Smart Start Programme - A&O Shearman (Year 12)
This opportunity is highly recommended to apply to if you are interested in Law, in Year 12, and come from a lower socio-economic background. Register your interest now.
A&O Shearman are a renowned international law firm.
They have a presence in over 50 jurisdictions and employ nearly 4,000 lawyers worldwide.
Every year, we provide work experience for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Smart Start is more than just a week of support as participants are offered mentoring, tutoring and, for those going to university, the opportunity to apply for both financial and employability support. Find out more about the programme, who’s eligible and how to apply below.
Year 12 work experience – with a difference
Smart Start is A&O Shearman's flagship social mobility programme, run in partnership with Causeway Education. It aims to raise the career aspirations of young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds (see who’s eligible, below). Smart Start gives them access to high-quality work experience, skills training, mentoring and funding opportunities. It is the only work experience scheme in the legal sector that is City & Guilds Assured.
How it works: The benefits of work experience with A&O Shearman
There are three elements to Smart Start:
Smart Start Week, our in-person work experience for Year 12 students or equivalent; or
Smart Applications, our online programme for Year 12 or equivalent students
Smarter Futures, our mentoring programme for Year 13 or equivalent students who’ve completed Smart Start Week
1. Smart Start Week
Smart Start Week is held at our London office in July each year. It’s open to Year 12 or equivalent students who meet our criteria (see who’s eligible, below).
Over the course of five days, students take part in workshops and tackle challenges based on the Skills Builder Universal Framework. They’re supported by A&O Shearman colleagues, volunteers from our commercial clients and Smart Start Week alumni.
What you get:
1:1 calls to discuss your application, provide support and answer any questions (hosted by Causeway Education)
Insight into careers at an international law firm
Advice on drafting personal statements and how to make job applications stand out
Development of eight essential skills
Lunches and refreshments provided free of charge during the week and travel costs reimbursed
A completion certificate from A&O Shearman and, for those students who meet the City & Guilds benchmark, a certificate from City & Guilds, as well as a digital credential.
Access to Causeway Education’s UCAS support platform, OSCAR
Access to our Smarter Futures mentoring programme
2. Smart Applications
Young people who are unable or do not want to travel to London can apply for Smart Applications. The virtual work-related learning programme takes place in June/July each year. It’s open to Year 12 or equivalent students who meet our criteria (see Who’s eligible, below).
Smart Applications is made up of eight live webinars. These include sessions on university and apprenticeship applications and how to develop employability skills. Like Smart Start Week, Smart Applications is based on the Skills Builder Universal Framework.
Students don’t have to join all the webinars but our most engaged students are invited to a celebration day at our London office in August.
What you get:
Development of eight essential skills
Insight into careers at an international law firm
The opportunity to take part in mock interview and get feedback
Access to Causeway Education’s UCAS support platform, OSCAR
Smart Applications participants are not eligible for Smarter Futures.
3. Smarter Futures
All students who take part in Smart Start Week are invited to apply for Smarter Futures, which runs throughout Year 13.
What you get:
A dedicated mentor from A&O Shearman or one of our commercial clients through an online secure platform
The opportunity to apply for online tutoring sessions with Peppo Tutors in the run-up to your A level exams
The opportunity to apply for our university bursary programme (see below)
The opportunity to apply for three years of careers and employability support with upReach*
* Smarter Futures participants must meet upReach’s eligibility criteria.
About the A&O Shearman bursary for work experience students
Smarter Futures participants going on to study at university can apply for our bursary programme*. Students do not have to be studying law or attending a particular university to apply.
What you get:
A GBP15,000 bursary, paid in instalments of GBP5,000 over three years
A dedicated mentor
Exclusive invitations to events and webinars with key speakers
A guaranteed interview for our A&O Shearman First programme for university students
* You will need to be accepted on upReach to qualify for the bursary – metrics include a household income below £42,620 and you will be asked to provide evidence to demonstrate this.
Who is eligible?
Applicants must:
have always attended a state-funded or non-fee paying school
be a UK national or EU national with settled status in the UK by the time they apply for university.
Applicants must also meet at least one of the following additional criteria:
come from a household where no parent or guardian has attended university
receive, or have previously received free school meals, Pupil Premium, Education Maintenance Allowance or a 16 to 19 Bursary Fund
be or have been in local authority care
be or have been a full-time or part-time young carer
come to the UK as a refugee or asylum seeker
come from a household where a parent or carer has served in the regular armed forces
be attending a school or college with:
below average A level or Scottish Highers points score, and/or
a low rate of progression to higher education.
Students who meet more than one additional criteria are more likely to receive a place on either programme.
How to apply
The Smart Start Week and Smart Applications programmes open in January/February each year.
Prospective Smart Start Week and Smart Applications applicants must first register for, and attend, an in-person or virtual Smart Choices session in March 2024. There, they will learn about the two programmes and how to apply - further details can be found on this page. Applications for Smart Start 2024 are now closed.
They can choose to apply for either programme or both. Places are allocated on a points-based system, depending on how many of the criteria the students meet.
Successful applicants for Smart Start Week are required to attend a launch day at our London office in May or June. There, they will meet fellow participants and hear more about the benefits of the programme. Students will also hear from our volunteers and take part in activities such as a mock interview.