I have just registered with this site and I am somewhat disappointed to read some of the cynical, uninformed rants about the prospects of a career at the Bar with the “wrong” university or less than a 2:1.
The last post by The Judge sums up what is obviously an enormous amount of misinformation about the profession and how one can get in.
In short it takes talent, hard work, intellectual rigour( and therefore academic success) and persistence. The perceptions about ex-polytechnics and comparisons with Oxbridge candidates is quite simply wrong. Please look up the statistics collated for Inner Temple and presented as a graph in their prospectus and available on their website at http://www.innertemple.org.uk - I am sure there will be others out there as well.
You will see that the classification of your degree is becoming increasingly important BUT that such talent is, increasingly, being actively recruited from post 1992 universities(ex polys)at around 24% of 2009/10 intake. This is comparable to Russell Group Unis at 32%, other non-Russell group at just 15% and Oxbridge at 28% (approx). In fact ex-poly pupils make up around 20-25% of the totals since 2005/6 and the Oxbridge intake has fallen in the same period from around 38% in 2005/6 to 28% in 2009/10. Please also take a look at the profile, in the same prospectus, of pupil Nancy Marsh where you will see that a willingness to work hard at whatever you do and attempts to gather some life experience can stand you in good stead. ( All statistics sourced from http://www.innertemple.org/downloads/prospective-members/inner-temple-prospectus.pdf).
The issue is one of teasing out those with a less fortunate background and traditional support but, nevertheless, with buckets of intellectual talent, to use those talents; not recruiting anybody who wants to “give it a try” regardless of their academic efforts on the basis that it is “not fair”. May I therefore also direct you to the Bar Council website where you will find a copy of the Neuberger Report on Entry to the Bar and their discussion therein.(http://www.barcouncil.org/news/TheEntrytoTheBarWorkingPartyFinalReport/ )
Dear Judge - may I respectfully suggest some more rigorous research on YOUR part.
Find out what everyone's tweeting about from All About Law.
Why not join us on our Facebook group and connect to likeminded people.
