In the circuit judge competition, women made up 20 per cent of those eligible to apply, a quarter of all applications, and 37 per cent of the successful candidates. For the district judge (magistrates’ court) competition, women accounted for 19 per cent of the eligible pool, 40 per cent of applications, and 47 per cent of those appointed.

Competition was strong, with nine applications for every circuit judge role and 13 for every district judge role.
Christopher Stephens, chair of JAC, said: “Women once again performed strongly.

“This is a very encouraging, consistent trend which would be further assisted by more salaried part-time working and job-share opportunities.”

Since the start of 2011, 43 per cent of all 478 judicial recommendations to the Lord Chancellor were women, he said.