Regulator reveals poor pupillage prospects

Just over one in ten Bar students can expect to get a pupillage, according to data published by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

The statistics showed that 14% of students who started the course in 2013 got a pupillage, down on the 25% from the 2011 cohort who gained one.

Despite the dwindling chances of gaining the necessary training position, the figures showed that students remain keen to study the Bar Professional Training Course.

In 2013, 2,730 applied to go on it, only slightly down from the 3,017 who applied in 2011.

Students from BPP’s London Law School were the most likely to secure pupillage, with 27% bagging one, while those at Northumbria were the least likely – only 3% obtained one.

The BSB published the statistics on the day that the Bar Council launched its mini-pupillage hub, an online initiative to centralise the provision of mini-pupillages and widen the pool of students who can benefit from the experience.

The BSB also announced that the introduction of the Bar Course Aptitude Test will be deferred until at least March 2016, pending a review of it.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council proposed shifting the Pupillage Gateway recruitment window to the January to April period, so that students know before they apply for Bar school if they have secured a pupillage.

The Bar Council has sought to assist prospective and young barristers, running its first pupillage fair in November – an event attended by 1,500 students and 50 exhibitors – and launching its Young Bar Hub and Toolkit in October to provide online support to the young Bar.