The end of the BPTC? New barrister training course to be among limited number of alternative routes to a career at the Bar, reveals BSB

A limited number of new routes to qualify as a barrister are going to be introduced, perhaps as early as 2018-19, the Bar Standards Board has revealed.

The BSB’s decision is the culmination of its Future Bar Training consultation, which examined ways to broaden the accessibility of careers at the Bar by making training more affordable and flexible. The consultation attracted a large number of responses from academics and barristers. New qualification routes will now be authorised by the BSB, one of which is likely to be a new training course, with discussions taking place about splitting vocational training (which is currently covered by the Bar Professional Training Course) into two parts.

While news on any new course is thin at this stage, the BSB has made decisions which provide certainty on a number of other matters. The BSB has decided:

• to allow a limited number of alternative training routes for the Bar;
• that the Bar should remain a graduate profession normally requiring at least a 2:2 degree;
• that the BSB should continue to specify the seven foundation subjects which make up a qualifying law degree;
• that there is no need at present to change the need for a barrister to be called to the Bar by one of the Inns of Court;
• that the Bar Course Aptitude Test should be retained; and
• that the BSB should review the way in which ethics is taught and assessed.

The BSB has acknowledged the need to work with the Solicitors Regulation Authority to ensure that barrister and solicitor training pathways remain compatible, while it has also stated that choice for students must be balanced against the need to avoid creating confusion for prospective barristers and educators. The BSB is now set to start working with barristers’ chambers and law schools on developing those new routes to qualification.

Sir Andrew Burns, chair of the BSB, commented: ”I am pleased with the level of engagement that our consultation about the future of Bar training has provoked. We received a record number of responses which the board and I have considered carefully before reaching our decision. In particular, it has been encouraging to see how passionately barristers want to see the Bar as a profession where the most able candidates can succeed regardless of their means. Our role as the regulator is not to design the courses themselves, but to set a robust framework for authorising course providers. We have clear criteria for doing so and we will be developing our authorisation framework in consultation with the Bar, training providers and other groups with an interest in Bar training. We look forward to more flexible, accessible and affordable training courses in future which will maintain the high intellectual and professional standards demanded at the Bar.”