Former student Katie celebrates Law training contract

A member of Birkenhead Sixth Form College’s Class of 2016 has become the latest former student to fight off serious competition and earn an offer that edges her ever closer to being a fully qualified solicitor.

Katie Ebbrell’s journey towards becoming a lawyer started with being inspired to take Law A Level at the College, and having completed her undergraduate qualification at the University of Leeds with a first class degree, she has now been offered a training contract with global law firm Eversheds Sutherland.

Training contracts, which are highly sought after in a extremely competitive industry, involve a two year placement working at the law firm in different areas of law, known as ‘seats’, before deciding which route to take and becoming a qualified solicitor.

Katie is also having her costs of taking the LPC (Legal Practice Course) qualification, an equivalent form of Law Masters degree, covered by Eversheds Sutherland before she starts with them in 2022.

Katie said: “It all started at BSFC! I didn’t know what I wanted to do career-wise before I started but I came to an Open Evening and Paula (Blakemore, Vice Principal at the College) inspired me to take Law, and I fell in love with it when I started. It’s such a diverse subject.”

Katie, who joined the College from Ridgeway High School, took Psychology and Sociology along with Law, with all three being subjects she had not taken before A Level.

She finished her courses with two A*s and an A, and she said: “I’ve always applied my mind to whatever I do, but nothing really stood out from what I’d taken at GCSE, so I decided to try new things and expand my horizons. It’s really paid off, obviously, as I’m now in a career that I love.”

Katie has been working as a paralegal at a law firm in Leeds since finishing her degree in 2019.

She explained: “Getting a training contract is really competitive. I think getting a first in my degree helped, but having experience of working in law was crucial.”

To anyone considering taking Law A Level, Katie said: “It’s a great subject. It tests so many of your skills but it’s really enjoyable and it opened my eyes to the career I want to have. It’s a tough industry, but persevere and work hard, and you get rewarded, definitely.”

To learn more about taking Law A Level at Birkenhead Sixth Form College, click here.