The issue of student funding has provoked deep divisions in the Bar in recent years.

At a time when levels of student debt are soaring and with the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) costing up to £10,000 plus a year’s living expenses, there has been widespread concern that students from poorer backgrounds are being deterred from pursuing a career as a barrister and that the Bar will once again be drawn from a narrow cross-section of society.