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Linklaters has renewed its efforts to improve the socioeconomic diversity of its ranks, undertaking a competition to boost its interactions with state schools.

The Magic Circle firm launched its Making Links Schools Challenge competition earlier this year and has now awarded more than £50,000 in prizes to the winners.

The competition asked students to answer a question around innovation through an essay or short presentation, with 440 applications from state schools made.

Twenty students were chosen to make a final presentation earlier this week to a panel made up of Linklaters global diversity and inclusion partner David Martin, global head of talent and engagement Kate Richardson-Moore, and head of innovation Shilpa Bhandarkar.

The 20 finalists had tours of the Linklaters office in London and were introduced to lawyers and other professionals at the firm, as well as attending workshops focused around innovation, personal brand development and interview techniques.

Each of the 20 finalist schools received £2,000 in cash to develop students' research skills, and each finalist student received £500 in vouchers.

The winning school, Portsmouth College, received an additional £8,000 in cash. The winning student from Portsmouth College received an invitation to Linklaters' work insight programme, and a further £1,500 in vouchers.

Martin said in a statement that "state school applicants are heavily underrepresented in the legal profession, with applications dominated by independent schools", adding that the initiative will "help young people from less-privileged backgrounds [to] access mentoring and training opportunities".