The College of Law is set to open a new centre in Bristol next year. The centre, which will be the College's eighth base across the UK, will offer the graduate diploma in law (GDL) and the legal practice course (LPC).

Some 170 students are expected to enrol in the opening September 2010 intake, with the new launch set to involve around £1.2m of investment and the creation of 40 new jobs.

Local firms including Beachcroft, Bevan Brittan, Bond Pearce and Burges Salmon are all backing the venture, although none as yet have agreed exclusive tie-ups with the College for the education of their prospective trainees – as has occurred in Manchester and London.

Commenting on the venture, College of Law chief executive Nigel Savage said: "We have been monitoring the South West over the last few years and see it as a major catchment area. Already we have over 200 students from the region studying at our existing centres and see Bristol as the last piece in our jigsaw."

The College currently has two centres in London and one each in Guildford, York, Birmingham and Chester, with a Manchester branch set to open in September 2009.

News of the new launch came as research from Sweet & Maxwell found that there had been a 150% increase in the number of applications per training contract vacancy.

The research found there were now 130 law graduates applying for each trainee position. Last year there were 52 applications per position.

Law Society Junior Lawyers Division board member Kevin Poulter said: "The days of law being a safe bet are gone, but this message hasn't yet filtered through to students."

He also expressed concern about an "increasingly large pot" of LPC graduates without training contracts clogging up the already stretched job market.

Sam Eastwood, graduate recruitment partner at Norton Rose, suggested that the dramatic rise in the number of applicants per training contract was down to a variety of factors – some of them not entirely foreseeable.

"There's no doubt we're seeing a new, more competitive reality emerging. This is reinforced by the fact that law is being viewed as an increasingly attractive option by graduates who previously might have pursued careers in areas such as investment banking," he said.