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Parents & Teachers

Everyone can access law – with a little help from you.

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Parents and teachers are better placed than anyone to see a young person’s potential.

You know they’re capable of brilliant things, and you don’t think social background or financial circumstances should hold them back.

Search for the Work ExperienceVirtual Work Experience

Now, you can make sure of it. Through PRIME, you can connect your young person with legal work experience at any one of more than 60 leading UK law firms.

Whether you get in touch with the firms or even just pass our details on, you’ll do your bit to help them access law – and you’ll change their future in the process.

Getting young people in PRIME is FREE

You don’t pay to be involved, and your young people won’t pay either. We cover the costs of application, work experience, travel, and any necessary accommodation if the student’s work experience is away from home.

We’re opening doors to the biggest firms

This is more than just a visit to an office. This is training, advice, and an introduction to life at some of the UK’s biggest law firms. Our member firms include absolutely every firm in the UK Top 20 – all offering the same chance to students from underprivileged backgrounds.

There’s no experience required

Despite the impressive firms on our list, we don’t need or expect your young people to have any legal experience. If you’ve got someone who needs a chance to shine, and they meet our background requirements, this is for them.

What we look for?

School age

You’re in one of:
  • Year 9 to Year 13 (England & Wales)
  • S2 to S6 (Scotland)
  • Year 10 – 14 (Northern Ireland)
  • 4th Year to 6th Year (Republic of Ireland)
At a state school

You’re attending, and have always attended, a state-funded, non-fee-paying school/college.
You must also meet one or more of the following

  • You have been, or are currently, in local authority care
  • You are currently in receipt of, or have previously received, free school meals, Pupil Premium, Education Maintenance Allowance and/or 16 to 19 Bursary
  • You are, or have been, a full-time or part-time carer
  • You came to the UK as a refugee or asylum seeker
  • The occupation of your main household earner is categorised as a routine or manual occupation. A summary of this can be found here.
  • You are attending a state school or college with:
    a) below average A-Level or Higher point score and/or
    b) low rate of progression to higher education.
    (PRIME Work Experience School Eligibility Criteria)
  • You grew up in a household where no parent or guardian attended university.
Note: young people who meet the local authority care criterion do not need to meet any other criterion. These criteria are not exhaustive and may be amended over time.

What can I do?

Talk to your child about PRIME and careers in law
Find out if Law might be something they’re interested in, or could have a think about. If they’re interested, or they don’t know much about what’s involved, you can learn more together on the ‘Students’ section of our website.
Take an active interest
Sit with them, take them through how to apply and where firms might be, and offer to review their application. Try not to do it for them though – it’s important they should get their own application experience.
Find about the firms that might interest them
Your young person has some big choices to make, and it’ll help you both if you’re as well-informed as you can be. Through our finding experience tool you can find firms near you, and from there, you can also look at their website. Knowing more will help with your child’s application – and might also help with any worries or questions you have about who your child would be working for.

How do I get involved?

Talk to your students about PRIME
If you’re teaching a class where PRIME might be relevant – say, a careers advice session – talk to your students about what we do. Encourage them to go to the website, and to talk to you about their options.
Raise awareness
Spread the word around your school. If you’re in an area where lots of your colleagues might have eligible students, direct them here and encourage them to tell their own classes.
Use PRIME work experience to contribute towards the Gatsby Benchmarks
The Gatsby Good Career Guidance Benchmarks provide a framework for schools’ careers provision, ensuring young people can access high quality careers guidance so they can make informed decisions about their future. PRIME work experience can contribute towards schools’ achievement of Benchmarks 5 and 6. Here’s how.
Take an active interest
If you’re a mentor/guidance teacher to individual students who might be interested, sit with them, take them through how to apply, and offer to review their application. You might even use our finding experience tool to help them look for firms they could apply to.
Get in touch with firms
Some of our firms have long-term relationships with state schools in the local area. If you’re interested in a school-wide initiative and there’s a firm near you, you can use our tool to find them and get in contact in the first instance.
Useful Resources
Destination University: Widening Participation post-18

Commonly asked questions

This is a big moment for you and your young person. It might be their first work experience. If they’re going on a residential placement, it might be their first big trip away from home without you. Either way, you might have some questions for us.

If your question isn’t answered below, you can get in touch with us at: admin@primecommitment.co.uk

Search for the Work Experience

1. What do I need to pay?

Our work experience opportunities are completely free, and our member firms pay for any travel, food or accommodation necessary if your child will be in another city.

2. My child will be at a firm in another city. Where will they stay and who will look after them at night?

Each firm organises accommodation for its work experience students, and they’ll be housed in secure and safe accommodation – usually either hotels or vacant flats owned by nearby universities or colleges. Either way, your student will be part of a group of students their age, all looked after by at least one onsite supervisor from the law firm.

3. My child is going to another city. Should I worry about security?

No – don’t worry. Your child will be staying in secure and monitored accommodation in the evening. During the day, they’ll be working at their chosen law firm, and our city firms tend to operate their own security pass systems so only authorised colleagues enter the building. We’ll make sure you have contact details for the accommodation and for the law firm in advance – and of course, your child may have their own phone if you need to get in touch.

4. Do I need to worry about travel costs?

No. Whether your child is travelling to another city to stay for a week, or whether they’re travelling to and from a law firm in your home city, travel costs are paid for by the law firm. Sometimes that’s done by refunding you afterwards, but if you can’t afford to pay for travel upfront, we can do that, and it’s something the firm will talk to you about in advance.

Search for work experience

There are more than 60 law firms involved in PRIME, providing legal work experience up and down the UK and Republic of Ireland. That means whether you want to travel or stay at home, there’s an opportunity for you. Just tell us an area below, and we’ll tell you where the nearest firms are and how to apply.

Search Note: Please add your full postcode in format NN1 1XX as an example.

Alternatively, you can register for our Virtual Legal Work Experience Programme.

Play Video

Watch Emma’s PRIME Story

”The PRIME Programme has made me realise it doesn’t matter what background you come from, what school you come from – it’s about you as a person and what abilities you bring

Emma De Costa, PRIME work experience student at Brodies

For more information please email us or visit the contact us page

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