Training principal roles and responsibilities

September 2021

In order to be authorised to take trainees, your organisation must nominate a training principal. The organisation must also notify us if the training principal changes.

The training principal must be a solicitor holding a current practising certificate or be a practising barrister.

Training principal's duties

• Notify us in the prescribed form before any individual commences a period of recognised training, or if this is not possible then as soon as practicable thereafter
• Make sure that the training provided meets the requirements of regulation 4
• Make sure trainees maintain a record of training which will meet the requirements set out at regulation 3E.1 of the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations
• Certify to the authorised training provider in the prescribed form at the end of any period of recognised training whether, in their opinion, the trainee:
  • is of the proper character and suitability to be admitted as a solicitor
  • has completed training which complies with regulation 4 of these regulations
• Inform us of any previous experience recognised under regulation 4.2.

The training principal can delegate these responsibilities to others. If so, the trainee should be informed.

Registering a trainee

Trainees need to register their own period of recognised training through mySRA. The training principal will then need to approve this before it starts.

As a training provider, you continue to be responsible for paying registration fees. You can pay by invoice (using the ‘Bill me’ option) or by debit or credit card when you approve the training. You will have the option to pay the registration fees for your trainees in bulk or individually.

The application will be granted automatically unless you reject the application, in which case we will contact you.

To find out more go to Registering a trainee.

Signing off a period of recognised training

Training principals must certify the trainee has completed the training required under our regulations. Please see our Period of recognised training section for more on this.

If a trainee has completed a period of training elsewhere, the training principal at the final firm will need to be satisfied this training also meets the Practice Skills Standards. This can be done at the outset of the training, by reviewing the trainee's record and/or discussing their performance with the previous firm.

Trainees' character and suitability to be a solicitor

If a trainee wants to check any potential issues before they can apply for admission, they can complete the character and suitability assessment at any time.

Trainees do not have to disclose character and suitability issues before they start training. But they must tell us about any issues when they apply for admission as a solicitor.

At the end of the period of recognised training, the training principal will need to state whether, in their opinion, the trainee is of the proper character and suitability to be admitted as a solicitor.

Cancelling a period of recognised training

We do not need to agree that periods of recognised training are cancelled. This is an employment matter for trainees and training providers and is a matter of law, not a regulatory issue. This means that we cannot advise on this matter and recommend that you seek independent legal advice before cancelling a period of recognised training. You should also be aware that these are viewed as apprenticeships.

However, if you do cancel a period of recognised training, you need to tell us after it has happened.

You can notify us of the cancellation in the 'Manage Trainees' section of your mySRA account.