Trainee Solicitor Admission 2026

Welcome to the 2026 Admissions Process for Trainee Solicitors

The process of applying to the Roll of Solicitors in Northern Ireland ("the Roll"), for those trainee solicitors who commenced in 2024, will open at 9am (UK time) on Thursday 3rd September 2026. We will write to you via email on that date with a link to the online form.

In the meantime, it is advisable that you review and prepare your paperwork so as to ensure as speedy an admissions process as possible. You may also wish to avail of the advance fee payment process so as to avoid any delays come September.

On this page you will find:

• Details on Advance Fee Payment
• Advice on the Affidavits
• Link to the online application form

If you require assistance at any stage, please email the Society at admissions@lawsoc-ni.org.

Advance Fee Payment

There is a £50 admission fee per application for admission to the Roll. Payment of this fee is required before your application can progress.

In order to help reduce the turnaround time, the Society now accepts payment of this fee in advance of the formal opening of the admissions process in September. The fee may be paid by the trainee or an organisation.

If an organisation is paying the fee on your behalf, please share the Fee Payment Guide (available for download below) with the member of staff responsible. Please note, we do not issue invoices for this fee and only accept payment using the online card payment form. This fee does not carry VAT. 

The payee will receive a receipt via email once payment is made - if applicable, you may use this to claim reimbursement from your employer.

You should refer to your most recent email from the Society for your Trainee ID and include this on the form, or share with the payee, so we can connect your payment with your admission application.

Affidavits

As part of your admission application, you will be required to upload a number of sworn affidavits, as follows: 

• Affidavit of Solicitor:

  Each Master under whom you have served as a trainee solicitor must complete this affidavit. If you have had more than one Master, each one must complete a separate affidavit. They cannot be combined into one document.

• Affidavit of Trainee:

  This document is completed by you. It is for those trainee solicitors who have not transferred their Master.

• Affidavit of Apprentice (Multiple Masters):

  This document is for the use of trainee solicitors who have held more than one Master during their training. Using this template will avoid the time and cost of having multiple affidavits completed and sworn.

You may download the Affidavit templates and examples as part of the Affidavit Pack .zip file below.

Swearing Your Affidavits

You may prepare the documents but please note the affidavits cannot be dated or sworn on OR before 2nd September 2026. If an uploaded affidavit has been sworn on before this date your admission will be delayed and you will be asked to supply a freshly sworn document.

Each affidavit must be sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths. Under Art 76(1) of the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, "...every solicitor who holds a practising certificate which is in force shall have all the powers conferred by any enactment on a commissioner for oaths."

The affidavits must not be sworn before your Master or another solicitor based in the organisation in which you completed your training.

Size and Format

The maximum file size for uploaded documents is 3MB. The approved file types are PDF, JPEG, JPG and PNG. Please ensure your paperwork is fully legible and correctly formatted before you commence the application.

Please be reminded that you should NOT, further to Arts. 4 and 19 of the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, refer to yourself as a solicitor, for example on social media or in your email signature, until you have been formally admitted to the Roll of Solicitors and received your Roll number. You may continue to use the term "Trainee Solicitor” until this time.

Any queries in respect to admission should be directed to the Admissions Officer at admissions@lawsoc-ni.org.