Pre-application judicial education programme (PAJE)

Judge-led workshop series and resources

Have you considered applying for judicial appointment? Do you want to gain first-hand advice and support from practicing judges?

The Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme is designed to give you direct insight into the skills involved in becoming a judge.

PAJE has been developed by the Judicial Diversity Forum to support lawyers from groups under-represented in the judiciary from BAME lawyers, women lawyers, and all lawyers with disabilities are prioritised in the selection process.

PAJE resources

The following open resources have been created by the judicial college to provide an introduction to becoming a judge.

A day in the life of a judge

PAJE online videos

Podcasts

The PAJE judge-led workshop series

PAJE is primarily a course in judgecraft, rather than completing an application. By the end of the course participants will have a deeper understanding of the work of a judge, and the qualities sought in judicial applicants.

“The judge had a wealth of knowledge and was extremely engaging- really great!”

“It has given me a lot more confidence to apply for judicial appointment in the future”

PAJE Delegates, 2019

Apply to join the next course

Applications are now open for the Spring 2021 online course. The deadline for application is 23:59 on Monday 16 November. We recommend all prospective judicial candidates consider the programme based on our judgecraft syllabus.

Apply now

For more information call 020 7611 4690 or email PAJE@judiciary.uk.

Find out more about the courses

The judge-led PAJE workshops consists of 4 2-hour discussion groups covering content in Judgecraft, Judicial Ethics, and Equality & Diversity. Read the syllabus.

Judge-led courses will be administered by one of the three professional bodies (The Law Society, the Bar Council or the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). Participants at each course will be a mix of barristers, solicitors and legal executives.

The course will take between 4 to 8 weeks to complete with groups run either weekly or fortnightly.

Participants are expected to attend all 4 discussion groups in order to complete the course.
The course will be run across England & Wales. Dates and venues (law firm offices and chambers located close to court centres or the offices of the professional bodies) are shown on the application form.

How to apply

1. Find out more on the judiciary webpage

2. Download the application form

3. Send your completed form to PAJE@judiciary.uk