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Most social mobility programs are targeted too late to be effective. There, I have said it. It’s a sweeping statement, and no doubt some of you have already started typing eloquent re-buffs, but please hear me out.
If we look at most of the great schemes aiming to open the legal profession to lower socio-economic groups, we see a common theme. They are aimed at those in the later stages of their postgraduate legal training or, often, university level. Is this the right stage to be targeting? I am going to argue that it is too late. Too late to make any significant difference.
The table below, taken from Diversity at the Bar 2020 (Bar Standards Board, January 2021), demonstrates what I mean. Of those who responded to the question on type of school attended, 18.1% said they came from independent schools and 30.8% from a state school. This compares with 7% of children having attended an independent school in England (6.5% in the UK) (Independent Schools Council, 2021).
What is also interesting is the low rate of response: 44.4%. Even if all those who chose not to respond to this question happened to be state-school educated, the proportion of barristers who went to independent schools would still be disproportionately higher than in the wider population.
If we look to alternative sources, the Sutton Trust published its first report on the educational backgrounds of the UK’s professional elite over a decade ago. This researched the schools and universities attended by barristers, judges, solicitors and other sectors. Since then, it has published over ten updates, the latest of which (in 2016) noted the ‘staying-power of the privately-educated at the top’ and that even when those with such backgrounds retire from the top of their field, ‘they are frequently replaced by those with a similar educational past’ (Leading People, Sutton Trust/Philip Kirby).
The Sutton Trust/Kirby study showed that 71% of barristers, and 74% of judges, attended independent schools – compared with 7% of the UK population; 78% of barristers, and 74% of judges, attended Oxbridge – compared with under 1% of the UK population. Whichever way we look at it, this is a highly significant deviation from the wider population. Furthermore, the Bar and judiciary (along with the military at 71%) top the list of sectors dominated by independent-school education; medicine follows at 61%; journalism is 51%; solicitors 51%; politics (Cabinet) 50%; Civil Service 48%; and business 34%.
Then think about this, how many of those who attend state school actually come from higher socio-economic groups? According to a 2019 article in the Guardian, 40% of children from families with income in excess of £300,000 p/a go to state schools (Britain’s private school problem: it’s time to talk, Francis Green and David Kynaston, The Guardian 13 January 2019). Currently, this is something as a profession we are less focused on, but is this masking yet further issues with our recruitment?
To assess progress in social mobility more accurately, the Sutton Trust’s Social Mobility Toolkit 2021 recommends looking at four areas in this order:
Interestingly, though, we concentrate our social mobility efforts, in the main, well after this stage. If I had not come from a working-class background, I might be using stable door and horse analogies here!
It is not radical to suggest we need to engage with potential entrants before they start studying for their legal qualifications; before they go to university; and before they sit their A-Levels.
An effective social mobility policy needs to start in secondary schools. Children can only opt to study for a career as a barrister if they know about it. They need to be shown what a great career option it can be, and that it is open to people like them. They need to know what A-Level options to choose. They need to know about funding sources that will enable them to shoulder the massive financial training burden. Only by engaging with children earlier will we ever start to succeed in our ambitions for social mobility. All other attempts will be akin to sticking a sandbag in the door as the dam breaks.
Tahina Akther practises in a dual-capacity: as a Director of Wildcat Law and independently at the Bar, via College Chambers and Cobden House Chambers (door tenant). Tahina is a Bar Council Social Mobility Advocate 2021/22.
Most social mobility programs are targeted too late to be effective. There, I have said it. It’s a sweeping statement, and no doubt some of you have already started typing eloquent re-buffs, but please hear me out.
If we look at most of the great schemes aiming to open the legal profession to lower socio-economic groups, we see a common theme. They are aimed at those in the later stages of their postgraduate legal training or, often, university level. Is this the right stage to be targeting? I am going to argue that it is too late. Too late to make any significant difference.
The table below, taken from Diversity at the Bar 2020 (Bar Standards Board, January 2021), demonstrates what I mean. Of those who responded to the question on type of school attended, 18.1% said they came from independent schools and 30.8% from a state school. This compares with 7% of children having attended an independent school in England (6.5% in the UK) (Independent Schools Council, 2021).
What is also interesting is the low rate of response: 44.4%. Even if all those who chose not to respond to this question happened to be state-school educated, the proportion of barristers who went to independent schools would still be disproportionately higher than in the wider population.
If we look to alternative sources, the Sutton Trust published its first report on the educational backgrounds of the UK’s professional elite over a decade ago. This researched the schools and universities attended by barristers, judges, solicitors and other sectors. Since then, it has published over ten updates, the latest of which (in 2016) noted the ‘staying-power of the privately-educated at the top’ and that even when those with such backgrounds retire from the top of their field, ‘they are frequently replaced by those with a similar educational past’ (Leading People, Sutton Trust/Philip Kirby).
The Sutton Trust/Kirby study showed that 71% of barristers, and 74% of judges, attended independent schools – compared with 7% of the UK population; 78% of barristers, and 74% of judges, attended Oxbridge – compared with under 1% of the UK population. Whichever way we look at it, this is a highly significant deviation from the wider population. Furthermore, the Bar and judiciary (along with the military at 71%) top the list of sectors dominated by independent-school education; medicine follows at 61%; journalism is 51%; solicitors 51%; politics (Cabinet) 50%; Civil Service 48%; and business 34%.
Then think about this, how many of those who attend state school actually come from higher socio-economic groups? According to a 2019 article in the Guardian, 40% of children from families with income in excess of £300,000 p/a go to state schools (Britain’s private school problem: it’s time to talk, Francis Green and David Kynaston, The Guardian 13 January 2019). Currently, this is something as a profession we are less focused on, but is this masking yet further issues with our recruitment?
To assess progress in social mobility more accurately, the Sutton Trust’s Social Mobility Toolkit 2021 recommends looking at four areas in this order:
Interestingly, though, we concentrate our social mobility efforts, in the main, well after this stage. If I had not come from a working-class background, I might be using stable door and horse analogies here!
It is not radical to suggest we need to engage with potential entrants before they start studying for their legal qualifications; before they go to university; and before they sit their A-Levels.
An effective social mobility policy needs to start in secondary schools. Children can only opt to study for a career as a barrister if they know about it. They need to be shown what a great career option it can be, and that it is open to people like them. They need to know what A-Level options to choose. They need to know about funding sources that will enable them to shoulder the massive financial training burden. Only by engaging with children earlier will we ever start to succeed in our ambitions for social mobility. All other attempts will be akin to sticking a sandbag in the door as the dam breaks.
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group
Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study
How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Jemima Coleman and Zoë Leventhal KC on the evolving global movement seeking to reframe how we view nature: to recognise that nature possesses inherent rights and to enshrine these rights in law
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base
