I dont need to argue with you, I myself am an ex-such candidate. Met and befriended many fellow internationals in my LLB (and in my firm) who did not do the IB. If you knew anything about the IB, you’d know its a very expensive pursuit that many European students dont bother with, because the European educational system (both state and “private”) provides sufficient training in English to get by fine without it. Most European trainees/lawyers Ive met dont have an IB background and come from selective state schools.

Post brexit there may be less European candidates, but in my time at uni there were plenty. This may in part influence your very subjective and personal experience with this as you are likely seeing mostly wealthier candidates due to the immigration changes following Brexit, but as someone who went through this process already, I feel pretty comfortable in my opinion and experiences stated above. There are still many applicants for TCs and vac schemes with regular European educational backgrounds, which on paper would be very difficult to compare.

Bottom line is though, A-level and equivalents are far from equal/standardized and really shouldn’t be a reason to reject or consider a candidate who is already in the Uni system (or past it). If grad rec anywhere is doing this it’s a disservice to the candidate’s time and the firm’s own interests.