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Dentons Now to Next Scholarship

What is the Dentons Now to Next Scholarship?

The Dentons Now to Next Scholarship is a national student scholarship scheme designed for students of Black, African or Caribbean heritage (including applicants of mixed-race with Black African or Black Caribbean heritage) starting on a degree in law.

The Scholarship

The Dentons Now to Next Scholarship is aimed at students from Black, African or Caribbean heritage (including applicants of mixed-race with Black African or Black Caribbean heritage) that are under-represented in law. It is designed to support students both financially and provide opportunities to develop their interest in a career in law.

Our 2025 Now to Next scholars will be provided with a scholarship of £2,500 per annum during their three year UK undergraduate law degree. Alongside this financial support, scholars will be guaranteed a place on Dentons Open Days, gain access to mentoring, and regularly meet with our Early Careers team and trainees. They will develop their understanding of commercial law through various opportunities to build connections with legal professionals and insight events.

What are we looking for?

Our application process allows you to show us who you really are, beyond grades and experience. We welcome people who are driven to challenge. We’ll be looking for collaboration, drive and problem solving throughout the process.

Applications are welcome from students of Black, African or Caribbean heritage (including applicants of mixed-race with Black African or Black Caribbean heritage) who:

  • Attend, and have attended from aged 11, a state-funded non-fee paying school/college in the UK or an independent/fee paying school through a bursary scheme in the UK.
  • Intend to complete a full-time undergraduate law degree in the UK, but have not commenced one yet.
  • Hold a strong academic record.

For Scottish applicants, please note you must be applying to undertake a three-year Common Law degree as well as the criteria above. If you have any questions around your eligibility, please get in touch with our Early Careers Team at earlycareers@dentons.com. 

How can I apply?

Application Process: Online application form > Telephone Interview > Final Interview

Applications for our 2025 intake will open on 6 January 2025 and will close on 25 April 2025. If you would like to receive an email update when applications open, please register your interest here.

You can also view the drop down sections below for our advice on each stage of the application process.

  • Online application form addremove

    This is your chance to tell us more about you. We will also ask you some long answer questions, to find out about your motivations, drive and attributes.

    Tips

    • Pay attention to the word count: it is there for a reason. If we give you 250 words, that’s how many words we believe you need to give us a detailed enough answer.
    • Attention to Detail: ask someone to proof read your application. When you’ve spent so much time on it, it can be easy to miss mistakes.
    • Research: Do your Dentons research, and be specific. We want to hear what you think makes Dentons unique, and why that is something you are interested in.
    • Stand Out: You’ve covered what makes Dentons unique, but we also want to know about you. What makes you different?
  • Telephone Interview addremove

    The telephone interview will see you answer some short questions regarding your motivation for applying to the program. This interview will also be looking at your past experiences and the skills you have developed through them.

    The interview lasts 20 – 30 minutes and will be with a member of our Early Careers team.

    Tips

    • Prepare in advance: Do some research on the scholarship before the interview, and think about why you applied. Also go through your past experiences, and think about the skills you have developed through them.
    • Be specific about your input: We want to hear what your personal contributions and actions have been, so avoid saying ‘we’ and say ‘I’ instead.
    • Use a range of examples: Successful candidates pull complex examples from a range of experiences.
    • Practice: Practice answering some competency based questions. You could consider researching methods such as STAR for structuring your answers.
  • Final Interview addremove

    The final stage of the application process is an interview, designed to allow us to find out more about your motivation for applying and your motivation for a career in law.

Why Should I Apply?

We have been supporting aspiring law students through the Now to Next Scholarship Programme for the past four years, and are delighted to be recruiting for our fifth group of scholars.

Our scholars have shared their own words about how the scholarship programme has benefitted them throughout university and as they have started their journey on a career in commercial law…

“Given that Cambridge only has 8-week terms, my accommodation at university tends to last just under 9 weeks. I unfortunately do not have a conducive home working environment so the scholarship funding has enabled me to pay for additional accommodation within my college for the Christmas and Easter holidays such that I can complete the bulk of my work. I would say this has probably been the most transformative part of the scholarship funding as I can genuinely see a link between my attainment in essay submissions etc and the fact that I am staying in halls to work. Also different societies throughout University tend to vary in prices and I have been able to not miss out on getting involved in my local community of pursuing personal interests simply because of funding concerns. I have bought Law Society Membership, ACS Membership, Union Membership.

I would definitely say that the scholarship programme has definitely quelled my concerns as the industry is clearly having more open and honest conversations about mental health and diversity concerns. The programme has definitely exposed me to new practice areas especially through being automatically considered for the GROW Mentoring programme. My mentors were fantastic in telling me about their practice areas which I found fascinating.” – Graduated Dentons Now to Next Scholar

 

“While these last three years have been some of the most challenging thus far, having your support and the very many mentors I have met through the programme has been invaluable.” – Graduated Dentons Now to Next Scholar

 

“The Early Careers team are absolutely stellar. Rupali especially has been a comforting and friendly presence, and I have benefitted from our contact regarding preparing for application season. I feel like I have a foot in the door now because of the Early Careers support team.” – 2nd Year Dentons Now to Next Scholar