Bar Professional Training Course, BPTC

Overview

This course has replaced the Bar Vocational Course (BVC).

Nottingham Law School has a proven track record in practical skills training and is one of only nine educational establishments validated by the Bar Standards Board to deliver the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).

The BPTC aims to equip you with the skills and procedural knowledge to follow your chosen career. Our BPTC was written by eight barristers who came to the Law School from practice. The course was designed in conjunction with judges, practicing barristers and senior academics. Practitioners and judges assist with the delivery of the course as guest speakers, in practitioner workshops and court visits.

Why choose this course?

• Our core staff are practitioners.
• We provide a dedicated careers and recruitment service.
• Our pupillage rate for 2009/10 was 42% which is well above the national average of 34%.
• We offer a range of options for varying types of practice.
• You will undertake assessments with a practical focus.
• Students are taught in small groups in high-quality teaching accommodation.
• You will receive individual feedback in all assessable skills.
• Prospective students attend a Pupillage Interview Training Day before the course starts, providing practical advice on pupillage applications.
• Scholarships are available for this course.

Graduate LLB
Students who complete our BPTC via the GDL route at Nottingham Law School, or with another provider, have the opportunity to obtain a full LLB (known as a Graduate LLB*), reflecting the significant effort and achievement of the combination of a GDL and a BPTC. This will enhance your CV and provide you with an academic as well as a professional award.

Open days
We hold an open day in autumn each year for students considering applying for a place on the Nottingham Law School BPTC. As well as providing an opportunity to talk to tutors and current students, visitors can:

• find out more about the course
• take a campus tour
• view our facilities
• take part in a careers workshop with our experienced BPTC careers advisers.

Find out further details and how to book your place.  

We also hold a Pupillage Interview Training Day for applicants to whom we make an offer. This event is held in spring and provides practical guidance and advice on applying for pupillage as well as practice interviews with members of the bar. 

If you have any queries about this course please contact us:

Contact details

Telephone: +44(0)115 848 4460
Email

Course

About the course

After a short introductory period you will commence your study of the compulsory subjects. You will handle seven realistic briefs (four criminal and three civil) from commencement towards trial throughout the first two terms. Knowledge and skills areas are taught and learned through the progress of these case studies as students respond to Instructions to Counsel

Skills amount to around 60% of the BPTC and are normally taught in a variety of practical contexts to show how skills, once learned, can be transferred.

Two options are studied and assessed in the final term. A wide choice within mainstream areas of practice is available so that students obtain a broad foundation which they can build upon once they have entered the profession.

All students are required to join an Inn of Court before enrolment.

Assessment

There are 12 assessments. All students have a one-to-one feedback session with a tutor prior to each substantive skills assessment. Wherever possible, assessments are set in a practical context. We use actors to provide you with a realistic experience of an examination in chief and cross-examination and the questioning and advising of clients. You will also perform a chambers application before a District Judge who will interject with questions. Wherever possible, assessments are set in a practical context. The following are examples. 

• Advocacy I: an interim application (performed before a District Judge who interjects with questions)
• Advocacy II and III: examination in chief and cross-examination of a witness played by an actor
• Conference Skills: questioning and advising a client who is played by an actor
• Family Practice: a conference to advise a client in respect of a family dispute (client played by an actor)
• Advanced Civil Practice: oral application for leave to apply for judicial review

All written skills assessed are based on briefs.

Two options are studied and assessed in the final term. A wide choice within mainstream areas of practice is available so that students obtain a broad foundation on which they can build once they have entered the profession.

Modules

Pervasives

• Case Preparation and Analysis
• Legal Research

Knowledge

• Civil Litigation, Evidence and Remedies
• Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing
• Professional Ethics

Skills

• Advocacy
• Conference Skills
• Drafting
• Resolution of Disputes Out of Court
• Opinion Writing

Options

Choose two from the following (subject to availability and demand):

• Advanced Civil Practice
• Advanced Criminal Practice
• Commercial Practice
• Employment Practice
• Family Practice
• Immigration
• Landlord and Tenant.

Study routes
This is a full-time course running from September to June.

Facilities

Careers

Your future career
Successful completion of this course enables you to proceed to pupillage and then be admitted as a barrister. We have a dedicated careers and recruitment service who will support you in your search for pupillage. The team provides practical sessions and advice, which has helped to keep our pupillage rate consistently above the national average.

• The Law School has a specialist Careers and Recruitment Service to offer advice and practical support, such as trial interviews. A number of presentations are given throughout the year reflecting the changing needs of students as they pass through the application process. The focus of these presentations is on both practice at the Bar, which reflects the ambitions of most of the students, and alternative careers.
• Students should view careers advice as something about which any lecturer can be approached. All teaching staff come from practice, some from London and some from the local area, and most retain door tenancies in chambers. We are thus able to offer first-hand advice and guidance to students, some of whom wish to practise in this area and some further away.
• A number of local chambers have been enthusiastic in their support for the course and for the students. There are good opportunities for mini-pupillages with these chambers, and our students are represented among those they have recruited as pupils with a view to tenancy.

Continuing professional development
Nottingham Law School also offers a suite of practice-based practitioner programmes specifically designed to meet the personal development needs of legal practitioners. We offer courses that qualify for CPD with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, in-house training and bespoke programmes. These courses are highly flexible and can be delivered throughout the year both nationally and internationally.

Placements

Placements are not part of the course, although there are opportunities to gain legal experience through pro bono projects.

How to apply

Entry Requirements

Applicants who have or are predicted a 2.2 in their Qualifying Law Degree will be considered if they can provide additional evidence of achievement in their personal statement e.g. awards, scholarships, work experience - paid or unpaid.

Applicants whose first degree is a 2.2 will be considered if they can provide additional evidence of achievement in their personal statement e.g. awards, scholarships, work experience - paid or unpaid.

All applicants are expected to demonstrate commitment to the profession and an aptitude for advocacy.

English language requirements All students for whom English is not their first language must demonstrate that they have attained a minimum of 7.5 in each section of the IELTs test.