Top 20 Spot In Rate My Apprenticeship Awards Sees Irwin Mitchell Highest Placed Law Firm For The First Time

Irwin Mitchell has been recognised again as one of the best firms for apprenticeships in the UK, becoming the highest-ranking law firm at the 2024-25 Rate My Apprenticeship Awards.

Irwin Mitchell ranked 14th in the Rate My Apprenticeship Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer awards, up 18 places from 2023-24 and now the highest placed law firm for the first time.

Founded in 2013, Rate My Apprenticeship was established after The Richard Review in 2012 showed that a lack of impartial advice was preventing school and college leavers from applying for apprenticeships. The RMA awards are derived from the reviews and experiences of a firm’s current apprentices and their training providers.

The ranking is the culmination of several years of hard work by the Irwin Mitchell early careers team, who have continued to build on the firm’s apprenticeship proposition. Since launching its apprenticeship offering in 2016, the firm has continued to climb the rankings, making improvements year on year, placing 93^rd just 3 years ago.

This year has seen one of Irwin Mitchell’s most diverse apprenticeship intakes, with a mix of legal and non-legal roles available. In February, the then Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, Robert Halfon MP visited the Cambridge office during National Apprenticeship Week, to learn how the firm benefits from apprenticeships, describing the firm as a ‘trailblazer’.

The firm boasts an apprenticeship completion rate since 2021 of 84% (versus 53.4% nationally) and remains one of the leading law firms for its number of apprentices. 

Lorcan Seery, apprenticeship manager at Irwin Mitchell said: “This top 20 ranking in the RMA awards is a significant achievement for our apprentices and everyone connected with the firm. To have come such a long way in a short space of time to the highest placed law firm and 14^th overall in the country is something we’re extremely proud of. Supporting this result is a lot of hard work by a dedicated team, committed to making Irwin Mitchell a compelling choice for young people along with career changers, wishing to build a career and as a powerful alternative to a traditional university route for increasing numbers of students.

“Apprenticeships form a core part of our growth strategy and these latest results are just the start. We’re excited to see what the next 12 months will bring as we look to further promote the real value of apprenticeships to the widest possible audience.”

Irwin Mitchell has welcomed 125 apprentices over the last three years and is set to increase the levy spend further, from 18% to 79% in the next 12 months, with the average law firm levy spend currently being 25%.

This next year will see 28 new apprentice starts, where apprentices will be undertaking a range of roles, including, Software Testing, Software Development, Data Technician, HR, Tax, Project Management, as well as paralegal and solicitor apprenticeships.