Bar Placement Scheme

The Bar Placement Scheme allows students to spend up to four days shadowing a barrister in chambers and in court. Participants receive advocacy training from the Inns of Court College of Advocacy.

This is an excellent opportunity to build up your skills and CV, and to work out whether a career at the Bar would be suitable for you.

Apply for the Bar Placement Scheme

The 2024 dates will be announced in early 2024. Applications for 2023 closed on Friday 28 April 2023.

Eligibility criteria

To deliver the Bar Placement Scheme, the Bar Council works with Pathways to Law and the Social Mobility Foundation.

State-educated sixth form and college students can apply to the scheme independently. Places are awarded on the following criteria:

Quality of the application
Demonstrated commitment to, and interest in, a career as a barrister
Fulfilment of social mobility criteria: 1) attendance at a state school or college (in year 12 or 13) and 2) you'll be the first in your family to attend university

When and where does it run?

When

The Bar Placement Scheme 2023 will run from Monday 3 July to Friday 7 July 2023.

Where

We have host chambers, covering a range of practice areas, in:

We're continuing to receive offers of places in other major cities, and may be able to match you to a location not currently listed.

Advocacy training

Advocacy training will take place in London and Manchester.

Chambers: host a student

If you're a barrister and your chambers would be interested in hosting a student, email us at [email protected], or call 020 7611 1396.

How to apply:

Applications for 2023 are now closed.

Download and complete the application form [MS Word]
Get the consent form signed by your parent, carer or guardian – this is at the bottom of the application form
Complete the equality monitoring form online (this is voluntary)
Email your completed application form and consent form to [email protected] by 09:00, Friday 28 April 2023

The Bar Council is grateful to the Council of the Inns of Court, the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, and the four Inns of Court for supporting the Bar Placement Scheme.

Bar Placement Scheme Blog Competition winners

Each year, we invite students to submit a short blog describing their experiences during the week. We are consistently overwhelmed with the quality of responses.