The End of the General NPP Extension
The General NPP Extension will end on 31 December 2024. We introduced it in response to the COVID-19 health emergency. It meant that barristers who could not complete NPP courses with an Inn or Circuit by their NPP deadline did not need to seek an individual extension from us.
Our decision to end the General NPP Extension is driven by our work to assure high standards among barristers in the interests of the public and consumers. Ensuring barristers undertake training to develop and maintain the knowledge, skills, and attributes they need to provide high standards is an integral part of this work, especially during the early years of practice.
The information below explains if and how our decision to end the General NPP Extension affects you.
If you have completed all the requirements of the NPP:
- The end of the General NPP Extension will not affect you.
- Please disregard the below information and continue to work to meet the requirements of the Established Practitioners Programme (EPP) on an ongoing basis.
If your original NPP deadline was between 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2024, and you have yet to complete all the requirements of the NPP:
- You must complete all the requirements of the NPP by 31 December 2024.
- From 31 December 2024, we will not grant individual NPP waivers or extensions solely because of a lack of availability of NPP courses with the Inns and Circuits.
- If you have completed 33 hours of CPD but have not been able to successfully complete either the 9 hours on advocacy or 3 hours on professional ethics or both (ie you have not been able to attend a course provided by an Inn of Court), you must contact [email protected]. We will move you on to the Established Practitioner’s Programme (EPP) and ask you to undertake to complete 9 hours of advocacy and/or 3 hours of professional ethics (or whatever you have not yet been able to complete) in the next CPD year, ie in 2025. We will then follow this up with you next year. If, when we follow up with you, you have completed the outstanding elements of the NPP, you can continue on with the EPP as normal. If you do not complete the remaining elements within your first year, you will be considered non-compliant with your CPD obligations. This could lead to further checks of your CPD record and referral for enforcement action. More information on supervision and enforcement of CPD can be found here.
- If you have not completed 33 hours of CPD and you have not been able to successfully complete the 9 hours on advocacy and 3 hours on professional ethics, you must seek a waiver or an exemption from the BSB’s Authorisations Team.
If you are on an extended break from practice:
- Read the information on our website's CPD – Extended Leave area.
If you have questions about our decision to end the General NPP Extension.
Please email [email protected] if you have questions about the end of the General NPP Extension.
The Established Practitioners Programme (EPP)
Read our CPD Guidance to learn about the requirements of the EPP.
There is no formal extension, waiver, or exemption process for the requirements of the EPP. If your circumstances (e.g. parental leave or ill health) mean that it is appropriate for you to complete less CPD or no CPD in a given year, you need to record this in your CPD plan. You can find more information about CPD and extended leave on our website's CPD – Extended Leave area.
