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The Bar Council’s It’s your call got me thinking and their commitment to access to the profession. There are now fantastic opportunities for everyone these days. For example, according Bar Council, “68.4% of those in pupillage studied universities other than Oxford and Cambridge”. That’s encouraging I thought.

Wait. That means that over one third of all barristers; one third, went to Oxford or Cambridge! What are we to make of this statistic?

Perhaps students at Oxford and Cambridge really are that much better. Or perhaps it’s the reputation of the universities that helps their graduates along. Or it could be that people who go to Oxford and Cambridge tend to have more barristers in the family, friends whose parents are barristers and so getting a foot in the door is easier.

This might seem a bit unfair, not all Oxbridge graduates fit any ill-founded and archaic stereotypes.

Maybe everyone that wants to be a barrister should take an exam and then only the best will be selected on merit. Maybe, but that’s crazy talk and that isn’t how things are. As George Orwell wrote, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

It is true now and will always be the case.

That doesn’t mean we should not make it easier to get into the legal profession for everyone, or that I am critical of the many successes the Bar Council have had. What does irritate me and what undermines the good that has been done is to gloss over the reality.

Perhaps the sentence would be better worded as follows, “Although, currently over one third of those in pupillage studied at Oxford and Cambridge we are taking a number of steps to increase participation of students that graduated from other universities that are just as smart and well qualified as their counter-parts at Oxbridge, but are in many (not all) probably slightly less well connected in the legal profession”.

Either way if you do want to be a barrister take a read of It’s your call there is a lot of good stuff in there with insights from people that have already walked the path.

http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/assets/documents/Its%20Your%20Call%20Oct%2009.pdf

I agree. But, I also think that Oxbridge students are generally academically special - they are the best by the virtue of getting in.

The problem with equality is that in trying to reach it people always feel hard done by when it isn’t always the case.

Having said that I think over 30% is a bit high to be completely based on merit, but they do say it’s who you know, not what you know.

Maybe part of it is just that people who know they want to be barristers are more likely to try to go to Oxbridge because they know it will give them an added advantage in their careers.

I haven’t met a single Oxbridge grad on my (part time) BVC course, but I’m sure we’re not representative.