How to Become a Legal Secretary: Routes, Qualifications and Pay

Legal secretary is one of the few routes into legal work that does not require a degree, does not require a training contract, and can be entered from an ordinary administrative job. It is also one of the least clearly explained, because the four ways in are run by four different kinds of organisation.

This guide sets out those routes, what the job actually involves day to day, and what it pays. Salary and entry requirements are from the National Careers Service, which is the government's own careers information, rather than from job adverts.

What a legal secretary does

The role provides administrative support to solicitors and legal executives. It is also advertised as legal personal assistant or legal PA, and the same job sits behind all three titles.

Day to day, the National Careers Service describes the work as:

• drafting, checking and editing reports
• preparing court forms and statements
• handling confidential information correctly
• working from solicitors' written notes and audio files, which means audio typing from dictation
• responding to client enquiries
• making appointments, setting up meetings and managing diaries
• accompanying solicitors to court or police stations
• delivering, collecting and filing documents
• handling billing and invoices

Two of those are worth drawing out, because they are what distinguishes this from general office administration. Preparing court forms and statements requires knowing court procedure, not just formatting. And accompanying solicitors to court or police stations means the role is not purely desk-based.

The working environment follows from that: an office, a court, or a police station.

What it pays and the hours

The National Careers Service gives an average range of £24,000 for starters rising to £40,000 for experienced legal secretaries, with typical hours of 36 to 40 a week, usually worked between 8am and 6pm.

Those are national averages and London will sit above them. Treat any figure found in a job advert as a data point rather than a benchmark.

The four routes in

1. A college course

You can take a course covering some of the skills and knowledge needed for a trainee role. The relevant courses are law, law and legal work, or the T Level in Legal Services.

Entry requirements vary by course. For a T Level you will usually need 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or equivalent, including English and maths.

2. An apprenticeship

You can apply for a Paralegal Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship with a legal firm. It takes around two years and combines on-the-job training with time at a learning provider.

Entry is usually 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or equivalent, including English.

Note what this route is actually called. The apprenticeship is a paralegal apprenticeship, not a legal secretary one, which matters when you are searching for vacancies — see our guide to paralegal qualifications and routes in the UK for how that standard works.

3. Working your way in

You can start as an admin assistant with a legal services company and then apply for a trainee legal secretary position. For trainee roles you will need a good standard of spoken and written English, strong organisation, and excellent IT skills, particularly word processing.

This is the route that requires no formal qualification at the point of entry, and it is how a large share of legal secretaries actually arrive.

4. A professional body qualification

Two options sit here, and they are run by different bodies with different destinations.

The Legal Secretaries Diploma is offered through the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs. It is designed for the role itself.

The Foundation Stage of the CILEX Professional Qualification is the alternative, and it is the one with onward progression built in, because it is the entry point to the CILEX route toward becoming a Chartered Legal Executive. Both are aimed at people already working in a legal setting and at career changers moving into law.

If the longer route interests you, our guides to what CILEX and the CPQ actually involve and to what CILEX costs and how long it takes set out what that commitment looks like before you start it.

The skills employers test for

The National Careers Service lists administration skills, legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations, thoroughness and attention to detail, excellent verbal and written communication, the ability to work well with others, concentration, customer service skills, and confident use of a computer and the main software packages.

Two practical points sit alongside that list. Some employers look for typing speeds of 50 words a minute or higher. And accuracy is valued by all employers, to the point that you may be tested on it as part of an interview task.

That second point is worth preparing for specifically. An interview for this role is more likely to include a practical exercise than an interview for a general administrative job.

Where it leads

The role connects to several others rather than being a dead end. Related careers include paralegal, legal executive, barrister's clerk, court administrative assistant and executive assistant.

The most common progression is into paralegal work, and from there the CILEX route remains open toward qualifying as a Chartered Legal Executive without a degree or a training contract. That is the reason the choice between the Legal Secretaries Diploma and the CILEX Foundation Stage matters more than it first appears: one qualifies you for the job, the other starts a longer route.

Is it the right entry point?

It suits someone who wants to work in law without committing to a degree, who is already strong administratively, and who is willing to learn court procedure properly rather than treating the role as typing.

It suits less well anyone expecting to do legal reasoning from the start. The work is substantive and procedural rather than advisory, and the people who are happiest in it tend to be those who value being extremely good at a demanding operational job.