Work experience opportunities

Looking to make a splash in whatever you do next? We offer student work experience programmes and information days, to help you with your first steps into a career in business. 

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Bright sparks PRIME Information days Useful information What others say

If you’re a school or college student thinking of taking the leap into a career in law or professional services, you could apply to our Bright Sparks work experience programme or attend one of our student information days.

You’ll gain first-hand insight into what it’s like working in a large commercial law firm, find out about different career pathways and learn some useful new skills. 

Bright Sparks work experience programme

The programme

On our Bright Sparks programme, you’ll spend a week at either our Bristol or Edinburgh office, getting to know what life’s like at Burges Salmon. You’ll learn about the role of lawyers and the areas of law and sectors that we practise in, and you’ll also find out about the wider functions of the business such as Marketing, Finance, Human Resources and IT. 

Work : study split

During the programme, you’ll also take part in a fun and interesting group project which offers a great opportunity to practise your teamwork, organisational and presentation skills. You’ll also learn about confidentiality and stakeholder management, building confidence, commercial awareness and interpersonal skills. 

Progression

Bright Sparks will introduce you to professional opportunities that you might not have previously thought about. It’ll also provide you with work experience at a leading law firm to add to your CV, which can really help when applying for jobs or higher education courses, illustrating valuable transferable skills such as initiative, adaptability and problem-solving. 

people talking in an office around a table

How do I apply?

Our 2025 Bright Sparks programme has now closed for applications. Please register your interest below for our 2026 programmes

We offer 48 placements at our Bristol headquarters and 10 placements at our Edinburgh office each year.  

Register here

PRIME

We are a member of PRIME, an alliance of law firms and legal departments across the UK that are committed to broadening access to the legal profession amongst school-age students from less advantaged backgrounds. More details can be found on the PRIME website. 

Find out more

Student information days

Not sure about careers?

If you’re in Years 10 to 13 and you’re not sure what to do after school or college, our student information days might be just right for you! 

The day

These informative and interactive days are an opportunity for you to find out what it’s like to work in a law firm, and about work experience, apprenticeship and graduate opportunities.

We’ll give you a general introduction to Burges Salmon as well as lots of helpful insights into becoming a qualified solicitor, or joining other business services teams such as Marketing, Finance, Human Resources and IT. 

The benefits

You’ll also enjoy group and team-building activities and opportunities to meet like-minded peers on the day, as well as receiving helpful hints and tips on writing applications and preparing for interviews from our friendly Burges Salmon Resourcing team. 

Female Speaker Giving A talk On Corporate Business Conference

How do I apply?

You can now apply to our March 2025 student information days using the buttons below. Dive in.  

GCSE students A-Level students

Useful information

To make sure we are supporting people to attend our in-person events, we will reimburse travel expenses up to £100 as well as up to £80 for hotel accommodation for those travelling from further afield. Please get in touch to check that a hotel stay would be appropriate before making any bookings.

We are proud to be using the Rare Contextual Recruitment System, a way of identifying high-achieving candidates who may have been missed. The tool measures candidate’s relative disadvantage as well as performance, making it easier for us to compare applications. As part of the application form, you will be asked for your home postcode while at secondary school, details of your school, if you were eligible for free school meals, if you are a refugee or asylum seeker and whether you are the first generation of your family to go to university. There is an overview of the Rare tool within our application form.

What others say

“The information gained from today’s event has massively helped to narrow down my career options.”

“I am inspired to do an apprenticeship, and hopefully at Burges Salmon.”

“It has made me realise how much I want to become a lawyer.”

“It has made me more inspired to study law, and gave me ideas for A-levels and ways into law.”

“I have developed a much better understanding of law through the variety of activities we took part in and am very interested in the apprenticeship programme.”

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