60 Thursday May 26 2022 | the times
Student Law
Bar students are unlikely to be sad-
dened by the prospect of having to sit
one fewer exam. But rejoicing over the
decision last month by the profession’s
watchdog to ditch the pre-course
aptitude test will be tempered by nag-
ging suspicions that the move was
made to placate special interests.
Implemented in 2013, the test con-
sisted of 60 multiple choice questions
that were designed to assess critical
thinking and had a relatively low bar of
a 50 per cent pass mark.
Nine years ago officials at the Bar
Standards Board sought to tackle the
problem of too many applicants for the
full qualification course not having the
appropriate skills to be successful
barristers.
Now, however, the view of the board’s
chief executive, Mark Neale, is that the
test “is playing no useful role in deliver-
ing that objective”. Neale says that on
average the aptitude test filters out few-
er than 1 per cent of students while cost-
ing £150 for home and EU students and
£170 for those from elsewhere abroad.
But critics of the move argue that
there is another agenda. One senior
figure at the Inns of Court says that the
core problem was that the bar for pass-
ing the test was set far too low, which is
why the filter is so ineffective.
That official speculates that the true
reason behind the board’s move to drop
the test was fear that it is seen as unfair-
ly targeting students from socially less
affluent backgrounds, ethnic minor-
ities and foreign applicants. It is an
open secret in legal education circles
that many of the providers of the Bar
practice course aggressively promote
their programmes overseas, especially
in Commonwealth jurisdictions in
south Asia and Africa.
Law students and qualified lawyers in
those countries come in significant
numbers to be called at the Bar in En-
gland and then return home to leverage
that qualification to their professional
advantage. Nothing wrong with that in
principle — and many a university law
school head has built a business model
around that market.
Nonetheless, critics point out that a
relatively easy aptitude test has result-
ed in students for whom English is a
second language going through to themain course and not performing well.
However, those running the bar prac-
tice course are disinclined for financial
reasons to fail them.
A more sensitive issue arises over
British students from backgrounds that
are historically less traditional at the
Bar. Through a variety of social rea-
sons, they are likely to be in weaker
positions to pass a beefed-up aptitude
test, critics say, and therefore board
officials have simply wound up the
whole system.
Neal says that the issues of socioeco-
nomics and ethnicity were not a factor
in the decision. He says that the move to
drop the aptitude test was taken
because since 2013, law schools have
improved their admissions criteria.School leavers in Wales who are look-
ing to train as lawyers through the
apprenticeship route will be able to at-
tend lectures in their pyjamas.
A partnership between the Char-
tered Institute of Legal Executives, the
Law Society and the Welsh govern-
ment will allow legal apprentices to
study remotely — although those who
still want to get suited and booted will
be able to attend classes in person, and
all will have to go to the office for the
practical learning stages.
The new level 3 and level 5 appren-
ticeships are open to students aged 16 or
older who are sponsored by an employ-
er, who can begin recruiting next
month. No formal qualifications are re-
quired, but a high standard of numera-
cy and literacy will be expected.
Apprentices will complete the foun-
dation stage (level 3) and advanced
stage (level 5) of the new Cilex profes-
sional qualification. Each level takes 18
months to two years to complete and
apprentices will qualify as a Cilex law-
yer in five to six years. Those with un-
dergraduate or postgraduate legal qual-
ifications will not need to undertake the
level 3 apprenticeship.
The scheme builds on the recommen-
dations of the Commission on Justice in
Wales and the rapid review of the Welsh
legal sector by Jomati Consultants.New Welsh
apprenticeships
can be done in
your pyjamas
Catherine Baksi‘The bar for passing was too low’
There is “more widespread use of
interviews and practical exercises at
the point of selection,” says Neale,
which “filters out around 45 per cent of
applicants”.
But the Bar Council, which repre-
sents 17,500 barristers in England and
Wales, is unconvinced.
It told the board during its consulta-
tion on the test’s future that recent data
on pass rates for the course “suggests
that some institutions, including some
who are applying less rigorous selec-
tion criteria, are recruiting students of
whom only a very small proportion
pass the centrally marked assess-
ments”.
Mark Fenhalls QC, the council’s
chairman, argues that the “problem of
too many students wasting money em-
barking on courses they will struggle to
pass is on the rise again”.
The board’s decision to kill the test is
now with the Legal Services Board and
its ruling is expected in the summer.
If, as is likely, the LSB rubber stamps
the Bar watchdog’s decision, questions
arise over how it will address its critics’
fears.
“We are now relying on the admis-
sion procedures of the providing
universities which must meet the
requirements of our authorisation
framework and which will be subject to
the scrutiny of our external examiners,”
Neale says.
The Bar Standards Board will moni-
tor “closely the progress of cohorts of
students at each provider to assess the
success rates in Bar training and, subse-
quently, in gaining pupillage”, he adds.Jonathan Ames
The Bar Standards Board is scrapping the aptitude test for the Bar practice courseALAMY