Five tips for applying through the Pupillage Gateway

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The Pupillage Gateway opened on Thursday 2 January 2025. Prospective barristers now have a month to apply for pupillage vacancies at barristers’ chambers before the Gateway closes on Thursday 6 February 2025. Meanwhile, some other sets have earlier application deadlines.

Here’s LawCareers.Net’s advice for producing polished pupillage applications over the next couple of weeks.

1) Submit before the deadline

It's important to apply before the deadline because chambers will begin reviewing applications as soon as they come in. The rush of forms that so often come in on deadline day will contain too many rushed and half-hearted applications.

As recruiters continually tell us, even those organisations that don’t start reviewing applications as soon as they arrive will likely review them in the chronological order that they were received – so it pays to submit early.

2) Make every application unique

You must tailor each application to the relevant chambers before submitting. Recruiters will see through your copy and pasted work.

The best chance of success is to submit a handful of highly polished, targeted applications, rather than firing off as many as you can.

3) Research

In order to achieve the above, you must conduct some thorough research. This doesn’t just mean scrolling through the chambers’ website and regurgitating the information they wrote back to them. You should also consult various publications and news stories.

Check out LawCareers.Net’s Meet the Lawyer profiles to find out more about life working at different chambers.

Use your research to identify the strengths of the sets you've shortlisted and think about how you can demonstrate your interest in these particular areas.

4) Avoid bad grammar and typos

While it sounds so obvious, many applications are riddled with poor grammar or typos. Don’t shorten a chambers’ name and always check that you've spelt the name correctly throughout the application.

If you’re worried that you’re not spotting any mistakes because you’ve spent too much time looking at the application, ask a friend, family member or a careers adviser to look at it with a pair of fresh eyes.

5) Be yourself

There’s no point in fabricating experience in your application because, more often than not, you'll get found out, which will only make you feel silly. Be honest and open about your experience and where your interests lie – your genuine enthusiasm will likely shine through in your application if you’re being true to your actual interests.

More advice?

Some chambers provide application tips and insights into their work via LinkedIn. For example, 1 Crown Office Row and Henderson Chambers share their advice and other useful information via this platform. Simply searching ‘pupillage’ on LinkedIn will also open a whole conversation between barristers, chambers’ official accounts and the legal press on the subject.

Don’t forget to check LCN’s advice on pupillage interviews for tips on this most crucial stage of the application process.

Best of luck with your applications!

Ellie Nicholl is a content & engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net.