New barrister training rules to make qualifying more flexible await approval
updated on 31 October 2018
New rules governing how prospective barristers will train and qualify are expected to come into effect in early 2019.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has submitted its proposed Future Bar Training reforms to the Legal Services Board for final approval, which is expected to be granted soon. The new rules aim to make becoming a barrister more accessible, affordable and flexible, while maintaining the Bar’s high standards.
The three stages of becoming a barrister will remain the same:
- academic learning (gaining knowledge of the law itself);
- vocational learning (acquiring barristers' core skills such as advocacy); and
- pupillage or work-based learning (learning to be a barrister "on the job").
However, the new rules will add more pathways that make it possible to complete these three stages in more flexible ways. The traditional pathway outlined above will be joined by another three approved routes:
- four-step pathway - the academic stage, followed by the vocational stage in two parts, followed by the pupillage or work-based component;
- integrated academic and vocational pathway - combined academic and vocational components, followed by pupillage or work-based component; and
- apprenticeship pathway - combined academic, vocational and pupillage or work-based components (this involved gaining a degree – the Bar will remain a graduate profession).
Another change is that the BSB will have to authorise all organisations providing pupillage. This means that when the new rules are introduced in 2019, the immediate availability of the three new pathways will depend on the timeliness of applications to the BSB.
Ewen Macleod, the BSB’s director of strategy and policy, said: “Having finalised the new Bar training rules, subject to Legal Services Board approval, is a significant moment in our Future Bar Training programme. We are confident that the new arrangements for training and qualification to become a barrister deliver on our aims to make the system more accessible, affordable and flexible whilst at the same time sustaining high standards. We look forward to working with the profession and education and training providers to implement these new arrangements. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our work in this area by sharing their views on these important matters over the past few years.”
The BSB has made available the full draft rules for new barrister training.
