Apprentice Solicitor Trainee

Summary

This role will have two areas of responsibility; general legal services work and supporting the Freedom of Information and Data Protection team. Areas will include commercial contracts, procurement, construction projects, charity law, regulatory/compliance matters, research projects, employment, safeguarding, equality issues, records and training.

Wage

£21,733 a year

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Full time starting salary £21,733 per annum rising to £27,166 after 12 months service.

Training course

Solicitor (level 7)

Hours

Monday to Friday, 09.00 - 17.00.

35 hours a week

Start date

Tuesday 1 July 2025

Duration

6 years 3 months

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

During this apprenticeship, with appropriate supervision, you will learn the following duties:

Negotiate and draft contracts in consultation with colleagues across Academic and Professional Services departments in order to fully support the teaching and research undertaken by the university
Identify and solve both legal and practical problems associated with the university’s activities, and to be proactive in identifying methods to reduce potential risk or liability to the university
Review and draft responses to Subject Access and Freedom of Information Act requests, and provide a view on the application of data protection law, in line with statutory deadlines
Implement, enhance, monitor, and report on effective compliance practices in relation to data protection, Freedom of Information Act requests, and records management across the university, effectively collaborating with a broad range of stakeholders to promote and facilitate compliance across the university
Join and contribute to university committees and/or larger, cross-discipline projects, providing legal and practical advice where appropriate
Give clear and concise explanations of legal issues to non-qualified members of the university at all levels, and provide training on existing and new legal initiatives and areas of statutory compliance
Prepare and issue Instructions to external solicitors or Counsel in accordance with the university’s protocol, which requires that all instructions to external legal advisers are issued and managed via Legal Services
Manage your own time and caseload, balancing competing priorities and taking appropriate action to keep matters on track, anticipating future requirements and acting always proactively, in good time, and in the best interests of the university
Conduct legal research, be willing to acquire new skills, and to cover for other members of the team as appropriate
Support equality and diversity, moderating your behaviour as appropriate to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others

Where you'll work

Edgbaston
Birmingham
West Midlands
B15 2TT

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

BPP UNIVERSITY LIMITED

Your training course

Solicitor (level 7)

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What you'll learn

Course contents

Obtain relevant facts by effective questioning and active listening.
Find, analyse, and assess documents to extract relevant information including recognising when additional information is needed , interpreting and evaluating information obtained, recording and presenting information accurately and clearly.
Recognise when legal research is needed and use appropriate methods and resources including identifying, finding and assessing the relevance of sources of law, interpreting, evaluating and applying research results, recording and presenting findings of research accurately and clearly.
Develop strategies and solutions including an understanding of a client’s commercial and personal circumstances, their needs, objectives, priorities and constraints.
Provide advice which is informed by appropriate and factual legal analysis and identifying the consequences of different options.
Draft documents from scratch and use precedents which address all legal and factual issues, complying with all formalities and using clear, accurate and succinct language.
Undertake effective spoken and written advocacy in court and outside of formal court hearings including: effective preparation by identifying and mastering relevant facts and legal principles, organize facts to support an argument or position, present a reasoned argument in a clear, logical, succinct persuasive way, make appropriate references to legal authority, comply with formalities, deal with witnesses appropriately, respond effectively to questions or opposing arguments, identify strengths and weaknesses from different parties’ perspectives.
Negotiate solutions to clients’ issues including: identify all parties’ interests, objectives and limits, developing and formulating best options for meeting parties’ objectives, presenting options for compromises persuasively, responding to options presented by the other side, developing compromises between options or parties.
Plan and manage legal cases and transactions including applying relevant processes and procedures to progress matters effectively, assessing, communicating and managing risk, bringing a transaction or case to a conclusion.
Obtain relevant facts by effective questioning and active listening.
Find, analyse, and assess documents to extract relevant information including recognising when additional information is needed , interpreting and evaluating information obtained, recording and presenting information accurately and clearly.
Recognise when legal research is needed and use appropriate methods and resources including identifying, finding and assessing the relevance of sources of law, interpreting, evaluating and applying research results, recording and presenting findings of research accurately and clearly.
Develop strategies and solutions including an understanding of a client’s commercial and personal circumstances, their needs, objectives, priorities and constraints.
Provide advice which is informed by appropriate and factual legal analysis and identifying the consequences of different options.
Draft documents from scratch and use precedents which address all legal and factual issues, complying with all formalities and using clear, accurate and succinct language.
Undertake effective spoken and written advocacy in court and outside of formal court hearings including: effective preparation by identifying and mastering relevant facts and legal principles, organize facts to support an argument or position, present a reasoned argument in a clear, logical, succinct persuasive way, make appropriate references to legal authority, comply with formalities, deal with witnesses appropriately, respond effectively to questions or opposing arguments, identify strengths and weaknesses from different parties’ perspectives.
Negotiate solutions to clients’ issues including: identify all parties’ interests, objectives and limits, developing and formulating best options for meeting parties’ objectives, presenting options for compromises persuasively, responding to options presented by the other side, developing compromises between options or parties.
Plan and manage legal cases and transactions including applying relevant processes and procedures to progress matters effectively, assessing, communicating and managing risk, bringing a transaction or case to a conclusion.

Your training plan

Solicitor Level 7.

Online live teaching and performance coaching, professional workshops and work-based projects.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

5 GCSEs including English and Maths (grade 9 to 4 (A* to C))

A Level in:

3 A-levels (grade Equivalent to 128 UCAS points)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
IT skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Customer care skills
Problem solving skills
Presentation skills
Administrative skills
Analytical skills
Team working
Initiative
Non judgemental

About this company

A world top 100 university and part of the prestigious Russell Group, the University of Birmingham makes important things happen. Delivering groundbreaking research and excellent research led teaching. People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University. We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work. Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries. The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum, and botanical gardens.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/jobs/apprenticeships (opens in new tab)

Company benefits

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/jobs/staff-benefits

Disability Confident

A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

After this apprenticeship

Solicitor upon successful completion of the apprenticeship.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

BPP UNIVERSITY LIMITED

apprenticeships@contacts.bham.ac.uk

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000321413.

Apply now

Closes in 8 days (Monday 2 June 2025)

When you apply, you’ll be asked to sign in with a GOV.UK One Login. You can create one at the same time as applying for this apprenticeship.

After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.

Company’s application instructions

Please apply through the University of Birmingham jobs page.

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