Entrance certificates

Application forms for an entrance certificate must be received by the Society at least four weeks before the commencement date of your traineeship. Any applications received late must be accompanied by a covering letter explaining the reasons for the late submission and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Society's Admissions Sub-committee.

We strongly recommend submitting your application eight weeks before starting your traineeship, particularly during the peak months of May-August, to reduce the impact of delays and issues.

You should have your entrance certificate in hand prior to the commencement of your traineeship, however if you do not have it and have applied for it in good time, you can commence work with your traineeship provider but must not designate yourself as a trainee solicitor until the certificate has been issued.

    Entrance certificate application form
You must print out this form and return it by post along with all the necessary ID. You may fill out the form digitally, however it must be hand-signed. We strongly suggest that you send it by recorded delivery.

Disclosure Scotland application form

A Standard Disclosure Scotland check must be carried out by the Law Society for all Entrance Certificate applicants.  The form should be submitted to the Law Society along with your Entrance Certificate application form, so that we can countersign it.

You can request an application form (which must be an original form) by submitting your details in the form below.

It is essential that you complete the forms in full. Failure to complete the forms correctly can result in delays in your application. Therefore we recommend you follow our guidance to ensure you are including everything you need.

Use our FAQs to fill in your entrance certificate application

The same questions frequently come up. Before you ask us in person, check if your question has already been answered.

Guidance for Disclosure Scotland forms

This is sent with the application form by post, or is available to download from the Disclosure Scotland website here.

Ensure you include all the necessary ID

This is a top tip and a frequent cause of application delays. You are required to include 3 forms of ID, of which:

1 must be a copy of your birth certificate (no originals please)
1 must be a copy of a form of photographic ID (e.g. passport/driving licence)
1 must be a copy of a document matching your current address (this may be a utility bill/bank statement)

You must also include a passport-sized photo of yourself, attached to the front page of your entrance certificate application. Please note, only one photo is required.

Please send your complete application together by post to:

Education, Training & Qualifications
The Law Society of Scotland
Atria 1
144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh
EH3 8EX

Please ensure that you send your application by either recorded delivery or “signed for”.

Please do not send any original documents within your application, such as LLB transcripts, birth certificates, passports etc. We cannot guarantee the safe return of your original documents.

We aim to issue you with your entrance certificate about six weeks from when you submitted it. This time may vary, depending on the volume of applications we are processing at that time.

The Standard Disclosure Scotland check is an essential part of the application for Admission as a Solicitor or Admission as a Solicitor and Notary Public (separate form available from the Education and Careers team at [email protected])

The Disclosure check must be dated no more than six months prior to your admission date.

You must include copies of at least three forms of ID with your application - your birth certificate plus one photographic ID and one showing your address.

Include your mother’s maiden name or family name in section B13

Please include your national insurance number, passport number (and country of issue) and driving licence number (and country of issue) in section B19 – 26

You must include five years’ address history (to the month), starting with the most recent in section B44-57. Use additional papers if necessary.

Remember to sign and date the form in section C1.

Parts D and E of the form will be completed by us. Do not complete any details in these sections.

Do not send the form to Disclosure Scotland.

The cost of this application is £25.00. Cheques or Postal Orders should be made payable to “The Law Society of Scotland”. If you would prefer to pay by card, please advise us of this and the best number to contact you on to collect payment. You must not put your card details in to section D.

Please send the form together with your completed Admission application to:

Admissions Coordinator

Education, Training and Qualifications Department

The Law Society of Scotland

Atria One

144 Morrison Street

Edinburgh

EH3 8EX

Or: 

DX 1 EDINBURGH 1

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call 0131 226 7411 (option 3).