Barristers | Pupillages | Mini-pupillages

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Barristers

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Key advice for aspiring barristers

Everything you need to know

Black barristers: are wigs outdated?

Barrister wigs have been a long-standing tradition since the 17th Century, but is the dress code outdated and alienating aspiring barristers from pursuing careers at the Bar?

Noreen Siddique - The Bar of England and Wales: full time or part time?

Noreen Siddique

More than 1,500 students each year study for the Bar course in the hope of achieving their goal of becoming practising barristers. Many students are left disappointed without any real understanding of why they couldn’t secure pupillage.

The LCN Podcast

Bar course, scholarships and pupillage applications

We speak to Bar student Dani about her journey to becoming a barrister – including what the Bar course entails, pupillage applications and how to secure a scholarship to fund your studies.

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Becoming a barrister

Barrister career path

The whole process from studying, to pupillage, to qualifying

Bar Training Courses (BTC/BPTC)

The one-year, postgraduate vocational course

Mini-pupillage

Essential work experience in chambers

The Bar Standards Board

Find out what the Bar Standards Board do

The Bar Council of England and Wales

Everything you need to know about the Bar Council

The Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee

Find out what the YBC do

Meet the Lawyer

Read how today's barristers went from student to qualified barrister at the Bar

Meet the Lawyer

Katy Handley shares her journey and experiences as a barrister, outlining the importance of gaining work experience, her role as a pupil barrister and her initial struggles with interviews and how she overcame them.

Meet the Lawyer

Joel Semakula is a barrister at Landmark Chambers. In this Meet the Lawyer he outlines why he was drawn to the Bar, his work acting for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and the diversity initiatives in place at Landmark Chambers.

Meet the Lawyer

Clíodhna Kelleher

Clíodhna Kelleher shares her experiences of working as a competition lawyer at Monckton Chambers, from the freedom it affords to the camaraderie of chambers. Plus, she details her range of work experience before qualifying as a barrister, including being a debate coach, a university tutor, a paralegal and even working for a non-governmental organisation.

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Videos

See more videos

WHY ARE INNS SO IMPORTANT | Dani the Barrister

What to do in the second year of your LAW DEGREE

How I processed pupillage rejections | BLESSING AT THE BAR

Three years into my journey to the Bar | BLESSING AT THE BAR

Tips: Planning and Time Management | Dani the Barrister

Your commercial news round-up: positive UK economic turn, Burberry job cuts, footballers’ personal data, cyberattacks

The country sees a surprise surge in the economy in recent statistics, while footballers fight to protect their data and moral positions. Meanwhile, the quintessential British fashion house Burberry makes job cuts, and the cyberattack saga continues for M&S. Read on to find out more!

Mid-tier law firms increase bonuses to reward high billing hours

Mid-tier law firms Simmons & Simmons LLP, RPC and Shoosmiths have launched new policies to reward lawyers for billing higher hours, with bonuses of up to 40% of base salary on offer.

University of Westminster Law Society launches commercial awareness competition

The University of Westminster Law Society launched its commercial awareness competition on 12 May 2025, with this year’s focus on the important role AI is playing in the legal sector.

Consultation commences on potential £92 million criminal legal aid funding boost

Today, the government officially launched a significant consultation on criminal legal aid, with the aim of addressing the legal aid crisis.

First steps

Are you a first-year law student?

Visit our first-year hub for specific advice and info about what you should be doing in your first year

The Beginner's Guide to a Career in Law

Your guide to starting out!

How do I know whether the Bar is right for me?

I’m considering becoming a barrister, but how do I know whether the Bar is right for me?

Michael Edenborough KC

Intellectual property

"It is a brutal, but good, discipline to sit down and consider whether you have added substantive value to the case."

St John's Chambers

Planning & environment

"There’s just so much more public interest due to the important environmental impacts.”

Falcon Chambers

Landlord & tenant/housing

“The basic reason I am a property lawyer is because I am interested in the background of the cases I work on. If I wasn’t a property lawyer, I wouldn’t be a lawyer at all!"

Not studying law?

Tips for non-law students

Check out our non-law hub for key information

A non-law student’s guide to a career in law

You don’t need a law degree to become a lawyer – in fact, the modern legal profession is full of non-law graduates.

Inns Of Court scholarships

The different scholarships, bursaries and grants awarded by Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Middle Temple and how to apply for them

How and when to submit applications for the Bar Courses

What will it cost?

The cost of qualifying as a barrister is expensive so investigate potential sources of funding at each stage of the process.

Working as a barrister

Life as a barrister

Everything you need to know from tenancy to continuing professional development.

Types of chambers

Discover the different kinds of barristers' chambers.

Barristers' practice areas

Each practice area has its own demands relating to knowledge, temperament, working practices and remuneration.

What else should I be reading?

Tips, tricks and all that's in-between!

Bar courses: a student’s guide to barrister training 2024/25

To become a barrister, students must pass a Bar course at an education provider that's been approved by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). All aspiring barristers must complete a Bar course in order to be ‘called to the Bar’, which enables you to apply for a pupillage. Read LawCareers.Net’s guide to Bar courses to understand what you need to do to reach qualification as a barrister.

John MacKenzie - Wrestle with PESTLE: Access to justice and the role of legal aid

This article will analyse the implications of access to justice and the role of legal aid through the PESTLE framework. I believe this issue is a great way to explore the interaction between public policy and the practical realities of the justice system and legal practice.

Can I transfer from solicitor to barrister?

I want to be a barrister but it seems more financially secure to train at a City law firm and more likely that I’d be able to secure a training contract, compared to pupillage. Can I train as a solicitor and re-qualify as a barrister in the future?

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