Bar course If you were unsuccessful in your pupillage applications last year, apply again this year, in the same way as above. Once you have successfully completed the Bar course, you will have to undertake 12 qualifying sessions (previously known as ‘dining’) before being called to the Bar by your inn. Pupillage Pupillage is one year spent in an authorised training organisation (either a barristers’ chambers or another approved legal environment), usually split into two six-month periods referred to as ‘sixes’. First six Without practising, you will observe and assist your pupil supervisor and other barristers in chambers. The intention is that you share your supervisor’s daily professional life. Second six During these six months, you will be entitled to supply legal services and exercise rights of audience as a barrister. You may have cases and your own clients, which you will represent in court. This is when you start to build up your reputation as a barrister. At the end of the second six, you must submit a certificate to the BSB certifying that the second six has been satisfactorily completed. Provided that certain training conditions are met, you will be granted a full qualification certificate. Congratulations – you’re a barrister!
While some law school have set fees for their new Bar courses at a lower level than the old BPTC, the new Bar courses remain expensive and due to their vocational nature, do not open up additional career options other than becoming a barrister, so it is sensible to secure pupillage before deciding to enrol. Applications for Bar courses commencing from 2021 must be made directly to the university or law school. Attend pupillage fairs, such as the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair on 16 October 2021 (for which registration is now open) and the National Pupillage Fair on 27 November 2021. The pupillage fairs are free to attend and will be held online. Spring term Applications for pupillage are made through the centralised Pupillage Gateway (www. pupillagegateway.com). Most chambers are part of the centralised system (Pupillage Gateway providers), but some are not (non-Pupillage Gateway providers). Pupillages at both types of chambers are listed on the system, but non-members will have varying deadlines and ways they want you to apply – check chambers’ individual websites for details. The Pupillage Gateway opens for applications in January and stays open for about a month. As a rule of thumb, you should apply for pupillage at least a year before you wish to start – that is, in January 2022 for a pupillage beginning in 2023. You can apply to up to 12 portal chambers (and as many non-portal chambers as you like). For more on how to apply, see the ‘Becoming a barrister’ chapter. Summer term Pupillage offers via the centralised system will be made in early May. If necessary, obtain a ‘certificate of academic standing’ from the BSB.
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