this will be verified by your supervisor.

Advocacy course

If you are applying for admission between months three and 12 of your traineeship, you must also complete an advocacy course.

The advocacy course will take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We will confirm upcoming dates and venues as soon as we have them, but they will take place as soon as possible. In the meantime, email [email protected] to register your interest in the course. Please include in your email your preference for a Glasgow or Edinburgh venue and the name of your firm.

There are different types of admission forms. The one you will need depends on whether your traineeship has been assigned, the point in your traineeship at which you are making the application or if you are qualifying into Scotland from another jurisdiction.

If you are applying for admission during your traineeship...

• when you have completed between three and 12 months of training, use this form.
• when you have completed at least one year of training, use this form.

If you are applying for admission and discharge of your traineeship at the same time...

• ie. at the end of your traineeship, use this form.

If you have assigned your training contract, or are requalifying from another jurisdiction...

• please contact [email protected] and we will send you the correct form.