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The current barriers to entry are almost entirely for the benefit of the legal professions themselves rather than the public. If the barriers were truly about ensuring excellence, then the numbers of successful new entrants would be determined by their excellence, not whether they managed to obtain a set number of pupillages/training contacts. Potential new entrants could perhaps pass (very difficult) test that did not have a maximum number of successful candidates.
The current intake in both the bar and for solicitors is controlled by the professions themselves- they set the numbers, and there will always be more qualified candidates than there are places.