Bar Course

Northumbria University, Newcastle

The new Bar course replaces the former Bar Professional Training Course. Teaching on Northumbria’s Bar Course is led by a team of highly experienced barristers and supported by a well-established network of members of the Bar, Judges and other practitioners.

You will study:

Civil Litigation (incorporating evidence and alternative dispute resolution)

Criminal Litigation (incorporating evidence and sentencing)

Advocacy

Conferencing

Drafting

Opinion Writing

Professional Ethics

Legal Research

From our law school you will develop the knowledge and skills to practice in a broad range of briefs. These are focused on the foundation areas of pupillage and early practice. From the outset you will be taught to think and behave like a barrister. You will be instructed in cases conducted as in practice, incorporating conferences, advocacy, drafting and opinion writing. You will also learn your professional, ethical obligations. This invaluable, practical experience will equip you to be immediately effective in pupillage.

You will benefit from generous contact hours throughout the course including dedicated exam-focused teaching sessions during which the teaching team will share their expertise to support you in preparing for the Bar Standards Board (BSB) centralised assessments.

You may also gain, at no further cost, an additional qualification in Mediation.

Northumbria delivers opportunities to develop distinctive and unique knowledge and skills with opportunities to undertake:

Vulnerable witness training

Practitioner advocacy masterclasses

Teaching in respect of forensic science and forensic statistics

Participation in international mooting competitions

A mentoring scheme delivered in conjunction with the Bar

On successful completion of the Bar Course you will be fully prepared for the demands of practice, and will be eligible for call to the Bar of England and Wales (subject to meeting the qualifying requirements of your Inn of Court).

At Northumbria, we aim to ensure that you are prepared in every way for pupillage selection and life as a barrister. The course will build on your existing legal knowledge and equip you with the skills, knowledge and values necessary for practice as an effective and successful legal professional.

Northumbria Law School is internationally-recognised as delivering excellence in training for the Bar, and we are an integral part of the local legal community. Local firms and practitioners often sponsor prizes celebrating student success on the programme – evidence of the high esteem in which our graduates are held and a remarkable opportunity for you to gain recognition.

Previous graduates have gone on to positions as barristers in Newcastle and all over England and Wales, as well as in Commonwealth jurisdictions across the globe.