jobfacts

Legal secretary

Legal secretaries — SOC 2020 4212

Legal secretaries file and maintain legal and other records, transcribe notes and dictation into typewritten form and perform other routine clerical tasks in legal practices.

Also calledLegal personal assistantLegal paAdministrative assistantLegal aid clerkLitigation secretaryAdministration assistantand 13 more titles
Typical full-time pay£27,0002025 Provisional
People in the job31,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month638↓ 14%on last year · 241st of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time legal secretaries earn between £24,200 and £31,700 a year.

What full-time legal secretaries earn, 2025
£27,000 typical£22,200lowest 10%£24,20025%£31,70075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£24,200–£31,700)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£22,200
Lowest 20% earn less than£23,900
25%£24,200
Median£27,000
75%£31,700
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £27,000
London!£38,800
South East!£31,000
Scotland!£28,700
South West!£27,300
East of England!£25,700
North West!£24,800
North East!£23,600
West Midlands!£23,000
Yorkshire and The Humber!£21,500
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £27,000
London£38,800 (small sample)
South East£31,000 (small sample)
Scotland£28,700 (small sample)
South West£27,300 (small sample)
East of England£25,700 (small sample)
North West£24,800 (small sample)
North East£23,600 (small sample)
West Midlands£23,000 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£21,500 (small sample)
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £24,500
  • 2024 £25,900
  • 2025 Provisional£27,000
↑ 10% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 638 jobs for legal secretaries are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026635
Jul 2026534
Jun 2026727
May 2026611
Apr 2026555
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026Not published
Jan 2026703
Dec 2025354
Nov 2025729
Oct 2025801
Sept 2025727
Aug 2025805
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 2025912
Apr 2025699
Mar 2025806
Feb 2025848
Jan 2025816
Dec 2024427
Nov 2024751
Oct 2024743
Sept 2024791
Aug 2024745
Jul 2024868
Jun 2024831
May 2024942
Apr 2024857
Mar 2024769
Feb 2024671
Jan 2024843
Dec 2023572
Nov 2023684
Oct 2023823
Sept 2023746
Aug 2023790
Jul 2023895
Jun 20231,174
May 20231,012
Apr 20231,042
Mar 20231,154
Feb 20231,096
Jan 20231,395
Dec 20221,001
Nov 20221,351
Oct 20221,359
Sept 20221,304
Aug 20221,447
Jul 20221,549
Jun 20221,440
May 20221,447
Apr 20221,218
Mar 20221,355
Feb 20221,365
Jan 20221,552
Dec 20211,211
Nov 20211,208
Oct 20211,327
Sept 20211,472
Aug 20211,193
Jul 20211,305
Jun 20211,472
May 20211,324
Apr 20211,179
Mar 20211,450
Feb 2021766
Jan 2021725
Dec 2020538
Nov 2020615
Oct 2020569
Sept 2020503
Aug 2020316
Jul 2020316
Jun 2020249
May 2020259
Apr 2020668
Mar 20201,709
Feb 20201,858
Jan 20201,480
Dec 2019984
Nov 20191,425
Oct 20191,506
Sept 20191,535
Aug 20191,798
Jul 20192,273
Jun 20192,003
May 20192,499
Apr 20191,382
Mar 20191,832
Feb 20191,801
Jan 20191,871
Dec 20181,229
Nov 20181,678
Oct 20181,736
Sept 20181,951
Aug 20181,929
Jul 20181,811
Jun 20181,988
May 20181,771
Apr 20181,863
Mar 20181,866
Feb 20181,690
Jan 20182,056
Dec 20171,396
Nov 20171,607
Oct 20171,697
Sept 20171,509
Aug 20171,694
Jul 20171,585
Jun 20172,099
May 20171,658
Apr 20171,599
Mar 20171,929
Feb 20171,529
Jan 20172,065
Is there a shortage of legal secretaries?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
14%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for secretarial and related occupations, which includes legal secretaries. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London278
Birmingham56
Belfast53
Manchester48
Leeds36
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole36
Bristol, City of32
Glasgow City29
Nottingham27
Brighton and Hove26
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where legal secretaries are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of legal secretaries
n/p
18%!
24%!
29%!
22%!
8.3%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3418% (small sample)
35–4424% (small sample)
45–5429% (small sample)
55–6422% (small sample)
65+8.3% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!23%
Higher education below degree!6.2%
A levels or equivalent32%
GCSEs or equivalent!30%
Other qualifications!5%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent23% (small sample)
Higher education below degree6.2% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent32%
GCSEs or equivalent30% (small sample)
Other qualifications5% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: legal activities (50%), justice and judicial activities (23%), activities of professional membership organisations (6%), general public administration activities (5%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
23%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 32%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could take a course to learn some of the skills and knowledge needed to get a role as a trainee legal secretary. Courses include:

  • law
  • law and legal work
  • T Level in Legal Services
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Paralegal Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship, with a legal firm.

This takes around 2 years to complete and combines on-the-job training and time spent with a learning provider.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could start as an admin assistant with a legal services company, then apply for a trainee position as a legal secretary.

For trainee roles, you'll need:

  • a good standard of spoken and written English
  • to be well organised
  • excellent IT skills, especially word processing
Other routes

You could complete a qualification, like the Legal Secretaries Diploma, through a professional body, such as The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs.

Alternatively, you might do the Foundation Stage of the CILEx Professional Qualification.

These qualifications are aimed at people who are working in a legal setting, as well as those looking for a career change into law.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

Some employers will look for typing speeds of 50 words a minute or higher.

All employers will value accuracy and you may be tested on this as part of an interview task.

Further information

You can learn more about a career as a legal secretary from The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for legal secretary. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • types letters and legal documents such as wills and contracts
  • maintains court and clients’ records, organises diaries and arranges appointments
  • answers enquiries and directs clients to appropriate experts
  • attends meetings and keeps records of proceedings
  • delivers and collects documents
  • sorts and files correspondence and carries out general clerical work

Skills

  • act discreetly
  • check official documents
  • communicate by telephone
  • compile legal documents
  • manage personnel agenda
  • meet deadlines for preparing legal cases
  • observe confidentiality
  • observe documents
  • officiate civil partnerships
  • officiate weddings
  • perform clerical duties
  • perform office routine activities
  • register birth
  • register death

Knowledge

  • civil law
  • legal department processes
  • legal terminology
  • procedural law
  • civil process order
  • court procedures
  • legal case management
  • legal research

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for secretarial and related occupations, a group of 7 jobs that includes legal secretaries.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 16%about 105,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035243,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.