BSB to decide on suitability of unlimited attempts at Bar aptitude test
updated on 20 December 2011
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has questioned the appropriateness of allowing wannabe barristers more than a single attempt at passing the soon-to-be-implemented Bar course aptitude test (BCAT). Following a pilot involving 1,500 students, which showed a good correlation between test performance and success on the BPTC, the BCAT is pending final approval in the new year. If approved, it will be taken by BPTC applicants aiming to begin the course in September 2013. The test is designed to identify unsuitable candidates before they embark on the significant financial outlay of the BPTC, and is deemed to be a better indicator of suitability than A-levels or degree result.
It operates differently to the LNAT university entrance test that helps universities pick the best students. The BCAT uses Watson Glazer critical reasoning and is run by driving test administrator Pearson View at its many test centres. In theory, students should never be more than 40 miles from a test centre. The test can also be taken abroad.
Current rules of the £50.00 test do not prohibit students retaking if they do not pass on the first attempt. This is designed to allow for improvements in language skills. There are also arguments that retakes should be permitted so as not to punish those who do not pass because of illness or other mitigating circumstances.
However, objections to the policy have been raised by BSB board member Malcolm Cohen, who argued that allowing unlimited attempts at the test would be "unfair and not true to the objective" of providing a barrier to candidates without the requisite skills for the BPTC, before they pay thousands of pounds for a course which would be of little use to them.
Subsequently, BSB chair Ruth Deech has ordered that a question be added to the upcoming consultation regarding whether it fulfils the BCAT's objective for students to be allowed more than one attempt at the test. Prospective BPTC students will anxiously await the BSB's verdict.
