Black Student Lawyer Programme | A&O Shearman careers

A&O Shearman Black Student Lawyer Programme

Our Black Student Lawyer Programme for first year undergraduates gives you real world experience, practical skills and support to set you up for success in law.

Programme overview

What you'll gain

On this programme, you’ll be able to gain real and valuable skills you will use and develop throughout your career, working with industry-defining clients and industry-leading colleagues. You’ll take part in a wide range of events and presentations to gain an insight into A&O Shearman’s culture and industry-leading work.

Work experience

This one-week programme is designed to provide you with mentorship and work shadowing opportunities across our practice areas, so you can find out what it’s really like to work at A&O Shearman, to learn and develop at your highest level. You will work directly with a lawyer in one of our practice areas to gain real-time experience of the day-to-day life of a lawyer. In addition to this, you will spend time with our early careers recruitment team to develop your skills and set you up for success, moving forward to our vacation scheme assessment centre.

Growth and development

This is your opportunity to learn and grow. We offer exceptional professional and personal development - providing training, mentoring and practical support. You’ll also receive comprehensive support from the early careers recruitment team and will be mentored through our REACH Buddy Scheme.

This programme gives you the opportunities you need to expand your skills and an insight into the culture of the firm. Whether you’re ambitious, curious, or open-minded - whoever you are - this programme is a chance for you to start your journey early and develop your legal expertise.

Skills to succeed

Below are the essential skills needed to thrive on this programme. From making meaningful contributions to our teams and clients, to facing legal challenges, these skills will help you excel with us.

Curiosity
You want to find out more about the firm, our culture, the clients we work with and the sectors we operate in.

Problem-solving
You have an ability to break down a problem and push yourself to find the perfect solution no matter the environment.

Collaboration
You enjoy working in a team to complete a task or achieve a shared goal.

Drive
You’re prepared to tackle every challenge and overcome obstacles to achieve your goals.

Programme details

Academic qualifications

We’re able to welcome students in their first year of a three-year undergraduate degree (or second year of a four-year degree) across any discipline. You should have attained a minimum of AAB (or equivalent) at A-level and be on track for a 2:1 or higher at university. We also require seven GCSEs at grade 6 or above (including Maths and English).

We do take into account mitigating circumstances, including those relating to a disability, which may have affected your grades either at school or university and there is a space on the application form to include these.

Personal skills

Curiosity, problem solving, collaboration, drive.

Application window

Applications open: Monday, January 4, 2027
Applications close: Monday, March 1, 2027, 5:00pm

Scheme dates

Monday, June 14, 2027–Friday, June 18, 2027

Salary

GBP500 per week

Tips, insights and advice, direct from our team

Who better to learn from than the people already here? Our videos feature tips, insights and advice straight from our colleagues, helping you navigate applications, interviews and everything in between. Real people, real experiences, real advice to set you up for success.

Danielle

Danielle explains how our Black Student Lawyer Programme provides a holistic and hands-on introduction to your future career while gaining real work experience, connecting with our networks and building a foundation for your future legal career with our dedicated support system.

Mitch

Born in Nigeria, Mitch believes nothing is impossible. Now a partner at A&O Shearman and mum of three, she has surrounded herself with the right people and has had support from her family every step of the way.

Hervé

Hervé shares three of the cases that have shaped his journey, from specialising in debt capital markets and derivatives through to becoming global managing partner of the firm. Hear the cases that define a hugely successful career in global law.

Application process

Online application

The online application form is your first opportunity to show us what you’re capable of, so be sure to pay attention to detail and think about the examples you use and whether they demonstrate the skills and attributes we are looking for.

Situational Judgement Test

You will then be prompted to complete an immersive, video-based Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which includes verbal and numerical reasoning items. The test is untimed and should take around 30-40 minutes. The SJT is designed to provide a realistic preview of what you may experience as a trainee at A&O Shearman.

Video interview

If your application is successful, the next stage will be a video interview, which should take no longer than 30 minutes and will include a brief commercial case study. Following this, we will be in touch to let you know if you’ve secured a place on the scheme.

Offer

After your interviews, we will review your performance and aim to get back to you with a decision as quickly as possible.

Regardless of the outcome, we’re committed to providing constructive feedback on your interview performance to help you going forward in your career.

A word of caution

There are a number of websites purporting to provide free samples of A&O Shearman application forms and assessment questions, including questions from our online experience. A&O Shearman takes cases of plagiarism and copyright extremely seriously.

We strongly caution applicants against using, or paying for, unofficial sources claiming to provide information on the A&O Shearman application process. We encourage every potential candidate to review our website for details of our application process and a sample SJT.