BSB launches public consultation on academic legal training

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The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has launched a three-month public consultation, seeking input on proposed changes to revise the definition of academic legal training. The consultation outlines planned revisions to:

• the definition of academic legal training;
• prerequisite training requirements;
• the approval process for deciding whether an applicant “is competent in academic legal training and whether they should be admitted onto the vocational training course based on the revised definition of academic legal training”; and
• the Certificate of Academic Standing.

The consultation, which opened on 9 January 2024, will remain open for three months until 5:00pm on 8 April 2024. Respondents can evaluate the BSB’s proposed changes by answering six questions via email or an online form. The BSB intends to implement any changes from September 2025.

As part of the proposed revisions outlined above, the BSB aims to amend its definition of academic legal training, “which in turn would almost entirely dispense with applications for exemptions and waivers as they currently exist”. The BSB believes that the Authorised Education and Training Organisations (AETOs) are better placed to “consider all available information” and decide whether applicants meet “the standard for having completed academic legal training and should therefore be admitted onto the course”.

Plus, the proposed changes to section one of the Curriculum and Assessment Strategy will  enable those without a degree qualification to apply for entry onto a vocational course. 

The proposals aim to uphold the BSB’s following four key principles of training reform:

• high standards;
• flexibility;
• accessibility; and
• affordability.

You can read more about the BSB’s proposed changes and the public consultation via the full consultation document.

The BSB proposes that these changes will modernise and diversify the vocational stage by making training accessible to “a wider group of suitably qualified applicants”. The BSB has outlined various benefits that introducing the four key changes would bring about, including:

• potential improved access due to the “focus on degree equivalence rather than specifying a 2:2 degree minimum classification” – this is dependent on how AETOs choose to interpret it;
• greater accessibility for non-law students and graduates from overseas due to the proposed removal of the requirement for these applicants to apply for a Certificate of Academic standing before starting a Graduate Diploma in Law; and
• more accessibility for people with caring responsibilities or those who’ve taken career breaks due to the removal of time limits to complete a law degree.

If the changes are implemented, AETOs may continue to require a 2:2 minimum standard, which the BSB says “would have no impact on any groups as it would not be a change from the current position”.