Bar: Achievement gap between those with first-class and second-class degrees
The number of students on Bar vocational courses has continued to grow since the pandemic, new figures from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) have shown.
The figures also highlighted large gaps in achievement between those with first-class university degrees and those with lower seconds, as well as between course providers.
Some 2,378 students were enrolled on courses between July 2023 and June 2024, up from 2,234 the previous year, 2,180 for the one before that and 2,120 for July 2020 to June 2021.
Those with first-class degrees were much more likely to pass all 10 course modules at the first attempt – 71% compared to 48% of students with 2:1s and only 15% with 2:2s.
At Cardiff University and the Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA), the proportion of students with first-class degrees passing first-time was over 88%, while at ULaw Birmingham it was only 47% and at BPP London 52%.
When it came to those with 2.1 degrees, three providers came top of the table for first-time passes – Cardiff University, City Law School and the University of Northumbria, all with around 58%. At the bottom were Nottingham Law School with 27% and the University of the West of England (UWE) with 29%.
The most successful course provider for students with 2.2 degrees was, by some distance, City Law School, with a first-time pass rate of 24%, followed by UWE with 21%.
The Bar Training 2024 report showed another significant gap between providers in terms of cost.
The University of Northumbria was the cheapest, pricing its course at £12,300, followed by the University of Hertfordshire (£12,640) – which has recently been allowed to restart its course – and Nottingham Law School (£12,650).
Cardiff University was the most expensive, charging overseas students £22,700 and domestic students £18,950.
Most Bar students domiciled in other countries prior to undertaking the course did not appear to seek pupillage in England and Wales after completing it.
Graphs in the report showed that over a third of UK-domiciled Bar students who passed the previous Bar professional training courses between 2018 to 2020 had started their pupillages, compared to just 2% of overseas students.
Bar students with first-class degrees were more likely to get pupillages. At least 60% of these students, who passed their course between 2018 and 2021, had pupillages, compared to little more than 40% of those with 2:1s.
In terms of ethnicity, a majority of Bar students enrolling between 2022 and 2024, domestic and international, were Asian (51%).
White students accounted for 27% of the total, with Black students making up 6% and those from mixed ethnic backgrounds 4%. A further 8% preferred not to disclose their ethnicity, while 2% classed themselves as ‘other’.
There were big variations between the course providers, with UWE having the highest proportion of Asian students at 77% and ICCA the lowest at 18%.
ULaw Nottingham had the highest proportion of Black students at 17%, followed by ULaw London with 13% and Manchester Metropolitan University with 12%.
Bar Council figures released earlier this year showed that the number of pupillages advertised on its Pupillage Gateway hit a record high of 638 in the financial year 2022/23, an increase of over 10% on the previous year.
The number of applicants also increased, to almost 3,000 from just under 2,800. The biggest indicator of success in securing a pupillage was a first-class degree, with six out of 10 offers going to candidates with a first, and 36% to those with an upper second.
The Bar course providers and theInns of court should strive to increase the number of available pupilages to graduates example 3,000 graduates and only approximately 670 pupilages available.