Linklaters has become the latest Magic Circle firm to increase its maintenance grant for future trainees studying their graduate diploma in law (GDL).

Students studying in London will now receive grants of £10,000 – up 25% from £8,000. Outside of London, students will receive a £9,000 grant, up nearly 30% from £7,000.

The move follows similar hikes by Magic Circle rivals Freshfields and Clifford Chance in May, and Slaughter and May in July, which all raised their grants to the same level of £10,000.

Only Allen & Overy has not raised its grant, which remains at £9,000.  

The announcement by Linklaters is the latest exchange in an ongoing pay war to secure younger talent at top firms in the U.K.

Earlier this month, the firm became the last of the Magic Circle to raise its newly qualified (NQ) salary to £100,000 – after Freshfields started a pay war by raising salaries by £15,000 in May.

A full lowdown of the salary changes can be found here.

Linklaters managing partner Gideon Moore expressed frustration earlier this month at the NQ pay hikes, commenting: "You have to ask the people who started this process what exactly they expected to achieve from it."