Northumbria launches a modern new Bar Course

Northumbria Law School launches a new suite of flexible and accessible Bar Courses, authorised by the Bar Standards Board, to offer greater study and career opportunities to aspiring barristers.

The new Bar Courses will be available from September 2020 and will replace the existing Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). Teaching on Northumbria’s Bar Course will be led by a team of highly experienced barristers and supported by a well-established network of members of the Bar and the Judiciary.

Students will develop the knowledge and skills to practise in a broad range of briefs focused on foundational areas of pupillage and early practice, learning how to think and behave like a barrister. They will be instructed in cases conducted as in practice – incorporating conferences, advocacy, drafting and opinion writing alongside both the knowledge developed on the course and a sound understanding of a barrister’s professional ethical obligations. Other practice–focused topics may include practice management, forensic statistics, introductions to expert evidence, the Victim’s Code, client mental health issues, algorithms in law, unconscious bias & financial crime. Advocacy, which remains at the heart of the Bar Course at Northumbria, will be taught in dedicated small group sessions of four students, recorded to provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-development.

Dedicated support will also be provided in the Centralised Assessment subjects of Civil Litigation and Criminal Litigation. Alongside practice-focused teaching in both subjects, students will also have a year-long series of workshops designed to support knowledge, understanding and exam techniques and preparation for assessments.

At no extra cost, students will also have the opportunity to complete an internationally recognised LLM. This may be undertaken as a traditional dissertation or in the multi-award-winning Student Law Office.

An alternative training route at Northumbria will also be available with a new Bar Knowledge Course and Bar Skills Course.  Students will be taught and supported alongside those on the Bar Course and will be provided with identical classroom-based academic and pastoral support throughout.

On successful completion of the Bar Course students will be eligible for Call to the Bar of England and Wales - subject to meeting the qualifying requirements of the particular Inn of Court.

Emma Piasecki, Associate Professor at Northumbria Law School, said: “Our innovative approach to training for the Bar replicates professional practice more closely than ever before. We aim to ensure that on completion of the Bar Course students emerge as confident advocates with the skills, knowledge and attributes necessary to succeed and excel at the modern Bar”

Northumbria Law School is recognised internationally for delivering excellence in training for the Bar. Its flexible suite of Bar Courses allows students to learn in a way that suits them best, with part time LLM, separate Bar Knowledge and Bar Skills Courses available alongside an integrated M Law Exempting Bar Course.

The fee for the full time and part time programme is £12,000 with no additional fee for the Bar Course LLM. Five fully funded scholarships are also available.  

For more information on the new course please visit our website.