Course providers raise BPTC prices

The cost of taking the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) has been increased by almost every course provider this year.

BPP, Kaplan and the University of Law (formerly the College of Law) have all set the same price of £17,350 at their London centres. As reported by Lawyer2B, last year in London BPP charged £16,540, Kaplan charged £15,800 and the University of Law's BPTC was priced at £16,140. Meanwhile, City Law School has frozen its BPTC price from last year, meaning that this year's price remains £16,500.

Outside London, the price of the BPTC at Cardiff Law School has risen from £12,180 to £12,500. Students at Northumbria will also pay £12,500 following the institution's decision to raise its price from last year's £12,000.

The news will not be welcomed by advocates of greater diversity at the Bar, especially following Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger's admission that the upper echelons of the legal profession suffer from an excessive prevalence of wealthy, white, privately-educated men.

Chief executive of BPP Law School Peter Crisp said: "[The BPTC] remains our most expensive programme because it is our most resource-heavy programme. There are four students to every tutor. The fees unfortunately reflect that, but we have many scholarships and an exclusive law loan with Investec. In terms of value, it’s second to none."