BSB reveals worrying BPTC stats, as well as BCAT and assessment developments
updated on 01 December 2015
In a sweep of BPTC related news, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published statistics about students and providers of the BPTC, revealed changes to the centralised BPTC exams and deferred the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) until at least March 2016. The aim of these developments is to “demonstrate the BSB’s commitment to ongoing improvements for prospective BPTC students”.
The BPTC provider stats, spanning a three-year period, provide information about the profile and diversity of BPTC students, what grades they achieved on the course and, crucially, whether they were successful in gaining pupillage following the course.
The BPTC application system opens on 7 December 2015 and the BSB is hoping that the stats will help students to make more informed choices about where to study. The entire report is here; when deciding where to apply, it is worth paying particular attention to stats on the percentage of those who have gone on to secure pupillage (pp71-76) and undergrad degree classifications (pp41-44). As Lawyer2B has summarised, around 25% of all BPTC students have a 2.2, with little chance of securing a pupillage.
In addition, the BSB has announced that elements of the centralised BPTC exams will change, including to the assessment of (i) Civil Litigation, Evidence and Remedies, and (ii) Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing.
Finally, the BCAT for students starting the BPTC in 2016 will be deferred until at least March 2016 to allow time to evaluate the success of the test so far.
Dr Simon Thornton-Wood, director of education and training, said: “We are committed to maintaining and building upon the high standards of training and assessment for qualification as a barrister. While we are engaged in an important reassessment of training overall – through the Future Bar Training programme – we remain equally committed to ongoing improvement in the training system today. The arrangements for 2016 students are part of that same continual improvement programme that we have implemented since the BPTC came into existence in 2011-12.”
