International firm Ropes & Gray has launched a social mobility scholarship programme for first-year university students from ‘diverse and under-served low socioeconomic backgrounds’.

The programme aims to provide students with the chance to learn about legal and compliance careers and will offer a dozen students a two-week paid work experience scheme this summer at Ropes & Gray and financial news service Bloomberg, which is supporting the initiative.

The scheme, called Bridge To The City, will feature panel and networking events and a variety of masterclasses, which Ropes & Gray said are designed to ‘provide the students with the necessary skills to successfully apply for future graduate positions’.

Two of the students will receive a £20,000 scholarship at the end of the programme, as well as a vacation scheme at Ropes & Gray and long-term mentoring.

Ruchit Patel, Ropes & Gray’s trainee recruitment partner, said: ‘We’re hugely excited to be working with our friends at Bloomberg on this innovative new programme, which will help prepare talented students from underrepresented backgrounds for career success.

‘We recognise that many first-year students have not made up their minds about which direction to take their careers. As such, we wanted to work together to give students the opportunity to explore a number of options across the City in a single placement. I look forward to welcoming our first students later this year and supporting them on their journey, wherever that may take them.’