Solicitor Apprentice (Law Graduate)

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

About HMRC Legal Group

Across HMRC Legal Group we provide legal services to the whole of HMRC. This includes:

- The conduct of independent reviews of decisions made by HMRC which are requested by customers under the legislative provisions.
- The conduct of tribunal and civil litigation on a full range of services.
- Work on new legislation.
- Drafting of statutory instruments and other legal documents.
- Legal advice to ExCom and staff.

We also provide technical accountancy and forensic services to HMRC, are head of the Compliance Accountants’ and Insolvency Professions as well as handling Ministerial Correspondence and Freedom of Information requests for HMRC.

We will be holding a candidate information session on Wednesday 8th April at 11:00am, where you can hear from the team and learn more about the role and life at HMRC.

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to work for HMRC Legal Group while training to be a solicitor. You can expect to be fully involved in a range of interesting legal work and receive high quality training in a supportive and inclusive working environment, culminating in a solicitor role upon successful qualification and performance in role.

The apprenticeship is comprised of an off-the-job training programme alongside on-the-job learning in Legal Group.

The training programme will be provided via a digital learning platform and study leave will be in line with Education and Skills Funding Authority (ESFA) requirements. As an apprentice, you can expect to spend 20% of your working time studying and the rest in post. Applicants should be aware of the rigour of the qualifications and be prepared to also study in their own time.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work in different areas of law, developing different aspects to their legal practice by rotating seat placements during their apprenticeship.

Your office location is contractual so if you are successful, there is an expectation that you will attend that office location 60% of contracted hours as required by the business. You need to consider how you will meet this requirement before you apply and discuss any concerns with the vacancy holder before accepting any role.

Our Campaign Pack at the end of the advert holds more information about the role, grade progression, qualifying degrees, eligibility and work placements.

Person specification

Successful candidates will have:

- strong written and oral communication skills.
- an ability to work well with colleagues, including support staff and other professionals in a collaborative environment.
- an understanding of the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and why they matter in the legal profession.
- skills in gathering, evaluating, and interpreting information from various sources.
- the ability to identify problems and find solutions.
- strong attention to detail.
- an ability to adapt and be resilient.
- IT skills and be comfortable using technology.
- an ability to manage their time effectively.

Candidates can find more in-depth descriptions of the skills required on pages 9 and 10 of the candidate pack.

Essential Criteria:

• You must hold the GCSE's (or equivalent), and one of the higher Qualifications, as listed below to be eligible to apply.

Provisional grades will be accepted at the initial application stage. As the recruitment process progresses, candidates will be required to provide their final results to confirm their eligibility. If your final results do not meet the essential criteria on which your application was based, your application will be rejected at that stage.

Important Information:

If you do not hold qualifications in law or equivalent, please refer to the Solicitor Apprentice vacancy also currently on Civil Service Jobs - Reference 453536.

We will accept part-time working (minimum 30 hours per week), and we would discuss the impact of this with successful candidates on the requirement to obtain 2 years qualifying work experience. We will confirm that you are happy you can work 30 hours minimum as part of the application.

Successful candidates will receive appointment letters that hold a training clause advising completion of the apprenticeship is a condition of employment.

Successful completion of the apprenticeship will see you awarded with the SQE qualification and qualifying work experience to become eligible to be a qualified solicitor.

HMRC will fund training and assessment costs associated with your apprenticeship (“Training Costs”). If you withdraw from the apprenticeship, are withdrawn by the provider, or leave HMRC before completing the programme, HMRC may require you to repay some or all of the Training Costs incurred.

All successful applicants are expected to start their employment and workplace learning on 4th January 2027 with their academic study starting in mid-January 2027. Candidates with a law degree that was completed more than 5 years ago, or who have a CILEx L6 qualification, are still expected to start their employment and workplace learning on 4th January 2027 but will commence their academic study from March 2027.

HMRC welcomes applications from those who need to work flexibly, and will agree to requests where possible, taking into account our operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate. Any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

There may be a need to travel across the UK with occasional overnight stays being required.

This vacancy is only available at the specified locations, alternative locations are not available.

If you are a Civil Servant and currently a higher grade than Band O and you are offered and accept this role, you will be opting to voluntarily downgrade. This would be a permanent change to your terms and conditions, and Band O would become your substantive grade.

Please note: If you hold an LPC, have undertaken the SQE preparation course, or have previously taken SQE1, as a stand-alone or part of a degree programme in the last 5 years, you will not be eligible to apply. This is because applicants need to demonstrate that, based on their current experience and qualification level, an apprenticeship will provide them with significant new learning, skills and behaviours.

Current Apprenticeship:

If you are already on an apprenticeship programme, you will not be able to take a second apprenticeship, nor transfer your apprenticeship to the role. To be accepted on our apprenticeship you will need to demonstrate that, based on your current experience and qualification level, it will provide you with significant new learning, skills and behaviours. You must ensure that you meet the residency requirements of the apprenticeship.

Additional Location information -Leeds:

Moves Adjustment Payment will be available for this role, provided the successful applicant is a current HMRC colleague in Bradford and meets the eligibility requirements outlined in the HMRC’s Moves Adjustment Payment guidance.

Qualifications

Please show us on your application, in the CV section, that you hold the Qualifications below:

- Five (5) GCSEs or equivalent between A* - C (9-4) including English and Maths;

And,
- A UK qualifying law degree with a minimum 2:2; or
- A non-law degree with a minimum 2:2 and a GDL, PGDL, CPE or equivalent qualification; or,
- A CILEx Level 6 qualification.

For a law degree to be a UK “qualifying” law degree it must be recognised by our training provider; a non-law degree can be international. A GDL, PGDL or CPE qualification must be recognised by our training provider.

Those with a UK qualifying law degree or a CILEx L6 qualification completed more than 5 years ago will study a provider-led 6-month learning refresh and gateway before joining the graduate apprenticeship.

If you do not provide your qualifications, as listed above on your application, we will be unable to verify that you meet the required criteria, and your application will not progress to the next stage.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,096, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £9,008 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRChear from our insiders or visitThinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• After submission of the first stage of your application, you will be invited to complete 3 tests, in the order of: Civil Service Judgement Test, Civil Service Verbal Test and Civil Service Work Strengths Test. If you successfully pass each test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.

• Qualifications as requested on the advert. You will be asked to provide your qualifications in the CV section of your application - you will not be given a score for these, however it will be used to determine your eligibility for the role.
  Failure to evidence your qualifications, or providing an application that you are deemed ineligible, will lead to withdrawal.
• 2 Additional Role specific questions.
• A 250-word statement for the Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing, answering:

- How you use your communicating and influencing skills to deliver a successful outcome
- How you ensure your communications are clear concise and understood
- How you provide constructive, objective responses to comments and questions.
- How you communicate your point of view clearly, logically and in a persuasive manner, while keeping language as plain and accessible as possible.

• A 1000-word Personal Statement, to address the following:

- Your motivation and passion for a career in the law, why you want to be a Government lawyer, and specifically a solicitor apprentice within HMRC.
- How you will balance work and studies; and,
- A description of your relevant skills and knowledge against examples laid out in the campaign pack. This experience can be in education, voluntary or paid work.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

An initial eligibility sift will take place on all applications, to check your Qualifications and Additional questions response. We will need to see evidence of your eligibility to progress.

In the event of a large number of applications being received, a further initial sift may then be held on the Personal Statement.

If you progress to the next stage, your Behaviour Statement will be assessed.

At full sift your CV (Qualifications), Additional Role specific questions, Personal Statement and Behaviour Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be asked Behaviour-based questions on Making Effective Decisions, Working together, Delivering at pace.

You will also be asked to answer some questions on a scenario you will receive shortly before interview. Further details of this will be provided in advance.

Interviews will take place via video link (Microsoft Teams).

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Provider checks:

If you have been successful in all previous stages, to confirm your eligibility for the apprenticeship, the learning provider will conduct some initial checks before HMRC can make an offer of an apprenticeship. This will require HMRC to share your contact details with the learning provider who will contact you directly. Information is gathered in accordance with the ESFA guidance.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, or have withdrawn yourself in error and need your application reinstated whilst the campaign is still live, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

The HMRC app can help you with your application

The HMRC app can provide you with your past 5 years' employment history, making the process of filling in your application quicker and easier.

If successful in your application, you will need your National Insurance number for the onboarding process.

Download the HMRC app now and save your National Insurance number to your digital phone wallet.

How to downloadthe HMRC app and sign up for an account:

Download the free HMRC app from the App Store or Google Play store.

If you have an HMRC online account already, sign straight in using your ID and password. If not, you can prove your identity by answering some questions or providing your photo ID.

You’ll then be able to access the app quickly and easily by signing in using a 6-digit PIN, your fingerprint or facial recognition.

You can find guidance for technical issues on GOV.UK: Technical support with HMRC online services.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 6 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Hybrid working at HMRC

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Further Apprenticeship Information

Who can start an apprenticeship? To start an apprenticeship, you’ll need to be:

• 16 or over
• Have the right to live and work in the UK
• not in full-time education

You can apply for an apprenticeship while you’re still at school but you’ll need to be 16 or over by the end of the summer holidays to start the apprenticeship.

Please note if successful you must be 16 or over to undergo the relevant security checks.

A condition of your employment is the successful completion of your apprenticeship. Failure to meet this requirement may result in HMRC removing you from the Apprenticeship Programme and/or terminating your employment.

Your training requirements and probation period will run concurrently. If you do not successfully complete your probation and/or the apprenticeship—where it is a specific requirement of your role—your employment with HMRC may be subject to termination.

Your manager will provide you with further details about the training programme, including the structure of assessments and, where applicable, the number of permitted attempts to pass, if they have not already done so.

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - GOV.UK.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : HMRC Legal Resourcing team
• Email :