Fears of an oversupply of aspiring lawyers have been reinforced by new research showing a 16% fall in the number of available training contracts last year, despite the profession as a whole continuing to expand.

The latest annual statistical report from the Law Society shows that the number of registered training contracts offered in the 12-month period ending 31 July 2010 was 4,874, a decrease of 16.1% on the previous year's figure of 5,809. The annual number of training contracts has now fallen 23% from a 2007-08 peak of 6,303.

The news comes alongside a 5% rise in the number of full or part-time Legal Practice Course (LPC) places. The total number of full or part-time LPC places available for 2010-11 was 15,166, including 12,142 full-time places. The College of Law is the largest single largest provider, offering 4,750 full-time places in 2010-11, with BPP offering 2,915, meaning the two institutions hold 63% of the market measured by full-time LPC places.

However, the number of students enrolling on the LPC decreased substantially between 2009 and 2010, falling by 24.3%. Total enrolments in 2009 were 9,337, compared to 7,064 for 2010, with a 2010 pass rate of 87%.

The results are likely to be seized upon by those that argue that there is an over-supply of aspiring lawyers, with many having little chance of gaining a training contract.

Peter Crisp (pictured), dean and chief executive of BPP Law School, argued that the statistics come amid a pick-up in law firm recruitment.

He told Legal Week: "The market dictates the number of training contracts available and the number of students is a reflection of that. The students are intelligent enough to realise that finding a training contract is difficult at present, with the last two years having been particularly challenging. What we do see is that law firms are starting to recruit again."

The report also highlighted gender and ethnicity developments, with the proportion of female trainees reaching 63.4% compared to 61.7% last year. Females have represented a majority of trainees every year since 1999-2000.

Meanwhile, the number of black or other ethnic minority (BME) trainees has remained relatively static at around 20%. Of these, the majority (54.7%) are of Asian background.

Overall, 45.8% of all solicitors with practicing certificates are now women, with this group having doubled since 2000. 70.3% of solicitors in this group work in private practice, although the percentage is larger for male practice certificate holders, of which 76.3% work in private practice.

The report, the most complete statistical picture of the solicitor profession in England and Wales, shows that the legal market has continued to expand in recent years despite the slump in commercial activity.

The report shows that the total number of solicitors on the roll increased 3.3% last year to 150,128, while the number of solicitors with practising certificates increased by 2.1% to 117,862. The number of solicitors holding practising certificates has grown by 211.5% since 1980, expanding at an average annual rate of 3.9%.

The report also underlines the continued expansion of the in-house legal profession, with the proportion of solicitors working in-house or in the public sector rising from 19.7% in 2000 to 26.4% in 2010.

The statistics also highlight that the vast majority of law firms are relatively small, with 85% having no more than four partners. However, 41.5% of all solicitors work for the 2% of firms which have 26 partners or more.

There were 10,413 solicitor firms registered in England and Wales in 2010, an increase of 0.5% on the previous year.