The Law Society is to step up its campaign to warn students of the risks and challenges faced in pursuing a legal career.

Expanding the Society’s information campaign is one of a number of proposals being considered by the education and training committee to address the disparity between the number of Legal Practice Course graduates and the falling number of training contracts available each year.

According to figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, 9,101 students started the LPC in 2009, a 2.5% drop on the previous year. However, the number of training contracts fell 32% from 6,321 in 2008 to 4,320 in 2009.

The committee is also considering giving support or incentives to law firms to encourage them to provide training contracts, and promoting routes to qualification that do not involve a training contract.

Committee chairman Tony King said: ‘The Law Society wants to continue to encourage as diverse a pool as possible to qualify into the profession, but we must ensure that all applicants are aware of the economic realities the profession is facing.

‘The number of training contract places is [down to the economy], but we are also ­looking at maximising training opportunities for the students looking to qualify.’

College of Law chief executive Nigel Savage said: ‘The Law Society has been here before. Why are we still clinging to a Victorian idea of legal training? Maybe the training contract is finished.’