Four New Square is to increase its pupillage award by 33%, with the chambers set to boosts its payment to £60,000 over the next two years.

The chambers is to raise its current pupillage award from £45,000 to £50,000 – which includes £10,000 guaranteed earnings – for 2010-11.

The 2011-12 year will see the award increase further, rising to £60,000, comprising a £50,000 financial award and £10,000 guaranteed earnings.

The set currently has up to four pupillage places on offer, but is considering reducing that to three.

Four New Square's pupillage committee head Alex Hall-Taylor commented: "We recognised that others in our field were raising their awards, and as we compete with the other top commercial sets to secure the best candidates for pupillage, we wanted to make sure that we had comparable financial incentives."

He added: "Although we consider numerous other factors to be important, such as the objective fairness of our selection process and that our pupils have considerable opportunities to work on their own account and to get into court early on, we recognise that the financial incentives offered are used by candidates to gauge chambers' standing and their own future earnings prospects."

The decision follows moves by several other top commercial sets to dramatically increase their pupillage salaries.

One Essex Court will pay each of its four new recruits commencing pupillage in October 2010 £60,000 – a 33% increase on the £45,000 award that the set's pupils currently receive.

Essex Court Chambers will increase its pupillage award from £40,000 to £55,000 from October 2010, while Wilberforce Chambers is increasing its payment by £8,000 to £48,000 in 2011.