Following the launch of its 100% for You initiative and the remarkable National Student Survey 2016 results, in which The University of Law (previously The College of Law) was ranked first in the UK with 97% of overall student satisfaction on the LLB programme, ULaw today announced the further good news.
*Now known as the Bar Professional Course (BPC).
According to figures released last week, 54% of ULaw’s full-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) students graduating in 2016 already received offers of pupillage this year – an exceptional result in one of the most competitive areas of the legal industry.
In addition, ULaw students achieved impressively high results in their BPTC exams, including those set centrally by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), with 22% of the university’s full-time students obtaining the top ‘Outstanding’ grade overall, compared to the national average of 9% in 2015.
The results suggest that students aiming for a career at the Bar are more than twice as likely to achieve the top ‘Outstanding’ grade if they study the BPTC programme at The University of Law, the largest and longest established law school in the UK.
The results follow the introduction of a unique selection process to the ULaw BPTC programme, designed to attract the best and brightest candidates. All students who meet the university’s academic requirements are invited to complete a 3-part assessment which they must pass before being offered a place on the BPTC. The assessment includes a written test, an oral advocacy assessment and a short interview with a BPTC tutor based on those questions typically asked in first-round pupillage interviews.
The university’s ambition was to focus on training high calibre students and according to Jacqueline Cheltenham, National BPTC Programme and Student Affairs Director at ULaw, this year’s results – which are the first since the selection process was introduced – demonstrate that this ambition has been realised.
“The BPTC is undoubtedly a challenging course and we remain committed to only offering places to those students whom we believe have a realistic prospect of succeeding on the BPTC and obtaining pupillage. These results demonstrate that our unique selection process, when combined with the high quality teaching, employability support and enhanced advocacy opportunities our course provides, really works to give our students the best chances of success,” said Ms Cheltenham.
Available in London Bloomsbury, Birmingham and Leeds, the ULaw BPTC programme includes a high level of careers support via the Future Pupil Programme, and a wide range of opportunities for candidates to put the skills they develop in the classroom into practice. The programme also offers four times the amount of advocacy training required by the Bar Standards Board, as well as support to enter and compete in prestigious national and international advocacy competitions via ULaw’s student-run Advocacy Committee.
Anna Williams, Bar Specialist Careers Consultant at ULaw, said: “It’s incredibly rewarding to see these positive outcomes, not only for our most recent BPTC cohort who have worked so tirelessly to prepare themselves as pupillage candidates but also for our recent GDL cohort and incoming BPTC students.”
ULaw awards wigs to its BPTC students with pupillage
To celebrate the achievement of this year’s graduates, The University of Law has made awards of the horsehair wigs required to practise at the Bar of England and Wales to its BPTC graduates from September 2015 start who have secured pupillage. The awards, available from specialist legal tailors Ede & Ravenscroft, reflect the ethos which the 100% for You initiative embodies – academic excellence, support and lifelong commitment to students and alumni.
Pupillage Fair 2016 to be hosted at ULaw
ULaw will be hosting the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair at its Moorgate campus on 22 October 2016. The Fair, which is the only one run by the Bar, provides an opportunity for students to meet representatives of a wide variety of chambers and organisations. Students can register their place via the Bar Council website.
Applications for ULaw’s 2017 BPTC will open on December 2016 and our unique selection events will run from 13-18 February 2017 at ULaw’s London Bloomsbury, Leeds, and Birmingham centres.
Find out more on ULaw’s BPC programme.