Bar training: who does what

We are responsible for setting the education and training requirements for those who wish to qualify and practise as barristers in England and Wales. This involves setting, overseeing and enforcing the Bar Qualification Rules. You can read a summary and detailed explanation of these Rules and how they must be applied in our online Bar Qualification Manual. If you want to read the Rules themselves, they are contained within Part 4 of the BSB Handbook.

Anyone wishing to provide Bar training – whether that be training as part of the vocational component of training or the pupillage / work-based learning component of training – must apply, and be authorised by, us. We call these training providers Authorised Education and Training Organisations (AETOs). We publish an Authorisation Framework to set out the requirements of becoming an AETO. Once authorised, AETOs become subject to our ongoing supervision. This is our way of making sure that they stick to the Rules, meet the criteria against which they were authorised and deliver what they have told us they are going to deliver.

We are responsible for setting and marking some of the assessments undertaken by Bar students. These are known as the centralised assessments:

• For students who start a vocational Bar training course from September 2020, the centralised assessments during the vocational component are in Civil Litigation and Criminal Litigation. We are not responsible for arranging and administering the exam sittings for centralised assessments taken during the vocational component – this is the job of students’ AETOs.
• For these students, these will be followed by a centralised assessment in Professional Ethics if students go on to undertake the pupillage component. We will administer the Ethics centralised assessment taken during the pupillage component.

The BSB’s Central Examinations Board (CEB) consists of a group of senior examiners, including experienced legal practitioners and academics. They are supported by psychometric and examination experts.

The CEB’s role is to ensure fairness and consistency in how the centralised assessments undertaken during Bar training are set and marked. The CEB is responsible for overseeing both the rigour and quality of the assessments. The Chair of the CEB publishes a detailed report after each exam sitting.

The CEB also considers requests from students for clerical error checks and reviews. You can read more about these requests in Part 3D of the Bar Qualification Manual.

Other assessments during the vocational component of Bar training are set, administered and marked by AETOs and not by us. These assessments must meet the requirements of the Curriculum and Assessment Strategy.

We appoint a number of External Examiners who provide us with specialist advice on the consistency of standards of the assessments set by the vocational component AETOs. Our external examiners are responsible for confirming whether or not:

• the assessment process measures student achievement rigorously and fairly in line with our Curriculum and Assessment Strategy; and
• the standards and the achievements of students are consistent between AETOs.

We refer to Bar training providers as Authorised Education and Training Organisations (AETOs).

There are two types of AETOs: those who provide vocational Bar training courses (of which there are currently nine) and those who provide pupillage or other forms of work-based learning. AETOs who provide pupillage are typically barristers’ chambers but can be other types of organisations too.

In order to become an AETO, training providers must apply to us for authorisation. Our Authorisation Framework sets out the requirements of becoming an AETO. Once authorised, AETOs become subject to our ongoing supervision. This is our way of making sure that they stick to the Rules, meet the criteria against which they were authorised and deliver what they have told us they are going to deliver.

AETOs are responsible for all aspects of the delivery of their training programmes. For vocational component AETOs, this includes making sure that all exams are delivered including those which they set and mark themselves. Vocational component AETOs are also responsible for the administration and delivery of the centralised assessments which are set and marked by us. At the end of their period of work-based learning, pupillage AETOs are responsible for signing-off their pupils as having the knowledge, skills and attributes all barristers need on their first day of practice as set out in the Professional Statement for barristers. The full set of training requirements can be found in our Curriculum and Assessment Strategy.

You can read more about the information we provide for AETOs in this section of our website.

The Inns of Court or “Inns” are professional membership associations for barristers in England and Wales. They play several important roles in the education and training of barristers, which are set out in a Memorandum of Understanding.

First, anyone starting a vocational Bar training course must become a Student Member of an Inn. The process involves the Inns conducting “fit and proper person” checks to make sure that only suitable individuals become Student Members and, ultimately, practising barristers. Visit our webpage on Joining an Inn to find out more about this.

The Inns are responsible for the conduct of Bar students. They also provide Qualifying Sessions for those undertaking the vocational component of Bar training. Along with successfully completing a vocational Bar training course, students must complete the required number of Qualifying Sessions.

Finally, it is the Inns who Call students to the Bar once the vocational component has been successfully completed. Only those Called to the Bar may call themselves “barristers” (although only those who successfully complete the pupillage component may apply to us to become practising barristers).

The Bar Council is the representative body for barristers. Its principal role in the education and training of barristers is to support those undertaking Bar training including supporting practising barristers to fulfil their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. The Bar Council also plays an important role in promoting a career at the Bar.

The Bar Council maintains the Pupillage Gateway website which is a portal on which all organisations offering pupillage must advertise their pupillages. It is also now one of our requirements that pupillage providers must recruit pupils in line with the mandatory timetable to ensure that pupillage recruitment is fair and consistent (although some exemptions to this rule are permitted in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).