Freshfields reads an 850-word statement, then tests your critical thinking with the Watson Glaser

Freshfields says invited applicants take the Watson Glaser test, which it describes as assessing critical thinking: recognising assumptions, evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions from evidence. Our reasoning test trains the verbal half of that habit, judging statements only on what a passage supports.

Our test is not the Watson Glaser and does not have its five separate question types. Freshfields does not publish a pass mark, a question count or a time limit on the pages we read, and the Hong Kong route describes an untimed test of its own. Use the practice link Freshfields gives for the exact format.

At Freshfields the written application is the first filter, and the test comes only if you are invited onwards. That ordering matters. Your statement has to earn the right to sit the Watson Glaser, so it deserves the same rehearsal time as the test itself.

Freshfields says it does not reject applications for having no legal work experience. That frees you to write about what you have actually done: a part-time job, a society, a research project. Show the reasoning behind your choices, because reasoning is what the next stage measures too.

Freshfields frames the Watson Glaser around three skills: recognising assumptions, evaluating arguments or information, and drawing appropriate conclusions from evidence. Each one punishes the same mistake, which is bringing in what you know instead of what the passage says.

Train that restraint deliberately. On every practice item, point to the sentence that justifies your answer before you choose it. If you cannot point to one, the safest answer in most critical thinking formats is that the conclusion does not follow. Our verbal reasoning questions are built around the same discipline, and the Watson-Glaser guide covers all five of its sections.

The pages we read give no question count, no time limit and no pass mark. Prep sites fill the gap with different figures: one says about 40 questions in about 30 minutes, another says up to 40 questions in under 50 minutes. Neither is confirmed by the firm, so plan for the tighter one and read your invitation carefully.

Freshfields' Hong Kong page describes its own online test as untimed. That is a different office and should not be assumed for London. The practice link Freshfields gives is the safest way to see the current format before you start the scored attempt.

Pass the test and Freshfields invites you to a half-day assessment centre. An older Freshfields page put a 45-minute written exercise before the first interview, and candidates commonly report a task built around editing or restructuring a piece of writing, followed by interviews.

If that format holds, the written exercise rewards plain, ordered prose under time pressure. Practise turning a muddled email into three clear paragraphs in 20 minutes, then read it back for the one sentence a busy partner would need.

Freshfields runs a direct route, the UK Trainee Associate Programme, alongside its vacation schemes. The direct route is open from 1 October to 13 November 2026 for starts in 2028 or 2029, and the firm says you do not need to have completed a vacation scheme to win a place.

The 2027 summer vacation schemes closed early, at 17:00 on 26 October 2026, because of high application volume. That early closure is a useful warning for every Freshfields deadline: submit well before the published date rather than on it.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Freshfields has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• It is commonly reported on prep sites that the Freshfields Watson Glaser has about 40 questions, though they disagree on whether the limit is about 30 or about 50 minutes.
• A forum commenter says Freshfields does not release a pass mark or a feedback report for its Watson Glaser test.
• A candidate review describes a 45-minute written exercise that involved proofreading and restructuring an email, followed by two interviews of about an hour each.