Bar Course

In a demanding and rapidly changing legal landscape, the highest quality training is required to succeed as a barrister. Northumbria Universitys Bar Course will support you in gaining the necessary knowledge and practical skills that are essential to practice at the modern Bar. The new Bar course replaces the former Bar Professional Training Course. Teaching on Northumbrias Bar Course is led by a team of highly experienced barristers and supported by a well-established network of members of the Bar, Judges, and other practitioners. You will study: 1. Civil Litigation (incorporating evidence and alternative dispute resolution) 2. Criminal Litigation (incorporating evidence and sentencing) 3. Advocacy 4. Conferencing 5. Drafting 6. Opinion Writing 7. Professional Ethics 8. Legal Research From our law school, you will develop the knowledge and skills to practice in a broad range of briefs. These are focused on the foundation areas of pupillage and early practice. From the outset, you will be taught to think and behave like a barrister. You will be instructed in cases conducted as in practice, incorporating conferences, advocacy, drafting, and opinion writing. You will also learn your professional, ethical obligations. This invaluable, practical experience will equip you to be immediately effective in pupillage. You will benefit from generous contact hours throughout the course including dedicated exam-focused teaching sessions. During which the teaching team will share their expertise to support you in preparing for the Bar Standards Board (BSB) centralized assessments. Alongside practice-focused teaching, students will also benefit from a year-long series of workshops designed to support knowledge, understanding, and exam techniques and preparation for these assessments. You may also gain, at no further cost, an additional qualification in Mediation.

A minimum of a 2:1 honors degree in Law or a minimum of a Commendation in the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). Applicants with a 2:2 honors degree or a Pass in the GDL will be considered exceptionally on an individual basis. All applicants are required to join one of the four Inns of Court before commencing the course, and applicants must pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) introduced by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). Applicants must have achieved a minimum standard as specified by the BSB within the past five years.