Discover the pathways to your legal career with Russell-Cooke through our dynamic training contract and immersive vacation scheme experiences. Our training contract and vacation scheme applications will open on 8 November 2024, and will close on 7 February 2025.What are the entry requirements? No, if you choose to qualify as a solicitor via the SQE route, you will not be required to complete a training contract. In this article, she sketches out her top tips for those looking to apply and describes her experience as a trainee so far. The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). Find out how Russell-Cooke is adopting the Solicitors Qualifying Exam. This means students going down the SQE route undertake two years of QWE, instead of completing a training contract. We offer two different types of SQE Training Contracts – Rotational or Specialist. The Application Process.