Becoming a QC has never been easy. Long viewed as a tier of the profession that is only accessible to the privileged few, there is increasing scrutiny applied to the list of those who make the rank each year.

Of key interest is whether diversity is improving. After all, the QC population is overwhelmingly white and male. Only 15% of QCs are women, and nine out of every 10 are white, according to figures from The Bar Council.

Things are improving. During the past decade, there has been an increasing proportion of women and ethnic minorities promoted to the QC rank. In early 2018 this reached record levels, when more than a quarter of those taking silk were women and 15% were from ethnic minorities. Just as significantly, the success rate of women and ethnic minorities applying outstripped their white and male counterparts.

But the numbers in this year's silk round figures failed to maintain the same level of momentum. Women made up about 27% of successful applicants again but only 12% were black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) lawyers.

Notably, the success rate of women fell from 64% in 2018 to 58%. And the success rate of BAME candidates fell even further. Whereas last year, more than half (54%) of BAME applicants saw success, this year just 43% did. Conversely, white applicants saw their success rate improve from 42% to 45%.

Annual rollercoaster

It is unfair to focus too much on specific years, according to the Bar Council's head of diversity and equality Sam Mercer. She argues that, due to the relatively small number of BAME applicants each year, slight changes year on year can cause "significant swings" in the overall results.

Referring to last year's record rate as "a blip", Mercer says "you have to look at patterns over time", and that "figures do tend to go up and down considerably with BAME applicants".

In 1995, when records began, just one out of 71 successful applicants was BAME. This rocketed up to 22% of those taking silk in 1998, only to fall to 12.5% in 2000. Numbers continued to fluctuate, hitting 49% in 2009, and 60% the following year, only to plummet to 14% in 2012.

So how much of a big deal is the latest fall?

For White & Case London arbitration co-head Aloke Ray – who was among the latest appointments – this year's downturn was a surprise, but "not yet a cause for concern".

"The right things are being done, and the authorities are very conscious about what's going on," says Ray.

He concedes, however, that it is "right that people talk about it", "take steps to improve the situation", and "encourage people from as diverse backgrounds as possible to apply".

Harini Iyengar, a barrister at 11 King's Bench Walk who also stood for the Women's Equality Party, says that, while this year's numbers are not in themselves too bad, there remains an entrenched "struggle to interest senior people who haven't been affected by the issues".

There is a struggle to interest senior people who haven't been affected by the issues

Harini Iyengar

Iyengar believes there needs to be a "cultural change" to address things like unconscious bias, and that such change can be brought about by the regular provision of clear and accessible data. She says: "Data can help prove the facts to people who haven't been personally affected, so they believe that others have been affected by barriers."

City-centric

Others believe the figures reflect a different kind of diversity problem – one related to region. That is because the further north you get, the more acute the disparities become. This year, in the Northern Circuit, among those successfully taking silk, none was BAME, and just one was a woman.

"This is Suffragette city – but there's no revolution here," says Sally Penni, a barrister at Manchester's Kenworthy's Chambers. She suggests that the Bar has always tended to be London-centric, with attention time and again turning to the capital while circuits outside of the City are often sidelined.

Mercer at The Bar Council responds that her organisation is keen to "recognise that the demographic profile of the Bar" will, like that of the country, "vary by region".

However, highlighting that the population of the UK as a whole is 11% BAME, while London's BAME population is closer to 40%, she agrees that there is work to be done.

Mercer points to mentoring schemes such as the Western Circuit Women's Forum, a programme for Midlands-based lawyers, as important drivers.

And the application criteria emphasises diversity, with candidates required to talk about the steps they have taken to increase diversity in their profession, according to new silk and White & Case partner Dipen Sabharwal.

White & Case partner Dipen Sabharwal QC

While he suggests there is generally some "normal standard deviation from year to year", a deeper problem is simply that "there are not enough BAME candidates applying".

There are not enough BAME candidates applying

But hopefully this should start to correct itself over time.

"To apply to be a QC you must have a requisite amount of experience to be in that position," he says. "My sense is that the BAME community is growing [in law]. So an accumulation of experience will reflect in later years – the groundwork that is being laid now will bear fruit in years to come.

"People tend to apply if they see others like them who have been there. With more BAME silk being appointed now, there will be more role models to encourage people to apply."