The Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) has introduced 'a period of recognised training' as an alternative to the traditional training contract route to legal qualification.

Changes to the requirement for solicitor training mean that experience gained outside of a training contract, for example as a paralegal, can equate to the traditional trainee framework, and be recognised as such by the SRA.

An SRA spokesperson said: "We have retained the requirement for training in terms of content, breadth, level, supervision, but we no longer require it to be undertaken in terms of an SRA training contract. This has been replaced by a 'period of recognised training (PRT)'.