Magic circle firms are continuing to reduce UK trainee numbers, with the combined intake down 17% since 2010.

Across the group, the total intake has declined from 584 to 482 over the period, falling every year individually bar 2013.

Clifford Chance's (CC) trainee numbers are down by just over a quarter since 2010 – the highest percentage drop in the elite club. The firm is closely followed by Allen & Overy (A&O) with a 23% decrease, while Linklaters has seen its total trainee numbers fall from 136 in 2010 to 115 this year – a 15% decline.

Slaughter and May, the magic circle firm with the smallest intake, has gone from an annual intake of 88 to 74 over the period – a 16% drop; however, year on year its intake size has fallen by 21% after spiking at 94 in 2013.

Only Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has remained broadly stable, taking on only two fewer trainees in 2014 than five years ago.

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The drop in target intake size has been a deliberate strategy on the part of firms, reflecting in part the growth of business outside the UK. Both Allen & Overy (A&O) and CC have previously announced plans  to cut back target intakes. CC, which had a target of 120 trainees, plans to recruit only 100 from next year, saying that this goal "follows more accurately the number of English-qualified lawyers we anticipate needing for our English law practice in the UK and the rest of the world in a few years' time".

A&O has also made public its plans to scale back on trainee positions in recent years. In 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, the firm announced it would cut its trainee intake from 120 to 105 from 2011. Two years later, the firm said it would take on only 90 trainees per year from 2014, before revising this target again last August to 85 trainees annually as of 2015.

In addition to the changing geographic spread of work, caution in the wake of the post-Lehman crash also explains the decline.

"Each year we spend time considering our numbers," says Nick Rumsby, trainee development partner at Linklaters. "Obviously there is a long lead time between recruitment and the point of qualification as associates. We look at current business levels in London and our other offices, as well as our current business plans, and draw on our experiences through the different economic environments."

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Away from the size of initial intakes, much of the attention when it comes to trainees is on the proportion that end up taking qualified lawyer jobs at their chosen firm.

For example, when A&O last year down-scaled its projected intakes, it said it wanted to make sure there was "a strong prospect of a long-term career with the firm after qualification". Previously, the firm had said trainee numbers needed to reflect the fact that the London office was not growing as fast as before.

The average retention rate across the magic circle improved this year, up from 81% to 87%, bucking 4% and 3% drops in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Slaughters and Linklaters boasted the best rates, posting 96% and 90% respectively.

"A reduction in retention in one particular year does not necessarily mean there is a long-term issue – the key is to look at the longer term and the question of consistency," says Robert Byk, graduate recruitment partner at Slaughters.

"A lower retention rate could be to do with the market or indeed the particular cohort. In my view, if you have really good people who you are letting go because of a short-term market view that's disappointing. Good people are likely to generate work and have strong careers."

With intakes at the elite firms set to dwindle further in the coming years, competition for the brightest young legal talent will only increase, and a healthy retention rate is a good tool to help attract the best.