Pupillage is a hurdle for all prospective barristers, but finding and then funding a berth is also notoriously difficult. The Bar Council argues that initiatives have attempted to ease things. It claims that between 1999 and 2000, 1,198 students graduated from the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) and 807 candidates obtained pupillage.
The Bar Council has certainly been busy. In the past 18 months, it has endorsed three initiatives aimed at smoothing the path to the Bar: a minimum wage, widening the number of organisations that provide pupillages and introducing a new clearing system for applications.
