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BVC Survey Summary
Conducted on behalf of the Bar Access Group
Findings sent in by Victoria Butler-Cole, pupil at 39 Essex St
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Info about the survey
Training to be a barrister today is, more than ever, an expensive gamble. Fees for the BVC have risen by as much as 60% in recent years. This survey was created to obtain evidence that could be used to inform the ongoing debate about reform. The hypothesis of the Bar Access Group was that there are substantial inequalities in access to the legal profession, and that severe barriers to access exist at many stages in the training process. The evidence from the 2,300 people who responded to the survey shows that there is good reason for concern about access to the Bar by those from less well-off backgrounds.
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Summary of findings |
Training to enter the legal profession, whether as a barrister or solicitor, is very expensive. Half of those surveyed were reliant on some level of income from their family. While substantial funding from other sources is available to those training as solicitors, those who opt for the Bar have fewer options for financial support.
It appears from this survey that funding from within both professions is still subject to the bias traditionally associated with the law in favour of individuals educated at private schools and at Oxbridge. It may be that inequalities that already exist in the UK education system are made worse by the funding decisions made by the legal profession.
A considerable proportion of respondents who had decided to train as solicitors said that the scarcity of pupillages had influenced their decision. The cost of training was also cited, and a number of respondents had been influenced by both factors.
The survey shows that the majority of those who do decide to study the Bar Vocational Course are faced with a considerable financial burden, and many report associated problems of stress and reduced quality of life.
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1. Debt
Both trainee barristers and solicitors incur substantial amounts of debt from their undergraduate degrees and their professional qualifications (the BVC and LPC respectively).
Average debt for a solicitor = £11,000 - £20,000
Average debt for a barrister = £15,000 - £25,000
The BVC generated more individuals with substantial levels of debt.
12% of people who had taken the BVC accrued over £20,000 of debt from the one year course, compared to 2% of people who had taken the LPC. |
2. Sources of funding
Funding from a student’s family remains a very important source of income.
Almost 50% of all students obtain some financial support from their family.
At each stage (CPE, LPC and BVC), around 25% of respondents listed their family as their main source of income.
It is more common for BVC students than LPC students to take out bank loans to support themselves while studying.
55% of BVC students have had to take out a loan for the course, compared to 42% of LPC students.
Fewer BVC students than LPC students had received funding from within the profession. (The funding that is available from the Inns of Court is less likely to cover a student’s costs than that available through a training contract.)
36% of BVC students have a scholarship from one of the Inns of Court.
7% of BVC students have a drawdown from the Chambers at which they have secured pupillage
47% of LPC students have some funding from a solicitors’ firm.
30% of LPC students give their firm as their main source of income.
13% of BVC students say that their Inns of Court Scholarship is their main source of income.
2% of BVC students say that a drawdown from Chambers is their main source of income
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3. Effect of social background
The survey suggests that inequality in access to the legal profession is linked to prior inequalities in access to education. The legal profession may be aggravating an existing problem.
People who have been to private schools rather than state schools are more likely to:
train as Barristers than solicitors
receive scholarships from the Inns of Court
receive training contracts
cite their family as their main source of income
57% of people listing ‘family’ as their main source of income also went to a private school. The equivalent figure for those who went to a state school was 43%.
66% of respondents whose main source of income was a bank loan went to state schools. The equivalent figure for private schools was 34%.
People who have been to Oxbridge rather than other universities are more likely to:
have lower debts
Of those who took the BVC, only 27% of Oxbridge respondents had debts from the BVC of £10,000 or more, compared to 51% of non-Oxbridge respondents.
receive Inns of Court scholarships
receive training contracts |
4. Effect of cost and competition on decisions about entering the legal profession
The cost of training and the scarcity of pupillages were important factors influencing respondents who had not yet started professional training.
23% listed scarcity of pupillages as a factor in their decision to train as a solicitor
18% listed the cost of the BVC as a factor in their decision to train as a solicitor
(these two figures include 12% of respondents who selected both cost and scarcity as factors)
10% had decided not to become either solicitors or barristers because of the cost of training
Respondents who had already started training as solicitors were most likely to give the scarcity of pupillages as an important factor in their decision.
Of respondents who had considered becoming a barrister, 46% cited scarcity of pupillage and tenancy as an important factor
27% cited the cost of training
The great majority of respondents who were training to become barristers, or were already barristers, chose to work in their selected area of law because of their interest in it.
However, 28% of respondents were influenced by the availability of pupillages in that area of law and 27% were influenced by the size of future fees in that area of law. |
5. Views of respondents
There were a number of common areas of concern among respondents to the survey who had decided to train as barristers:
Significant stress levels and a corresponding impact on mental health due to the expense, competition and uncertainty of the process
Detrimental impact on other areas of life such as buying a house or starting a family
Being forced to delay training in order to save for future courses, or pay off debts that had already accumulated
BVC seen as poor value for money. (None of the respondents who had taken the LPC course questioned its quality).
Those who work during the course are disadvantaged because they have less time to study, undertake pro bono work, carry out mini-pupillages and other CV-enhancing activities such as marshalling. |
The above is the survey summary, to view the survey in full please go to:
http://www.lawbore.net/articles/access_denied.pdf
For more information about this Survey please contact Victoria Butler Cole on: tor@bridesmere.com |
