Durham Law School runs successful Employability Course Boot Camp for First-Year Law Students

15 July 2026

Between 8 and 10 June 2026, Durham Law School held its annual Employability Course Boot Camp, with more than 60 first-year Law undergraduates attending across three days of intensive workshops and skills clinics.

Led by Philip Bennett, Professor in Practice, and supported by fellow Professor in Practice, Mark Grant, Dr Emily Roach and Faculty Librarian Richard Holmes, the Boot Camp covered the full range of assignments set out in the Employability Course Assignment List.

The programme is designed to help students complete their outstanding employability assignments by the Course completion date. Those who finish the course become eligible for a Completion of Course Certificate and an invitation to the 2025/26 Course Awards Ceremony kindly supported by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in Michaelmas term. More about the 2024/25 Course Awards Ceremony: here.

Sessions ran from 2:15pm on Monday through to 4:30pm on Wednesday, with students moving through career planning, CV and application clinics, psychometric and e-tray testing, mock interviews, assessment day exercises, OSCOLA referencing, legal research certification and commercial awareness.

Philip Bennett, Professor in Practice, said:

"The Boot Camp gives students a focused block of time to work through their assignments with direct support. By putting the work in now, they are building practical skills that will carry them through the rest of their degree and into practice. They are investing now for success in their future careers.

The Boot Camp and the Employability Course are what I like to call part of the ‘Durham difference’.".

Day 1 Session rapporteurs Bheenee Chopra and Edward Hovhannisyan added:

“Overall, it was a fantastic day that gave us a really clear, honest look at what it takes to land a training contract.

The highlight of the day for Bheenee was getting to interview second year Law UG, James Carvell. His story was incredibly reassuring and motivating. Hearing how he went to securing four vacation schemes (across US, Silver Circle, and London firms) completely demystified the process.

He didn't sugarcoat the effort required - sharing that he put in 46 applications to get 14 assessment centres. It was a great wake-up call on the strength and volume needed for this cycle.

The board of professors and tutors also gave our CVs a thorough review, providing concrete fixes we could make immediately. Dr. Roach’s final lecture wrapped everything up nicely by showing us how to take the strengths we identified earlier in the session and weave them directly into our updated CVs.”

Day 2 Session rapporteur Alex Sauter commented:

“This session covered aptitude and psychometric tests, online interviews and in person interviews. I tried out the Watson Glaser test and got to do a practice interview with Lilia Prowse.

Lilia is a final year Law UG who competed the 2023/24 Employability Course. She received both a number of rejections in applications but also successes including two training contract offers from magic circle law firms. She had had a lot of experience with law firm interviews.

I thought the interview practice was a great idea. Firstly, the tips and explanation behind interviewing was a very good way to start off the session before moving into the practical interviews where we were able to try to implement the notes and got specific feedback.

I appreciated the fact that both students and professors gave feedback and it was interesting to hearing the audience’s opinion as well.

I found the Watson Glaser test quite challenging and thought that it was a great idea to start prepping for those tests now.”

Day 3 Session rapporteur Sharade Mutturaj reflected:

“Session 4 of the Employability Course Bootcamp addressed three significant areas of legal professional development: OSCOLA referencing, Westlaw database proficiency and commercial awareness. The session also concluded with a brief but valuable introduction to partner remuneration models.

By the end of the testing process, I was able to use the Westlaw platform more confidently and with competence for legal research purposes.

The final part of the 4th session addressed the important concept of Commercial Awareness. In this session we were introduced to a range of foundational concepts, including legal definition and structure of a company, the principles underpinning the reading and analysis of financial accounts, and a variety of key economic and financial terminology. It was the most interactive session where students were encouraged to pitch in with their existing knowledge.

In the closing minutes of the session, a brief overview of partner remuneration models within law firms was delivered. Whilst this was concise given the time constraints, it gave an insight into the law firm governance.

Overall session 4 of the Employability Course Bootcamp provided a varied insight into important legal skills such as referencing, effectively using the Westlaw platform and the depth of commercial awareness training.”

The Boot Camp sits within the Law School's wider Employability Course, in first-year students work in teams of two or three to complete the ECAL (the Employability Course Assignments List) over the course of the academic year. The course is timetabled for 1st year Law UGs but is not credit bearing and is not compulsory. It complements the careers support provided by the Careers & Enterprise Service with whom the Law School works closely. Its resources are available to all Law School students.