For some years now the number of LPC passes (first sitting and after re-sitting) has been around 6,000 each year, while the number of training contracts signed has also been around 6,000. There is some slippage, which probably amounts to a few hundred not finding a training contract and, of course, the number of disappointed people accumulates year on year. Edward Aveyard’s guess that only 10% of law students get into training contracts is, therefore, wide of the mark (see [2008] Gazette, 31 July, 7), which five minutes’ research on the Society’s website would disclose.

What the Society’s site does not reveal so easily are the concerns about the profession’s growth. Can it continue to grow at the rate of 6,000 a year, plus a further 1,000 through the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test, without huge numbers of solicitors being disappointed?

Predictions about how the Legal Services Act will provide many solicitors with paralegal-level wages for relatively undemanding jobs are alarming. With a constant supply of young blood at the bottom, looking after those in the middle – partners are better placed to look after themselves, by and large – may present the real challenge.

Unless the supply slows, those who have made it into the profession need to maximise their chances of having long and rewarding careers. That is worth bringing to the attention of would-be LPC students before they part with their fees.