BPP announces new Bar Training Course

BPP University Law School has revealed details of its new Bar course, which will replace the BPTC following changes to barrister training implemented by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

The new Bar Training Course (BTC) will be taught in two parts and will be available to students from September 2020. Fees for the course will be confirmed in October. However, it has been confirmed that students will be able to access postgraduate funding from the Student Loans Company for the course because it can incorporate a master’s element.

Teaching will take place face to face throughout both parts of the BTC, while BPP promises that in Part 2 students will be able to choose between commercial law and common law practice contexts. The exact details of the contents of Parts 1 and 2 have yet to be confirmed.

The news follows the announcement of a new two-part Bar Course provided by the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, which will teach Part 1 through online learning.

Mark Keith, lead designer of the BTC at BPP University Law School, said: “We have made the conscious decision to not go down a Part 1 ‘teach yourself’ experience. Our highly capable students regularly tell us that they could not envisage passing the centralised assessments without the expert teaching of our law school faculty. Our course will ensure students gain both skills and knowledge throughout the entire time that they study with us, firstly because learning about law and practice in this way makes it more memorable meaning students will be able to perform better in their assessments and secondly because it will allow for an extended period of skills practice and development, as the more practice you have, the more skilled you will become. 

“Our new BTC has been developed in close collaboration with members of the Bar and will be taught by experienced practitioners to ensure we continue to help our graduates secure more pupillages than those of any other provider. Our innovative approach will provide students not only with essential legal knowledge, but also the advocacy and other barrister skills they will need to succeed in practice.”

The course is still subject to approval by the BSB.