Successful students are given a barrister’s wig
The University of Law (ULaw) has revealed that more than half of its class of 2016 Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) students have been offered pupillage.
In what is a rare piece of good news for barrister hopefuls, ULaw announced that 54% of its 2016 BPTC grads — who studied the course full-time — have already received a precious pupillage offer.
Despite an earlier report suggesting that BPP’s London branch offered the best chance of securing pupillage, it would appear ULaw has upped its game. Having introduced a three-part assessment to ensure weaker candidates don’t make it onto the course, 22% of ULaw’s full time BPTC students achieved an ‘Outstanding’. The 2015 national average sits at just 9%.
ULaw’s BPTC programme director, Jacqueline Cheltenham, commenting on today’s result, said:
The BPTC is undoubtedly a challenging course and we remain committed to only offering places to those students whom we believe have a realistic prospect of succeeding on the BPTC and obtaining pupillage. These results demonstrate that our unique selection process, when combined with the high quality teaching, employability support and enhanced advocacy opportunities our course provides, really works to give our students the best chances of success.
If that wasn’t good news enough, ULaw grads lucky enough to secure pupillage will also be given a free horsehair wig, worth £500, for their efforts.
Today’s news comes after the Bar Standards Board revealed that just a third of aspiring barristers who study the BPTC go on to secure pupillage. According to the report — published earlier this year — 35% of all United Kingdom/European Union domiciled grads (starting the BPTC between 2011-2013) went on to bag a pupillage.