Financing the vocational courses
The number of awards is not fixed, but the Inn usually offers 80 to 100 scholarships per year for those on the Bar course. These vary in value, with a maximum award of £22,000. For those on the GDL a number of scholarships are available, of values up to £10,000. A small number of pupillage awards are available, as well as small disability and internship awards. The Inn has a scholarships and students manager, Sellisha Lockyer (slockyer@ innertemple.org.uk), and its website (www. innertemple.org.uk) has all the info you need and you can apply online. Middle Temple In 2019 Middle Temple awarded scholarships worth £1.3 million, with over £1.1 million of that going to Bar course students and most of the rest to GDL students. While the awarding of scholarships is based purely on merit, the sizes of the awards are based on the applicant’s financial means. The Inn also has a pupillage hardship fund for pupils who experience severe, unforeseen financial difficulties and a pupillage support grant for pupils on low awards in publicly funded areas of law. The website (www.middletemple. org.uk) tells you a lot about the scholarship scheme and has a downloadable application form with clear instructions. Scholarships are part of the education department within the Inn’s Treasury and Christa Richmond is the director of education services. Contact the scholarships officer Madeleine Cirdei (m.cirdei@middletemple.org.uk) with questions. Gray’s Inn Although Gray’s Inn is the smallest of the four Inns, in 2020 it will award in excess of £1.3 million in scholarships, awards and prizes. In 2019 the average award for Bar course students was £13,500 and for the GDL was £5,300. Residential, pupillage and internship awards are also available, as are prizes for mooting and debating. Detailed information on all of Gray’s Inn’s scholarships can be
some offer more scholarships and some even offer accommodation. For example, the Inner Temple interviews all candidates and has over £1.8 million available each year for scholarship grant. It is definitely worth looking into which Inns of Court scholarship programme best suits you.” The Inns’ websites have application forms for you to complete and send to the relevant person. The forms ask for character details, legal experience, income/funds and references. You can only apply for scholarships at one Inn. If the scholarships committee likes your application, it will invite you to an interview.
Here is a breakdown of what’s on offer.
Lincoln’s Inn Lincoln’s Inn offers 32 scholarships with a total of up to £170,000 for those studying the GDL and scholarships and bursaries worth £1.4 million for those on the Bar course. Lincoln’s Inn has many awards and bursaries available, including its prestigious Lord Mansfield scholarship for up to five awards, each carrying a minimum of value of £20,000. Apart from the minimum value of the Lord Mansfield scholarships, the value of each award is calculated through a means test based on the applicants’ disclosed financial resources and obligations. Students are recommended to apply for awards in the autumn term of their third year at university or the year prior to starting the GDL or Bar course. The majority of the scholarships are now applied for via the Inn’s online portal, scholarships.lincolnsinn.org.uk, but any questions about the process should be sent to the scholarships coordinator (scholarships@lincolnsinn.org.uk). Inner Temple Probably the Inn with the most accessible information, Inner Temple intends to make awards to a total value of £1,886,306 in 2020.
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