SOCIAL
SOCIAL MOBILITY
SOCIAL
SOCIAL MOBILITY
SOCIAL
SOCIAL MOBILITY
In 2022, we established social mobility as a distinct pillar of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda to ensure greater focus and visibility of the work we're doing in this space as we recognise that the struggle for social mobility persists in the legal sector. Social mobility is fundamental to our vision of being a truly responsible and inclusive business. We believe that everyone, regardless of their background or life circumstances, should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and access a meaningful career in the legal profession.
Embedded into our DEI strategy, our approach combines long‑term partnerships with schools, universities and non-profit organisations, early careers programmes that widen routes into law, and targeted initiatives designed to break down traditional barriers in our sector. By challenging outdated perceptions, removing barriers and broadening access, we aim to build a profession that better reflects the communities we serve and enables talent from every background to thrive.
As we mention earlier in this report, there is an intentional overlap in all our responsible business activities and in all our work to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure we maximise opportunities to make impact and create value. This is relevant to our engagement with schools and universities, which is an important element of both our community engagement activity and our social mobility work. We also recognise that, in addition to the strong alignment with SDG 4 - Quality Education and the ambition to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all, education will allow many other SDGs to be achieved.
Key statistics
Highlights from FY 2025/26
Looking forward - FY 2026/27
Memberships
UN Sustainable Development Goal
Key statistics
colleagues completed their Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeships and moved into NQ roles at the firm
young people enrolled in our Forage virtual work experience programme
hours of mock interviews, CV writing support, and career advice received by students
Highlights from FY 2025/26
Highlights from FY 2025/26
Our Early Talent Acquisition Team led an update to our School Engagement Strategy to improve our partnerships with schools. An exciting outcome of the refreshed strategy is a new partnership with Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) and The Brilliant Club, and the launch of a new pilot programme. You can read more about this here.
We worked with Envision, a UK education charity that supports young people from less advantaged backgrounds to develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed in education, employment and life. Envision delivers structured programmes in secondary schools and colleges, enabling students to identify issues in their school or local community and design practical, student led social action projects to address them. Since 2019, we have provided volunteer business mentors, giving young people exposure to the workplace and helping them build core transferable skills including communication, teamwork, creativity and resilience. These skills are critical to future employability and are often less accessible to young people facing disadvantage. In FY 2025/26, we supported 12 students who took part in four mentoring sessions and a presentation to a judging panel at our Bristol office. The next cohort started in March 2026, supported by seven of our mentors.
We provided work experience placements to students in Bristol, Leeds, London, Plymouth and Southampton through our Pathways to Law work experience programme, run with Sutton Trust, supporting talented students from underrepresented backgrounds to access careers in the legal profession. The programme provides structured employability support across Years 12 and 13, including legal work experience, skills development workshops, university insight and exposure to the profession. By removing financial and social barriers and offering early, meaningful access to legal careers, Pathways to Law plays a key role in strengthening social mobility and widening participation within the legal sector. In February 2026, a total of 10 students attended a three-day placement, in five different teams with 19 colleagues supporting the students whilst they were with us.
We supported the Government's T-Level programme by offering placements to two T-level students in law. The students joined our pilot in September and work at the firm one day a week as part of the programme. The students worked across different areas of the business, including fee-earning and business services roles. You can find out more about the impact of the programme here.
Thank you for all the time and support you gave me during my time with the Real Estate department; it was an absolute pleasure learning from you! I particularly enjoyed creating a report on the Renter's Rights reform in England, I found it very interesting and insightful. I would also like to thank you for explaining everything so clearly and taking the time to support and guide me. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn from you.
Student
Pathways to Law Programme
Thank you for all the time and support you gave me during my time with the Real Estate department; it was an absolute pleasure learning from you! I particularly enjoyed creating a report on the Renter's Rights reform in England, I found it very interesting and insightful. I would also like to thank you for explaining everything so clearly and taking the time to support and guide me. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn from you.
Student
Pathways to Law Programme
Looking forward - FY 2026/27
A priority project for the new financial year is the launch of our new Social Mobility network. The network’s insights and feedback will help us to target our support effectively and ensure that what we offer is responsive to needs. We are also focused on improving the response rates to the refreshed social mobility questions in our ‘Count Me In’ staff survey so that we have more meaningful data to inform our actions.
Memberships
Signatories to Social Mobility Pledge
Founding members of PRIME - an alliance of law firms and in-house legal teams determined to improve access to, and socio-economic diversity within, the legal profession
Legal Early Careers Network
One of the founding Cornerstone Employers in the West of England (and current Chair) and Cornerstone Employer in Plymouth and Torbay region
Our priority UN Sustainable Development Goal
Goal alignment
4.4 Increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial success
by 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education
by 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy
by 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship
by 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
