Key information:
- Scheme dates:
- Spring: Monday 13 to Friday 24 April 2026
- Summer: Monday 22 June to Friday 3 July 2026
- Salary - £500 per week
- Application open date – Monday 11 August 2025
- Application close date – Friday 5 December 2025
About the scheme
You get hands-on experience enabling you to develop a real understanding of the firm’s culture and our work. You may draft a letter to a client, then work through it with an associate or trainee. You may research a pressing issue on a live piece of work. Or, you may sit in on a client meeting. In addition to this, you carry out a mock transaction that runs throughout the two weeks.
Away from the work, the scheme has a strong social component. This includes socials with trainees, lunch with partners and coffees with other representatives from across the firm.
During your two weeks at the firm, you take part in:
- a mock transaction negotiation with your fellow vacation scheme participants;
- introductory sessions to a variety of our practice areas;
- sessions exploring our business development and international strategies;
- an introductory session with the Inclusion and CSR team;
- multiple networking opportunities with partners, associates, trainees and other representatives from across the firm;
- a one to one meeting with an associate to talk about work beyond being a trainee;
- evening social events with your fellow vacation scheme participants, trainees and the Early Careers team; and
- work shadowing with a trainee in two separate practice areas.
- In the second week you are assessed for the Training Programme.
Assessment process
Complete the application form if you would like to apply for a place on our Vacation Scheme. You will then be sent a link to an initial online assessment, which you will have seven days to complete.
The assessment has been designed following consultations with individuals across the firm and is therefore tailored to Macfarlanes and the skills that we associate with success. You will work through a series of scenarios from various practice areas, designed to test your situational judgement and critical reasoning. It also offers a small insight into life as a trainee, helping you determine whether a legal career at Macfarlanes is right for you.
If successful, you will be invited to complete a second stage online assessment. The second assessment is a job simulation, where you will join a fictional project team working on a fictional event. You will respond to realistic situations similar to those faced by our trainees, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your potential in a setting that closely reflects life at the firm.
We recommend that all candidates visit the Cappfinity preparation hub before completing the Macfarlanes online assessments.
We invite candidates with the strongest applications to attend an in-person Vacation Scheme Assessment Day.
There are three assessments which are all application blind:
- an interview, which is split into two sections: a business case study and a competency-based interview;
- a written exercise; and
- a group negotiation exercise.
We welcome applications from candidates regardless of degree discipline as long as they are at least in their penultimate year of study.
If you require additional support or adjustments, please contact our Early Careers team.
If you have any questions about your application, please refer to the information below, visit our FAQ page or contact the Early Careers team.
It was emphasised throughout the scheme that this was a two-way process, so we were given the opportunity and space to decide if Macfarlanes was truly the right firm for us.