Decision follows new government guidance to combat spread of COVID-19
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has confirmed centralised Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) assessments will not go ahead next month as planned.
The regulator said the decision to postpone the centrally set exams — civil litigation, criminal litigation and professional ethics — was in response to yesterday’s government statement concerning the latest measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“This is consistent with the advice about travel and social distancing,” the BSB said in a statement. “The next scheduled opportunity to take the centralised exams will be August 2020 but we will need to keep this under review as the situation develops.”
The regulator added that details of arrangements for non-centralised examinations (those set and marked by law schools) will be given directly to students by their BPTC providers. Centralised assessments for the Bar Transfer Test have also been postponed.
The decision comes less than 24 hours after we reported that BPP University Law School had taken the decision to postpone a Legal Practice Course (LPC) exam in light of the new guidance.
The government has urged the public to avoid “non-essential” contact and work from home where possible to curb the spread of the virus.
