Students: Class of degree and course provider point towards outcome
The number of students enrolling on Bar training courses has increased for the fourth year in a row, to 2,445.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) said pass rates continued to vary, depending on the course provider, with the Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) leading the way in first-time passes.
In its 2025 training report, the BSB said 2,445 students had enrolled during the year from July 2024 to June 2025, a small increase on the previous year but some 10% more than three years earlier.
The number of enrolments by each course provider varied widely, from 22 at the University of Hertfordshire, which was allowed to resume taking students last September after the BSB removed its authorisation in August 2023, and 717 across BPP’s five sites in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and London.
Pass rates vary by undergraduate degree class – among the 23/24 cohort, 91% of those with a first-class degree, 70% of those with a 2:1 and 40% of those with a 2:2 passed the course. Students have five years in which to retake failed assessments.
Pass rates varied widely by provider. When it came to first-time passes in all 10 assessments by students enrolled in 22/23, the ICCA topped the table for students with first-class degrees at 89%, and for those with 2:1s at 75%. It was followed by Cardiff University and City St George’s, University of London (formerly City Law School)
At the other end of the table, exactly half of the students with first-class degrees at Northumbria University and ULaw Birmingham passed all their assessments at their first sitting.
When it came to those with 2:1s, the worst performers were Nottingham Law School with 26% and ULaw Birmingham with 36%.
The pass rates for students with 2:2s was much lower than for other classes of degree. It ranged from 9% at BPP Bristol and Leeds and 13% at BPP Manchester, to 31% at ULaw London.
The cost of Bar training courses, checked by the BSB on provider websites in June this year, ranged from £12,900 at Nottingham Law School to £23,700 for an overseas student at Cardiff University. Fees for UK Bar students at Cardiff were £18,750.
Like Cardiff, BPP charged more for overseas students for entry in 2025-26 – £20,200 in London and £18,400 outside. UK students were charged £19,100 and £17,300 respectively.
UK students were much more likely to secure pupillages than those from overseas, many of whom wanted to return to their own countries.
Those with first-class degrees were most likely to obtain pupillages. Almost a fifth of UK students with first-class degrees enrolling in 2023-24 had secured a pupillage by June 2025, compared to almost six out of 10 of those enrolling in 2020-21.
Mark Neale, director general of the BSB, commented: “This report forms part of the continuing work of the Bar Standards Board to ensure high standards of training for the Bar.
“It aims to support students to make informed decisions about their choice of provider and their prospects of success before embarking on the journey to become a barrister.”
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