Inns of Court
- Feb 4, 2014
- 3 min read
In January, the University of Bar Society executive team were invited to go to Lincoln's Inn to talk about the Inn itself, scholarship opportunities and life as a student in the process of coming to the Bar. With thanks to Judith Fox, Student's Administrator of Lincoln's Inn, we had the following questions answered and hope you find them as insightful as we did.
1. What is an Inn of Court? What do they do or provide for students when they are studying their BPTC and subsequently when they have been called to the Bar? The Inns of Court are historic institutions with the exclusive right to Call barristers to the Bar. All students hoping to be Called to the Bar must become a member of one of the four Inns. In addition to this they provide scholarships to help fund students training for the Bar. They also provide educational activities – mooting, debating, advocacy sessions – and the opportunity to meet members of the Bar and Bench. Once a student has been Called to the Bar, the Inns provide training for those in pupillage and practice.
2. Should students who do not intend to pursue a career as a Barrister join an Inn of Court?
Students may only join an Inn of Court if they have the intention of commencing the Bar Professional Training Course. Social membership is not permitted at most of the Inns.
3. When choosing with Inn to join, what should students consider when making their decision?
There is no hard and fast rule as to why a student should join one Inn over the other as far as their future area of practise is concerned. Today students are looking at the facilities the Inn offers students, the scholarship programme, educational activities etc. Students are encouraged to visit the Inns or attend one of the university events run by the Inns. These offer an excellent insight into the characters.
4. What costs are involved in joining an Inn of Court, including the qualifying sessions, application fees etc. and what help does the Inn of Court provide?
The admission fee to join an Inn is £100.00 and there is a fee on Call to the bar of £75.00. The student also has to attend 12 qualifying sessions – the cost of these varies at each Inn and for each event. Each of the Inns has various scholarships to assist with these costs – at Lincoln’s Inn it is the Hardwicke Entrance Scholarship.
5. Why should students chose Lincoln's Inn over the other Inns? What are it's features which make it unique?
All the Inns provide the same services and they all provide these services very well. As mentioned in question 3, there are no specific reasons why a student should join Lincoln’s Inn rather than one of the others. It is purely a matter of personal choice and the only real way of working out the best Inn is by visiting and getting to know the character of the Inns, and by seeing what they offer.
6. What scholarship opportunities are available? Who can apply for them and when? What is the application process? How many people on average are awarded with the Scholarships
Students who intend to practise at the Bar of England and Wales can apply for scholarships to help fund the BPTC – they should apply for these in the autumn before they commence BPTC – the details on the website are updated every August and the deadline is normally the first Friday in November. Although the Inns have a common deadline, students should look at the application details for each Inn – some Inns shortlist for interview; others don’t. The numbers applying for the scholarships at the Inns differs, but it is normally around the 300 – 350 mark. Across all four Inns it is anticipated that about a quarter of those eligible to take up pupillage at the Bar of England and Wales will obtain some funding via the Inns.
7. In your opinion, what is the best thing about being a member of an Inn of Court?
Apart from the fact that all prospective students must become a member of an Inn of Court to undertake the BPTC and get Called to the Bar, it is a wonderful opportunity to belong to such a historic and collegiate foundation which offers so much in the way of educational activities, training and funding for the profession.
For more information on the Inns of court, visit their websites which are listed below. The Inns often have tours so that you can see for yourself what it is like.
http://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/
http://www.middletemple.org.uk/home/
http://www.innertemple.org.uk/
http://www.graysinn.info/
Comments