Pupillage Places Fall

It hasn’t been the best week for the aspiring lawyer.

On Tuesday, AllAboutLaw.co.uk reported that competition for training contracts was greater than ever and now the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has revealed that the number of pupillages has dropped dramatically.

There were just 397 ‘First Six’ pupillages in 2013/14, compared to 514 in 2012/13. The number of ‘Second Six’ pupillages had decreased by one, from 449 to 448. The figures exaggerated the problem, however. The BSB have attributed the rise and fall to the fact that “Previously, organisations offering pupillages (PTOs) would recruit according to a shared timetable” meaning all pupillages were registered at the beginning of October. However, “More recently, PTOs have recruited according to their own timetables, and many now do so earlier than previously specified. As some registrations are made in September, before the end of the legal year, this means some pupillages appear to be registered in the same year as they are recruited.” Therefore numbers haven’t necessarily dropped, but the way in which numbers are analysed hasn’t taken into account this change.

Additionally, 44% of pupillages went to women, which is down from 49%. Around 14.6% of all pupillages went to ethnic minorities, which is an increase on 13.4%.

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