Linklaters and Eversheds have both announced their trainee retention rates for September, with the firms keeping on 93% and 87% of NQs respectively.

Linklaters is set to set to keep on 53 of its 57 trainees this autumn – equating to 93%. All bar one of the 57 qualifying applied for a position, with all those offered a place accepting.

The round marks an increase on the firm's two most recent trainee intakes, when it retained 82% of its March 2011 qualifiers and 87% of its September 2010 qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Eversheds will see 33 of its 38 NQs stay at the firm this September, equating to a retention rate of 87%, with one of the group taking a paralegal role.

Linklaters' trainee development partner, Simon Firth, said: "The increase in the number of trainees we have retained from this intake is just a reflection of the increase in business levels that we are seeing.

"We have not done anything dramatically different in our recruitment strategy in recent times, but I think you can see a rise in the quality of trainees over the last five to 10 years, as the Legal Practice Course continues to get better."

The pair are the latest UK firms to confirm trainee retention in recent weeks. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set to retain 96% of its September intake, with Slaughter and May and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain are both set to keep on 100% of their latest round of qualifiers.

For more, see Quartet of top UK firms confirm retention rates for September NQs.