Two Rhyl Sixth Law students narrowly missed out on being crowned legal apprentices of the year at a competition in London, after making it to the final four out of nearly 1,000 entries.

The inaugural Legal Apprentice Competition is a UK-wide competition organised by renowned London law firm Kingsley Napley, in partnership with The Times newspaper.

17-year old Alisha Buckley, and Emily Shaw, 16, who are both from Rhyl, were two of only ten Year 12 pupils from four schools across the UK who successfully reached the final of the highly-rated legal competition.

The final, which was held at News UK (headquarters of The Times), saw four schools - Parkstone Grammar School in Dorset, Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School in Kent, St Mary’s Grammar School in Ulster (the eventual winners) and, last bit not least, The Rhyl Sixth – compete to be crowned the victors. Immediately prior to this, the finalists travelled to London to attend a masterclass with Kingsley Napley, where they honed their legal and debating skills.

During the final, Alisha and Emily battled it out against teams from three grammar schools, where they had to complete three tasks in front of a panel of esteemed judges: ‘Advising the Client’, ‘The Police Interview’ and ‘Representations on Bail’. The talented duo are both studying for their A levels at Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhyl campus, and are both planning to go on to university to study Law.

Launched last September by law firm Kingsley Napley in partnership with The Times, the competition saw 902 teams from 308 schools across the UK compete against each other through a series of heats, testing pupils’ drafting, negotiation and interpersonal skills, with only four teams making it to the national final.

Alisha and Emily’s tutor, Peter Cornish, said: “A big congratulations to Alisha and Emily on getting to the final of one of the most prestigious law competitions in the UK; it truly is a marvellous achievement. We will definitely be entering another team from Rhyl Sixth next year.”

Martin Evans, Coleg Llandrillo’s Programme Area Manager - Rhyl Sixth & Rhos A Levels, added: “This is an extraordinary achievement. They represented the college in an extremely professional manner and I am sure that they have very bright futures ahead of them.”

Stephen Parkinson, senior partner at Kingsley Napley, said: “The response to our Legal Apprentice Competition has been overwhelming and the calibre of applicants, outstanding. The competition was fierce but our finalists performed consistently well and stood out for their excellent legal flair.”

For more information on courses at Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhyl campus, contact the college on 01745 354 797.

Web: www.gllm.ac.uk