The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) has been replaced by a range of new Bar courses. To become a barrister, students must pass a Bar course approved by the Bar Standards Board. All approved Bar courses lead to the same destination – being ‘called to the Bar’, which enables you to apply for a pupillage. Here is LawCareers.Net’s guide to Bar courses.

Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) exams will be moved online, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has revealed.

Having delayed exams as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the BSB recently confirmed that assessments for the BPTC (soon to be replaced by a new range of Bar courses), as well as exams for the Bar Transfer Test, will now take place online in August, with resits scheduled for December.

The Bar Standards Board’s 2021-22 budget foresees a 40% increase in student fees from last year, despite declining numbers of pupillages available. The regulator has predicted an income of £1.35 million from Bar training, compared with £958,000 last year and £657,000 in 2019.

The winner of the Bar Pro Bono Award 2016 has been announced as John Collins of Zenith Chambers. 

The Bar Pro Bono Unit has announced that it is undergoing a number of reforms to modernise its service for the 21^st Century and from today (22 October, the first day of Pro Bono Week) has changed its name to ‘Advocate’.

Nearly 25% of pupils are reportedly experiencing financial hardships and around 30% expressed a desire to leave the Bar due to work-life balance.

Pupil barristers will have access to virtual criminal hearings to help them develop their advocacy skills, as part of an observation scheme created by the South Eastern Circuit.

Concern among lawyers regarding the rise of fee-earning McKenzie friends, notably among members of the Bar, has heightened following the dramatic ban of a McKenzie friend from the courtroom.

The Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) discussions about reforming barrister training should be made more urgent by its latest statistics report, which shows that over 60% of those who complete the prohibitively expensive Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) never go on to secure pupillage.

The Bar Standards Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Inns of Court to recognise the “vital” role played by the Inns for aspiring barristers.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) regulates barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest. 

The Bar Standards Board has confirmed the submission of its application to regulate new business entities to the Legal Services Board, but this will not include alternative business structures.

The Bar Standards Board has hosted another debate about the future of training to be a barrister, as part of its Future Bar Training consultation. 

There were 238 more barristers in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23, according to data from the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) annual report. This takes the total number of BSB-regulated barristers to 17,656.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has been told it must immediately improve its performance by regulators after failing an end-of-year inspection.

The Bar Standards Board has published its latest annual report summarising activities over 2017-18.

The Bar Standards Board has published its latest annual business plan, setting out what the regulator will be doing over the next year to meet its strategic aims.

A survey of pupils has revealed that students still feel the course is too expensive, despite the average cost per student dropping by £4,700 in 2022, compared to 2019 (amount adjusted for inflation).

The Bar Standards Board has proposed amendments to widen its powers in 2024.