CONSULTATION PAPER: aspiring barristers get funding boost

Potential barristers should be given offers of pupillage before committing to the bar vocational course (BVC), and more chambers should fund bar pupils while studying the course, a report recommended this week.

A consultation paper issued by the Bar Council's task force on funding entry to the bar, headed by Director of Public Prosecutions Sir David Calvert-Smith QC, also said additional funds to assist entrants should be raised by a voluntary scheme operated by the council, with the funds raised distributed by the four Inns of Court.

The report argued that the bar is not and should not become the exclusive preserve of those with generous family support or private means to get through their studies.

The level of debt of some BVC students is 'worryingly high', it found, and funds are unevenly distributed.

Total funding in scholarships, bursaries and pupillage awards already provided to students and trainees by the bar amounts to 11.7 million annually, it said.

The report said the bar is, increasingly, a much more diverse profession than it is perceived to be; nearly 50% of new trainee barristers are women and 18% from an ethnic minority.

However, it said there is 'no room for complacency in meeting the challenge to ensure diversity of entrants to the bar', which could be made more difficult by top-up fees.

Other recommendations included promoting a career at the bar across all universities, co-ordinated through a central body, and a review of the length and content of the BVC.

Sir David said: 'Potential barristers should understand the true costs of coming to the bar, the funding available to assist in meeting those costs and the chances of success.

We have real concerns about the cost of training and we are urging the Bar Council to take a searching look at how this can be made more cost-effective.'