Holman Fenwick Willan, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Bird & Bird have all announced the details of their autumn trainee intakes, as more details of UK top 50 retention rates continue to emerge.

Holman Fenwick is retaining 100% of its trainees after offering all 15 associate positions with the firm. Six of those are to be based in overseas offices including Geneva, Piraeus, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The clean sweep compares favourably to last year when the firm retained nine qualifiers from a round of 13 (69%).

Holman Fenwick partner and training principal Toby Stephens (pictured) said: "This is only the second group of trainees to have all had the chance of spending a six-month seat abroad and been able to experience for themselves the exciting opportunities available throughout our international network."

Meanwhile, Field Fisher has seen 76% of its autumn trainees stay on after 12 of the 17-strong group accepted roles at the firm's City office. However, in an unusual step, five of those being retained have been put on 12-month fixed-term contracts.

The firm has stressed that these five positions are full legal roles and not paralegal positions, and ultimately expect the quintet to progress into permanent positions.

In a statement, the firm said: "Five of these positions have been structured as, initially, for a 12-month fixed term – this is for a number of reasons. None of the fixed-term positions is for a paralegal role being dressed up as a NQ role."

Among the five leaving the firm, three turned down the roles offered to them, and four are set to begin NQ roles at other firms. The rate is down on last autumn's results when the firm saw 17 NQs of a 20-strong round (85%) accept positions with the firm.

Elsewhere, Bird & Bird has announced a strong retention rate of 94% after 15 of its 16 qualifying trainees took the roles offered to them. The one remaining qualifier chose to return to university for further studies. The result is marginally up from 92% this time last year, when 11 of its 12 NQs took a job at the firm.