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1. Many UK law schools have a no deferal policy for LLM's which only permits this in case of extenuating circumstances, e.g. death in the family (take UCL, for example). Therefore, check your chosen uni's admissions policy and, in case of doubt, ask them.
2. Keep in mind that you will have to explain your work experience in your personal statement. How is it relevant to your chosen specialism/subject area? How will it add to the quality of academic discussion, etc.
3. Keep in mind that most LLM applications require references from people who know you and your work quality well. They have a definite inclination in favour of academic references (i.e., recommendation letters from those who taught you during your first/undergraduate law degree), as opposed to references from an employer (so-called 'professional references'). In fact, unless you have been out of full-time education for a number of years, you aren't even allowed to submit professional references to many UK law schools, meaning that you must make sure to keep in touch with anywhere between one to three professors who taught you before (depending on where you apply, some law schools, e.g., QMUL, UCL, want only one reference, whereas others, e.g., LSE, Oxford, ask for more). Again, depending on your circumstance, e.g., if you need to submit two references to LSE, ask them what they'll be happy with in your circumstance (maybe one academic and one professional reference?). Don't fall into the trap of thinking they'll be starry-eyed over getting a nothing reference from a big name. Better to have somebody who taught you and knows your work well but who is a nobody in academic circles write your reference than have some bigshot write absolutely nothing.
4. Remember, they won't take your (Indian) work experience as a marker of fluency in English, as they don't see employer letters explaining that the working environment was an English-speaking one as a valid assurance of fluency in the language. So no getting away from IELTS. An exception may be granted if your situation is exceptional, e.g., you get a training contract straight out of law school and want to read for an LLM after that (considering that you have worked during your TC in a Majority English Speaking Country (MESC)), but there is a level of uncertainty there.
5. Keep in mind that the British have tightened (since January 2024) their visa system to now include so-called 'credibility interviews' for most applicants. The Home Office/UKVI guidance in particular asks caseworkers/interviewers to closely cross-question anyone with gaps in their studies (e.g., you graduated from your LLB in 2021 and are applying for your LLM visa in 2024) as to the reasons behind the gap. Just because you've convinced your chosen uni in the UK about this doesn't mean you have convinced immigration officials. If you can't provide good reasons for that (in their eyes), you may fall short of the "genuine student" requirement (even if you are attending a uni which is a Higher Education Provider with a Track Record of Compliance), meaning that, even if you got admitted into a good LLM, you might be obstructed by a visa refusal. While you can appeal/re-apply etc., that makes relations between you and the uni you got admitted to in the UK difficult as well, because they also have policy restrictions on how many times they are willing to issue a CAS for visa applications, so that they can safeguard their credibility/sponsorship status with the Home Office (and taking a risk averse mentality, they will see anyone to whom they have to reissue a CAS as a risk to that trust/status the government gives them).
Maybe some schools will defer - but I don’t know about funding.
Without knowing all the above: I would suggest you apply at the end of this year - and if it doesn’t work out and you don’t get a funded position you should apply again next year after gaining work ex.
Penultimate year law student here. I have secured a PPO at a T1 recently and starting to wonder about LLM prospects. Is applying for programmes abroad right now a good idea? Would top UK programmes allow me to defer the offer to gain work experience? If not, does it get more/less difficult to get into these programmes once I start working?
In the alternate, how do firms react to requests for deferring one's joining by the length of their LLM, is it an outright rejection or any possibility for negotiation?
Thank you for your responses!