Fraser's journey to Trowers & Hamlins

At 18, Fraser is now a solicitor apprentice in Trowers & Hamlins' Birmingham office, having secured his place in the 2025/26 application cycle. He always knew he wanted to be a solicitor, but it was an Uptree online application masterclass that helped him understand the apprenticeship route and prepared him for the toughest parts of the process.

Fraser studied French, History and Computer Science at A-level and saw every one of them pointing towards law: Computer Science for problem solving, History for analytical thinking and French for communicating with clients. An interest in politics drew him to the profession, and work experience at a law firm and in a court confirmed that the solicitor route was right for him.

"Do work experience, because even if you end up not liking it, it's still going to teach you something about yourself."

Still, he'd assumed university would be the simpler path. After some research, he found Uptree through his college, and in early 2026 joined Uptree's online application masterclass with Trowers & Hamlins. He signed up with one goal in mind: understanding the online assessment, a stage he feels isn't talked about enough. He left with practice resources and more.

"It was one of the best webinars I've been to, because it was so interactive. Someone from the University of Law spoke too, so it covered both the work side and the study side of the apprenticeship, which most firm events don't do."

The assessment centre brought new challenges, particularly the group and written tasks. His advice is to build rapport with other candidates from the moment you walk through the door, so that by the time the group task arrives, working together feels natural. If you don't understand something, ask. Recruiters will respect that far more than watching you stay quietly lost.

Fraser started at the firm at the start of September and has settled in faster than he expected. He has a supervisor for his university work, a buddy in his department and a mentor and has already been to court with a partner and associate. He's found the firm lives up to one of its values: it's not afraid to be human.

He's also a passionate advocate for the apprenticeship route.

"People look at five and a half years and think it's a long time, but the average qualification age via the traditional route is 30. I'll qualify at 24, with no uni debt."

His advice to anyone in his position is to believe in yourself, whatever your background, put in the work, and say yes to everything, even when you're not sure where it will lead.

Interested in following in Fraser's footsteps? Trowers & Hamlins is running a solicitor apprenticeship work experience day with Uptree in Birmingham on 10 November 2026, and an online application masterclass on 27 January 2027. Find out more and sign up on the Uptree Trowers & Hamlins page.