The recent report on improving access to the Bar tackled key issues such as funding, diversity and BVC entry requirements. Claire Ruckin reports

The long-awaited report by Lord Neuberger's working party on widening access to the Bar was officially unveiled earlier this month (5 April). The report sets out a number of proposals for boosting access and diversity within the Bar.

Neuberger tells Legal Week Student: "Without a doubt the situation needs to be improved – we have the opportunity to coordinate a whole set of proposals which, together, may make a difference."

A key feature of the report is an emphasis on improving the quality and distribution of information available to students, ranging from schoolchildren to those on the Bar Vocational Course (BVC).

The working group hopes that improving access to information in state schools will go some way to making the Bar a potential career path for those from less privileged backgrounds. Offering work experience in chambers to schoolchildren is among the suggestions.

The chairman of the Young Bar, Sophie Shotton, says: "It is important for people to be exposed to the legal system, as many only experience the law through what they see on television."

The report also focuses attention on the controversial topic of entry to the BVC. The number of students taking the BVC far exceeds the number of pupillages on offer. The working party suggests restricting entry to students with a minimum 2:1 degree and raises the possibility of a compulsory competency test.

In addition, the report floats the idea of forcing BVC providers to disclose the proportion of past students that have secured pupillage, as well as more radical measures to cap the number of places offered.

Neuberger concedes that such a move to restrict entry could have a negative impact on the access agenda, particularly hitting students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Another idea under consideration is introducing a voluntary aptitude test, in order to help candidates decide whether to take up the BVC.

Old Square Chambers senior clerk John Taylor comments: "A 2:1 seems like a fair benchmark. It would seem unusual for anyone to get through with a grade lower than that."

However, Shotton says a competency test could be a good indicator for mature people who have not obtained a 2:1 but have relevant experience.

The working group will be consulting widely on the issue of pupillage funding. Proposals include introducing a low-interest loan; a scheme that is already well under way. However, some ideas are more controversial, such as returning to unfunded pupillages.

Neuberger says: "One thing we will be looking into is the thorny question of financing. Suggestions to relax the rules against unpaid pupillages are opening up a can of worms."

Another financial issue includes lifting the ban on those with pupillages having evening and weekend jobs. Neuberger says: "We are thinking about letting pupils get a job in a different kind of bar!"

One senior clerk comments: "I am surprised they can restrict someone's employment like that. It should be up to the individual if they want a job."

But Shotton counters: "Many pupils work long hours and at weekends. It would be such a drain to have part-time work on top of that."

Other ideas include providing training to chambers' pupillage selection committees in order to increase diversity amid concerns that an 'unconscious bias' persists.

The problems of diversity and funding within the Bar are not new. Over the past 16 years no fewer than nine committees have examined these problems. Many of the recommendations of these committees were not implemented, mostly because they were considered to be unworkable or unacceptable at the time.

Neuberger tells Legal Week Student: "We are trying to approach it in a very connected, methodical way, from the beginning of education to careers at the Bar, as well as from a social and economic background."

He added: "We are ambitious in the sense that we are trying to cover the whole area and it is usually the most ambitious projects that fail. However, we are not trying to have ideas of grandeur – just practical ones that we hope can make a change."

The consultation period will last until 31 May. The working group is set to issue its final recommendations by the end of the year.

The article appears in the Spring 2007 edition of the Legal Week Student supplement. Click here for a full list of articles. To order a hard copy email [email protected] or ring 020 7004 7422

Legal Week Student Spring 2007