Selection

We require an upper second class honours degree (2i), irrespective of the subject or the educational establishment you studied at. Points will be awarded for a first class honours degree, other academic awards, scholarships or prizes.

In wholly exceptional circumstances a 2ii honours degree may suffice, but only where verifiable circumstances exist to explain why an expected 2i honours degree was not achieved.

Most of our applicants will have applied before they know their Bar Training Course results, but we are looking for candidates who have or are expected to pass the course with a “Very Competent” grading or higher (or equivalent).

Applicants who have completed the Bar Training Course should supply us with their final overall grade and grades for individual subjects.

We expect from applicants currently on the Bar Training Course the grades that they have achieved so far.

Students of the Bar Training Course are obliged to undertake advocacy exercises and we take such results into account.

We are looking for applicants that have demonstrated a real desire to practise their communication skills. This may be demonstrated, for example, by extra-curricular activities at university or other forums such as mooting, debates, acting or other forms of public speaking.

Tell us what you have done, with what measure of success and what it taught you about communicating effectively and persuasively.

Very few members of these Chambers have family links with the legal profession and none are looked for.

We also bear in mind that it is not as easy as it was to obtain legal-related part-time work as a student; points will be awarded for such work, but such experience is not a requirement. Nevertheless, we do look for candidates that have made some kind of commitment to gaining relevant experience of life at the Bar such as mini-pupillages and/or some form of judicial marshalling.

We expect you to have done your homework about us.

Work experience linked to the criminal law will also be taken into account. Points will also be awarded for active participation with FRU, CAB or other advisory services in the community. Again, tell us what your experiences have taught you.

We are a purely criminal set. Whether prosecuting or defending we are normally dealing with people whose experience of life and outlook is very different to our own; most of our pupillage applicants have led a relatively sheltered and/or cultured life in comparison.

Tell us about your own background and your experience of life in so far as it may make you a better advocate for it.

However much an advocate may have the “gift of the gab”, preparation for a case and the ability to persuade by written argument can count for a lot.

The way in which you present yourself in your application form, your ability to present the issues simply but persuasively, will count for a significant number of the points.

We are interested to know why you want to practice criminal law in these chambers on the Midlands Circuit.

There will always be the possibility of some feature specific to a particular applicant that is not covered by the generality of this marking scheme.

The pupillage committee may, in its discretion, award a proportionate number of additional points to reflect such a matter; however, this discretion will only be exercised in exceptional circumstances.