Barristers | Pupillages | Mini-pupillages

Solicitors hub
Everything you need to know about becoming a solicitor
Search training contracts
Search for a training contract at nearly 1,000 organisations
Training contract deadlines
A comprehensive list of training contract deadlines
Vacation scheme deadlines
A comprehensive list of law firms' vacation scheme deadlines

INSIDE LOOK

Meet the Lawyer
Read how today's lawyers went from student to qualified lawyer
Meet the Recruiter
Advice from recruiters on acing your applications and more
Vacation Scheme Insiders
Get a sense of what firms' vacation schemes are really like
Brochures
Your essential first step in identifying the firm for you
Practice Area Profiles
Hear from solicitors working in specific practice areas

LEARN

DISCOVER

Barristers hub
Everything you need to know about becoming a barrister
Search pupillages
Search for a pupillage at nearly 200 barristers' chambers
Pupillage deadlines
A comprehensive list of pupillage deadlines

INSIDE LOOK

Meet the Lawyer
Read how today's barristers went from student to qualified barrister at the Bar
Practice Area Profiles
Hear from barristers working in specific practice areas
Types of chambers
Find out more about the different types of chambers

LEARN

DISCOVER

Beginner's hub

Interested in a future career as a lawyer? Use The Beginner’s Guide to a Career in Law to get started

Apprenticeships hub

Find out about the various legal apprenticeships on offer and browse vacancies with The Law Apprenticeships Guide

SQE hub

Information on qualifying through the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, including preparation courses, study resources, QWE and more

Commercial awareness hub

Discover everything you need to know about developing your knowledge of the business world and its impact on the law

Diversity hub

The latest news and updates on the actions being taken to improve diversity and inclusion in the legal profession

Application hub

Discover advice to help you prepare for and ace your vacation scheme, training contract and pupillage applications

First-year hub

Your first-year guide to a career in law – find out how to kickstart your legal career at this early stage

Non-law hub

Your non-law guide to a career in law – everything you need to know about converting to law

Education hub
This hub covers all aspects of legal education and training
Search law courses
Search law-related courses across the UK
Law school prospectuses
Identify the right law school for you with these prospectuses
Finances
Find out about sources of funding at each stage of the qualification process

COURSES

Undergraduate degree
Find out what an undergraduate degree is
Law conversion courses – PGDL
Find out about what you learn and where to study
Legal practice course – LPC
Find out what the LPC involves and whether you're eligible
Bar courses – BPTC/BPC
Find out about the course required to qualify as a barrister
SQE preparation courses
Find out about the brand-new SQE preparation courses

STAGES

DISCOVER

Commercial Question
Articles from law firms designed to get you thinking commercially
Features
These are designed to increase your knowledge of the profession
LCN Says
Insights from LCN and contributors from the world of law
The Oracle
Advice on issues from funding your studies to getting experience
LCN Weekly Newsletter
Kickstart your legal career with the latest content in our newsletter

EXPLORE

News
Discover key stories from the legal world
Videos
Our videos feature interviews and webinars on careers in law
Podcast
Hear from the experts via The LawCareers.Net Podcast
Blogs
Hear from your peers about their journey into the profession

DISCOVER

Barristers

Login | Register

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.

0

3

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

Calum Smith shares his journey into law and advice for aspiring barristers, as well as outlining how he manages his workload.

Meet the Lawyer

Srishti Suresh shares her journey to the Bar, from learning how to integrate her creativity with the demands of the legal profession to what made her application successful.

Meet the Lawyer

Sam Glover’s journey to the Bar was far from traditional – from leaving school at age seven to pursuing a career in music, Sam’s journey is an exciting read. Learn about the value of mini-pupillages, the lessons to be learned and what being a tax barrister involves in this Meet the Lawyer profile.

0

3

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

Stress levels on the rise among pupils despite positive pupillage experience, survey finds

New barristers reported mixed experiences about their pupillage journey in a new survey published by the Bar Council. Ninety percent of respondents reported a positive experience, while 88% reported stress levels as ‘moderate’ or ‘high’ – a 6% increase from the previous year’s statistics.

Law Society welcomes government’s recognition of legal sector as “national asset” in 10-year Industrial Strategy

The UK legal sector, which the government has described as a “national asset and an engine of economic growth”, has been recognised as an area to be supported in the government’s 10-year industrial strategy. This is a move that’s been welcomed by the Law Society of England and Wales.

Legal community comes together for 21st annual London Legal Walk

This year’s London Legal Walk saw another record number of legal professionals turn up to complete one of the 10-kilometre routes to raise awareness and funds for access to justice. On Tuesday 17 June, 19,000 walkers came together in support of the London Legal Support Trust (LLST), an independent charity that funds law centres and pro bono agencies across London and the South East.

Employment tribunal backlog figures continue to grow

Employment tribunal backlogs are continuing to spiral at an alarming rate, according to new figures, with the number of open cases hitting 491,000 at the end of March 2025 – up 11% from March 2023 (444,000).

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?

0

3