Law schools “let down” hundreds of students a year by taking on aspiring barristers who have no chance of joining the profession, the chairman of the Bar Council warned today.
Michael Todd, QC, said it was “a great concern” that the number recruited to training courses was “far more” than the number of pupillages available.
He said that meant students with “no realistic prospect” of being barristers were amassing debts of up to £60,000 in a trend that hindered the legal world’s efforts to improve social mobility.
His comments follow figures revealing that about 1,600 students a year now take the Bar Professional Training Course at British law schools, more than three times the number of pupillages available at barristers’ chambers — 446 places were available last year.
Mr Todd said that meant most of those taking the courses would fail to become barristers. He called on colleges to scale back the number of places.
Article published on Evening Standard- to read more or for further information click link