In June, RBS Legal in Edinburgh hosted 20 school pupils as part of its annual First Step social mobility programme. First Step is a week-long legal work experience programme for 20 pupils from the Central Belt, Fife and the Borders, who are either in receipt of free school meals; the first generation in their family to go to university; or have faced other exceptional social, educational, financial or other personal obstacles.

A dedicated committee of volunteers from RBS Legal organised the packed programme this year – Nicola Reid, Katherine Annand, Holly Beveridge, Marliese Perks, Joanne Archibald, Natasha Hughes and Jennifer Murchison.

The week was full of interesting sessions and the pupils were busy from 9-5 every day. They shadowed lawyers, received interview skills training and practice, visited the Sheriff Court, had an afternoon at law firm Dentons, participated in project work to design a mobile app for the bank and presented their project to a panel of senior legal staff.

They also learned CV writing skills, attended confidence-building workshops, heard talks from Edinburgh University and the Law Society of Scotland, had career conversations with trainees and enjoyed networking lunches.

The programme received wide-ranging praise from the pupils involved.

“An amazing week that I would recommend anyone to do and sign up for. I’ve developed so many skills and learned so much from this programme. A week packed with amazing people and activities,” said one participant.

“Such a fantastic experience that I will cherish, one of the best experiences I’ve had and I’ve learned so much,” said another.

Pupils from previous First Step years have successfully gone on to study law, crediting the programme as a key stepping stone in their journey to university.