Pupillage (otherwise known as the “work-based component”) is the final and practical stage of training to become a barrister, which you can commence up to five years after completing the Bar Training Course (formerly known as the Bar Professional Training Course).

Pupillages are either completed in a set of chambers or with another Authorised Education and Training Organisation (such as the Government Legal Department or the Crown Prosecution Service). Pupillages usually start in September or October, one year after successful candidates have been made an offer (so successful applicants in May 2023 will, more often than not, commence pupillage in autumn 2024).

The rules and regulations governing pupillage are set out in the Bar Standards Board Bar Qualification Manual which all aspiring barristers, current pupils, supervisors and Authorised Education and Training Organisations should study.

• The duration of most pupillages is 12 months but, depending on the AETO, can be up to 24 months
• Pupillages are formally divided into two periods: non-practising and practising
• During the non-practising period, pupils will be assigned a pupil supervisor  - a barrister in the same AETO who the pupil will shadow, and for whom the pupil will undertake supervised work, such as legal research and drafting court documents
• The pupil will also accompany the pupil supervisor to court and conferences with clients
• During the practising period, pupils will be eligible to undertake cases of their own, albeit under supervision, and will begin to build up their own contacts and a client base

Until they have completed their pupillage and hold a full practising certificate, all pupils are covered by their supervisor’s Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund insurance.

All pupils must be paid no less than a minimum amount, specified by the Bar Standards Board, and the responsibility to fund pupils lies with the relevant Authorised Education and Training Organisation.

The minimum pupillage award is set annually, having regard to the Living Wage Foundation’s hourly rate recommendations, which are announced in November each year.

The annual increase applies from January each year to all pupils, regardless of when they started pupillage, and monthly payments to pupils must be adjusted accordingly.

See the rates set by the Bar Standards Board in section 4D of the Bar Qualification Manual.

The Inns of Court all offer different awards to pupils, but the following types are available:

• Scholarships for the conversion course
• Scholarships for the vocational component (Bar Training Course)
• Pupillage awards
• Assistance if you are a disabled student
• Assistance for work experience opportunities (including international opportunities)
• Essay and mooting prizes

You should check the relevant Inn of Court’s website - Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Middle Temple - to find out more information about specific scholarships.

Since September 2020, the Bar Standards Board has permitted training providers to offer several new ways to become a barrister:

• Three-step pathway

  Academic, followed by vocational, followed by pupillage or work-based component.This pathway is the same as the current pathway, which would normally consist of a law degree (or non-law degree with the GDL), the new equivalent of the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), and pupillage. This pathway is likely to be available to students applying for the vocational stage of training for 2020.

• Four-step pathway

  Academic component, followed by vocational component in two parts, followed by pupillage or work-based component. This pathway consists of a law degree (or non-law degree with the GDL). This is then followed by the vocational stage in two parts and pupillage or work-based component. This pathway will be available to students applying for the vocational stage of training for 2020. One provider of this pathway has been conditionally authorised so far, and you can find out more about this provider's offering here .

• Integrated academic and vocational pathway

  Combined academic and vocational components followed by pupillage or work-based component. This route will offer a single combined academic and vocational pathway before pupillage (which is the equivalent of a law degree/GDL and the current BPTC). Northumbria University is the only provider (by exception) who has provided the combined route in previous years. This pathway is likely to be available to students applying for the vocational stage of training for 2020.

• Apprenticeship pathway

  Combined academic, vocational and pupillage or work-based components. As this structure is currently not offered by any Bar Training providers, this pathway will not be available by 2020, and it may take several years or more for apprenticeship/modular models of training to become available.

Read 'Becoming a barrister' on the Bar Standards Board website

Candidates will be required to pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test before commencing the vocational element of any of these pathways. You can find further information on the Bar Standards Board website.

Recruitment methods vary between pupillage providers, but decisions about ‘tenancy’ (long-term places in chambers) are usually made two to three months before the end of any given pupillage.

Competition for tenancy can be strong, with some chambers taking on several pupils but only retaining one as a tenant.

Other sets of chambers take on every pupil with a view to making them a tenant if they perform well. Appraisal might be based simply on the assessments of the supervisors, or pupils might be expected to take part in a formal mock advocacy exercise or interview.

Once barristers become a tenant, their income will come entirely from the work that they take on, including when acting as the junior member within a team of barristers. With the support of their ‘clerks’ or ‘practice managers’ (who are responsible for assigning work to the barristers in their chambers and, in many cases, generating new business), members of chambers are expected to build up a reputation amongst potential clients and a network of solicitors who will ‘instruct’ them (essentially paying them to provide specialist services) on a regular basis.

Most chambers will require their tenants to pay a proportion of their earnings to cover the costs of chambers’ employees and other shared overheads.

Pupillages at the employed Bar

Decisions around long-term employment vary depending on the organisation.

For example, if the pupil is employed as part of an AETO such as a law firm or the Government Legal Department, the decision will be made at the end of their training whether to offer them full-time employment or not.

They may need to apply for any vacant posts that are available. The offer of a permanent position will bring with it standard employment rights, and unlike the self-employed profession there will be no expectation that the barrister pay towards building rents. Diary management is likely to be offered in-house, as opposed to through a clerking system.

Pupillages in the Royal Navy and at the Financial Conduct Authority

Here, pupils are fully employed both before and after pupillage, and their employment is not conditional on successful completion of pupillage.

Those offered pupillage through the Royal Navy will be seconded to a barristers’ chambers to undertake it, and will be treated in the same way as their self-employed counterparts. 

Secondments to chambers also occur in other employed Bar AETOs, such as the Government Legal Department.

Pupils who are not offered employment or a tenancy with the AETO at which they completed their pupillage may be able to apply for an employed position elsewhere - a probationary tenancy (also known as a "third six pupillage") at their existing (or an alternative) chambers, or tenancy at an alternative chambers.

Whilst probationary tenancies are not considered to be an additional period of training, they allow barristers to gain exposure to other types of work and will, more often than not, give them another chance to apply for a permanent tenancy within the relevant set at a later stage.

See the full list of probationary tenancy vacancies on the Bar Council website

During the Pupillage Gateway application process, you will be given the opportunity to complete a contextual recruitment questionnaire. This form is optional and asks you questions within three categories: 

• Educational background – eg the school you attended 

• Personal background – eg if you have care experience, caring responsibilities or have sought asylum 

• Socio-economic background – eg if you qualified for free school meals, your parent or carer’s occupation, if you are the first generation to attend university, and if you had to work to support your studies. 

The response to these questions will be sent directly to our partner, Rare, who process the data and attach ‘flags’ for each of the categories to your application. Recruiters will get to see if you have an ‘education’, ‘personal’ or ‘socio-economic’ category flag. There may be further developments to the portal which allows recruiters to see the detail in which this ‘flag’ was allocated. For example, if you received a socio-economic flag as you are the first generation to attend university.   

If you do not receive any ‘flags’, this does not put your application at a disadvantage. If your application meets all the criteria required by the AETO, you will still be included on their shortlist.  

Contextual data is optional for recruiters to use during the pupillage application process. Some may refer to it during initial shortlisting, some may look at it at interview stage, whereas some may look at it at offer stage.  

Read more about contextual recruitment