Barristers Training Courses (BTC)

• We offer a 9 month (LLM) Barristers Training Course and a 6 month (PgDip) Barristers Training Course.
• You will engage with realistic cases and gain the qualifications, practical knowledge and insight essential to Chambers and employers.
• We have a dedicated Employability team who will provide you with useful advice and opportunities to help you secure pupillage.
• We offer a multi-award-winning pro bono programme through NLS Legal, our teaching law firm, which is an ABS authorised by the SRA.
• You will be taught in small groups in high-quality teaching rooms, including mock courtrooms.
• We offer scholarships, further details of which can be found on our funding page.

Nottingham Law School has a proven track record in practical skills training, and is one of a limited number of institutions currently authorised by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) to deliver vocational training for the Bar.

The BSB’s Bar Qualification Manual generally requires students to have completed the academic component - i.e. obtained a Law Degree or completed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or Common Professional Examination (CPE) - before enrolling on the vocational stage.

However, if you are awaiting final results for your degree or GDL or CPE on the day of enrolment (11 September), you will be permitted to enrol if, generally, you have a result outstanding in no more than one subject, will receive your final results by 1 October and you have applied to the BSB for early commencement of the vocational component. The BSB will charge you an administrative fee for this.

It is a requirement of the BTC that students are fluent in English. Applicants need to be able to demonstrate that their English language ability is equivalent to a minimum score of 7.5 in each element of the IELTS test.

International students will be required to produce a certificate evidencing the necessary IELTS scores or equivalents* unless they have:

• An actual or predicted degree classification of 2.1 or above in a degree undertaken in the UK and awarded by a UK institution;**
• An actual or predicted commendation or above in the GDL undertaken in the UK and awarded by a UK institution; or
• An actual or predicted commendation or above in a taught Masters undertaken in the UK and awarded by a UK institution.

*We currently accept the following as alternatives to IELTS:

• Pearson Test of English (Academic)
• TOEFL

** 1 year of study in the UK will satisfy this requirement.

It is in your interests to take IELTS (or equivalent) and upload your certificate to the Applicant Portal by 31 July 2024, as we will be unable to issue a Confirmation of Acceptance (CAS) statement for visa purposes until we have received it.

The IELTS website provides further information regarding the test, together with details of the centres that are available to administer the test.

The Pearson Test of English (Academic) requires a minimum score of 73 in each section.

The TOEFL iBT requires minimum scores of Reading: 27; Listening: 27; Speaking: 24; Writing: 29

All details of your offer can be found on the Applicant Portal.

If you wish to accept your offer, log onto the Applicant Portal and follow the instructions set out in your offer email. We aim to acknowledge your acceptance straight away. If you don’t hear from us, please contact us via Ask NTU.

Membership of an Inn of Court

To enrol on either course you must be a member of an Inn of Court. Please refer to the Inns’ websites for details of their closing dates for applications.

Once you’ve met all of your offer conditions you should enrol online. Please do this before the start of your course.

Course start dates: Wednesday 11 September 2024: PgDip Barristers Training Courses, LLM Barristers Training Course.

All students should note that, on enrolment, you will be required to sign a declaration by which you:

• acknowledge the BSB’s English language requirement
• confirm that you meet that requirement
• acknowledge that if, subsequent to your enrolment, we consider that your English language ability is unsatisfactory, or that there is a question as to whether any aspect of it is at the required level, we will require you to take one of the above language tests
• acknowledge that, should you fail to provide evidence that you have attained the minimum scores above, within the period specified, you will be required to either withdraw from the course or intermit and attain the minimum scores prior to being readmitted to the course in a subsequent academic year
• confirm that, if you are required to withdraw, you will be liable for any course fees that are due and outstanding on the date of withdrawal. If you are required to intermit, you will be liable to pay the course fees that apply to the course at the date of readmission. You must also meet any additional entry or enrolment conditions that the BSB might prescribe. You are personally responsible for any costs incurred in taking the above test and any resit attempt(s) thereof.

Deferrals

Please contact us via Ask NTU if you wish to defer your place.

Course adjustments

Our offer is based on the assumption that, when you made your application, you disclosed any disability that might affect the way in which we deliver the course or assess you.

In such a case, we will either:

• agree with you that the disability will require no special facilities, or
• meet you to discuss what facilities will be necessary.

If you have a disability but have not yet disclosed it, we need to hear from you immediately so that we can evaluate your needs and determine what adjustments we are able to make to accommodate those needs. Please contact Student Support Services by emailing Student Support.

Please note that if you are a current student at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and you already have adjustments through Student Support Services for your current course, these adjustments will not automatically be carried forward on to the Barristers Training Course. You will need to contact Student Support Services as soon as possible so a fresh evaluation can be made to accommodate your needs.

Accommodation

As a postgraduate student, you can apply for University accommodation. To guarantee yourself a place, you should apply and pay your deposit before the end of May.

International students are required to make an advance payment. To learn more, find out how and when to pay your fees.

Other important information

If you are an international student, your CAS statement will set out both the title of the course and the nature of the award. If you have applied for the LLM Barristers Training Course and you fail to successfully complete it, you may encounter difficulties in obtaining a visa should you subsequently apply for a further visa to study another course.

You may be entitled to £200 towards the cost of an English Language Test

This would be subject to the following terms and conditions as outlined below:

• You will need to have applied to join the LLM BTC or PG Dip BTC starting in September 2024.
• An English Language test (IELTS, PTE, TOEFL) is required as part of the conditional offer.
• NTU would only cover the cost of one successful test (not any unsuccessful sits), taken between 1 October 2023 - 31 July 2024, and the reimbursement would be paid after you have fully enrolled on the course.
• Applicants who do not to enrol at NTU in September 2024 will not be eligible for reimbursement. This includes students who have not met the conditions of their offer, or who have not chosen to accept their offer and enrol with NTU.
• Applicants must be classed by NTU as International students for fee-assessment purposes.

Nottingham Law School is delighted to offer a number of generous scholarships and loyalty schemes to students starting our Barristers Training Courses including;

• Dean's Professional Courses Scholarships for Academic Excellence and Outstanding Achievement
• Progression and alumni discounts

Our LLM Barristers Training Course also satisfies the academic requirements for the UK Postgraduate Masters Loan.

For more information visit our NLS Funding page.

Course fees

For information on course fees please visit the relevant course page:

• LLM Barristers Training Course
• PGDip Barristers Training Course

Other important considerations

If you have applied for the LLM Barristers Training Course and apply for the UK Postgraduate Masters Loan, you will need to intend to complete all elements of the course. Should you withdraw from the course during the academic year, we will be obliged to notify Student Finance England, which may result in your instalments being terminated and / or a request for repayment if an overpayment has been made.

Visit us at one of our Postgraduate open events, find out more about student life and meet our academics.

Successful completion of your chosen course enables you to be called to the Bar and proceed to pupillage. We have a dedicated careers and placement service who will support you in your search for both pupillage and alternative employment.

The team provides practical sessions and offers advice and support, such as mock interviews. A number of presentations are given throughout the year reflecting the changing needs of students as they progress 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 BTC tutor can be approached. All teaching staff come from practice, some from London and some from the local area, and some retain tenancies in Chambers. We are thus able to offer first-hand advice and guidance to students.

A number of local Chambers have been enthusiastic in their support for the course and our students and former students are represented amongst those they recruited as pupils with a view to tenancy.

Find out more about your future career.