The BSB’s handling of online Bar exams “let down” disabled candidates, review finds

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) let down disabled candidates in the way that it conducted Summer 2020’s Bar course exams, in which breaks were prohibited and technical problems saw a quarter of candidates unable to complete their exams, an independent review has found.

The BSB had moved to postpone Bar exams at the outset of the pandemic, insisting that it would take time to establish a “suitable, secure alternative” to physical exams, despite protest from students stuck in qualification limbo. Bar exams eventually went ahead online in August.

As the Law Gazette reports, an independent review has since found that the BSB’s approach to reasonable adjustments as exams moved online “fell short, notwithstanding the unprecedented circumstances of a global pandemic.” There were claims that candidates had to urinate in bottles during exams because they were not allowed a break by the invigilators monitoring them remotely, while 25% of Bar exams were not completed at all due to technical issues.

BSB Chair Baroness Blackstone said in response to the review: “First and foremost, I should like to apologise again to all those students who faced difficulties completing their exams last August. The BSB had to move from pen and paper-based assessments delivered by training providers to arrange computer based assessments in a very short period of time in the middle of a global pandemic. I am pleased that the review found no failure of governance. The board is determined to ensure that the BSB learns the lessons for the future.”