COMPETITION: 51% of BVC students not even offered interview



Competition for pupillage is tougher than ever before, according to a Bar Council survey which revealed that only 18% of students on the bar vocational course (BVC) received a pupillage offer this year.



The survey, carried out in the spring, showed that of the 72% of BVC students who applied for pupillage, 51% did not even receive an offer of interview, and 50% of those who were interviewed were not offered a pupillage.



Despite these odds, 81% said they would continue to apply if they were unsuccessful first time. The survey also showed that 31% of the 625 respondents had debts in excess of £20,000.



Bar Council chairman Stephen Hockman QC said: 'The survey provides us with new evidence which we will act upon.'



Tom Little, chairman of the young barristers committee, said: 'It is important to have an element of competition, but the current percentages are unhelpful.'



The main problem, he said, was people start the BVC before knowing if they have a pupillage. 'One solution could be to move pupillage interviews forward so students either start with a pupillage or have their eyes open as to their prospects.'



But James Wakefield, course director at Nottingham Law School, where 60% of its 109 BVC students in 2004/05 gained pupillage, warned that this might only serve to make the process more elitist and less open, as many people with no legal connections get pupillage after the BVC.



Catherine Baksi