With pupillage season just around the corner and all the adverts now live, it made me reflect on my experiences of the ever-intuitively designed pupillage gateway! I remember my time of doing pupillage applications so clearly, and those are certainly not the fondest of memories. I did all of my applications whilst I was studying the BPC LLM full-time so was juggling applications with my bar course studies whilst also undertaking pro bono family law work as a part of my LLM. Whilst it was a chaotic few weeks, I did go in with a plan which I think I am now allowed to say worked!

Why should I take advice about my applications from some stranger on the internet?

Well that’s a really good question to be honest. The 2023/2024 cycle was my first proper round of applications; I did make 10 applications in 2022/2023 to ‘test the waters’ whilst I was a final year LLB student. In the 2023/2024 cycle, I made 12 applications. From those 12 applications, I received six first round interviews. I converted all of those first round interviews into second round interviews. From these interviews, I was fortunate enough to receive 3 offers of pupillage and accepted a criminal pupillage to begin in October 2025. I was only 21 at the time of accepting the offer. Funnily enough, 11 of my applications were for mixed common law sets but the one offer I accepted was for a criminal set. The pupillage gateway works in weird ways…

Now that’s out of the way, I am going to layout the staged approach which I followed in relation to my pupillage applications.

1. Compile an excel spreadsheet of all your potential chambers

This is probably the most fun you will have so enjoy this part because the visualisation is what will keep you going when you are inevitably awake for too long, staring at ‘why do you want to become a barrister’ and realising a training contract looks tempting.

When doing this, it is important to really think about what you are looking for. Once the interviews start, chambers are very much looking at you rather than the other way around. I think the best place to start is to write some bullet points about your ‘dream’ pupillage.

My own bullet points would have been a bit like this:

• I want to work on the circuit outside of London.
• Criminal work is my passion but I would also like to undertake a variety of common law work if possible.
• I want a big enough pupillage grant to support me in the first six (my areas of interest are mainly funded by legal aid).
• I want a pupillage which commences the year after my BPC, not immediately.
• I want a set that values me and treats me like a future tenant from day one.

From this, I found my ‘dream’ sets, i.e., those that fit all of my criteria. These went at the top of my spreadsheet and were my top priority when it came to drafting. Then I identified sets which would be great sets but compromised on some of the things I wanted. For me, this involved applying to sets which were based in London despite my desire to practice on the circuit. For you, this could be applying to mixed common law sets if you have an interest in Family and Crime but not so much in Civil. The list goes on but unfortunately, as pupillage is so competitive, compromises are the sacrifices applicants have to make.

By this point, my ‘dream’ sets and my ‘great’ sets were quite enough numerically for me not to consider further sets. My list was about 20 at this point. However, if you have more time than you can continue to add further sets on which further compromise on your ideal list. But I would urge caution before you go and spend time applying to 50 sets: high-quality, well-researched and proofread applications are going to give you a much higher success rate. It sounds obvious but so many people are drawn into the numbers game, ‘you have to apply to x amounts of sets to get pupillage’ but certainly for me, doing less, higher quality applications was far more successful especially if you are doing the BPC full-time. Don’t sacrifice one for the other.

Mine may have looked a bit like this:

2. Most of the hard work is done, showcase it.

Whilst there is plenty of room in applications to show off a splash of your personality, it is really important that you illustrate to the reader your competency and desire to become a barrister by what you have actually done. It’s all very well and good saying that you are ‘passionate about justice’ but if this is not backed up with your real world experiences than it will be met with nothing more than an eyeroll from the reader. Just as in court, you need to back up your submissions with evidence.

For example, compare the following:

Example #1: I am passionate about criminal law because I find the work innately interesting; exploring and working in the dark side of human nature is a fascinating prospect. I think I would enjoy being a criminal barrister because I love advocacy and want to be in court on my feet most days.

Example #2: Having left school at 16, I began working as a receptionist at a criminal law firm and witnessed a trial at Maidstone Crown Court. This was my first exposure to the criminal bar and it planted a seed which has never stopped growing. My interest for pursuing crime was solidified not only by the year I spent at a criminal law firm, but also my study of criminology as well as my two crime mini-pupillages at QEB Hollis Whiteman and 25 Bedford Row.

Example #1 tells the reader almost nothing about you and more importantly, it does not provide any evidence that substantiate your claims about yourself. Example #2 is significantly more captivating because it tells a story and almost every sentence sneaks in some work experience. In a few lines it covers paralegal work at a criminal law firm, a relevant qualification studied and two mini-pupillages.

Another two examples to compare:

Example #3: I think I will make a good advocate because I can communicate and build rapport with a wide array of people. This is important because you will come across difficult clients, difficult instructing solicitors and difficult judges whilst training to become a barrister so being able to effectively build relationships and communicate with them will significantly aid my ability to be an excellent advocate.

Example #4: I think I will make a good advocate because I can communicate and build rapport with a wide array of people. This is illustrated by both my Court of Protection and Crime work. In the former, I often communicated with people who were severely autistic, commonly presenting as distressed or highly unsettled. Some were completely non-verbal. Working in crime, it made no difference to me whether I was communicating with people who were unpleasant and aggressive or the complete opposite. Both needed help and I adapted my interactions to suit.

Don’t fall into the trap of getting too theoretical; back your points up with your work experience, your mini-pupillages, your mooting, your marshalling, your debating, your acting, your sport, your reading, etc. The list is almost unending but make sure all the hard work you have done is clearly spelt out in your application.

3. Structure, structure, structure.

Don’t fall into the trap of writing in long monotonous paragraphs, think of who you are writing this application for. A barrister, and more saliently, a barrister who will have read hundreds of other applications. Never-ending sentences after a long shift of reading applications will just blur into one. My opinion and what worked for me, is to be punchy. For example, if you get a question like:

Why do you believe you will make a good advocate? (250 words)

Pick say, three things, and write them as numbered bullet points:

1. I can communicate with and build rapport with a wide array of people.
2. I can remain calm and persuasive under pressure.
3. I am competitive and this spurs me to always give my best efforts in fighting for my clients.

I really like this approach for a few reasons:

• It shows the reader that you understand how to layout your points separately, without getting them tangled up, just like a barrister would when delivering submissions.
• It is punchy and keeps the reader’s attention. After you make the initial point you can then flesh it out with your experience.
• It looks neat and professional.
• It is wordcount conscious, allowing you to dedicate more of the allotted words to the most relevant thing: you and your experiences.

A fully fleshed-out example answer to the above question in this format is below:

1. I can communicate with and build rapport with a wide array of people. This is illustrated by both my Court of Protection and Crime work. In the former, I often communicated with people who were severely autistic, commonly presenting as distressed or highly unsettled. Some were completely non-verbal. Working in crime, it made no difference to me whether I was communicating with people who were unpleasant and aggressive or the complete opposite. Both needed help and I adapted my interactions to suit.

2. I can remain calm and persuasive under pressure. As a part of my pro bono LLM, I represent litigants in person in private child proceedings, primarily at East London Family Court. On one such occasion, I represented a respondent mother in a final hearing who was opposing a CAO application from the applicant father. The father was represented by a solicitor. Despite being nervous, I spoke clearly and persuasively, questioning the CAFCASS officer and making final submissions to the bench of magistrates. In the end, the bench made a final order in line with the mother’s wishes.

3. I am competitive and this spurs me to always give my best efforts in fighting for my clients. As a consequence, I have been rewarded with mooting success in both Crime and Family Law. My competitiveness also shows in my love for team sports, in particular rugby, which I play every weekend.

4. Start drafting early.

Please give yourself enough time to do yourself justice in your applications. Lots of chambers release their questions with their adverts in November so even though you can’t apply until January, start drafting! This way you do not need to cram. The quality of your writing will be infinitely superior if you are only writing one or two answers per day – you’re also far less likely to burn out.

The best way to do this is to set-up a bunch of word documents, one for each set, and copy down all the questions onto them and draft your answers there. This also for the best as Word has spellcheck…

Not much more to this other than the importance of not underestimating the task of drafting all of your pupillage applications, start early and be ahead of the game.

5. Just write now and edit later.

I saw so many people who were doing the Bar with me fall into the trap of getting anxious about what to write and then just putting the entire thing off until the last minute and rushing it. Don’t be afraid to spew rubbish in your first draft, it is a draft. Write down everything the question makes you think about, any experiences you have had, anything you have learnt which is relevant, put pen to paper (or finger to board). It relieves so much anxiety to just dump your thoughts onto the page then slowly pick away at them in the editing process. Don’t get hung up on perfection.

6. Think outside the box to fill your gaps.

There are some things that will be almost ubiquitous among applicants for pupillage: mini-pupillages and mooting. They are the ‘classic’ things that chambers will look for in your application. However, these are not the only way to make yourself stand out or fill gaps in your work experience.

For example, I was interested in public inquests and inquiry work but had no experience outside of a brief stint watching the Post Office Horizon Inquiry during a mini-pupillage. So, I directly emailed my local coroner’s officer on a whim asking to shadow a coroner and attached my CV. Within a few days I was put in contact with the Senior Coroner for my area and she organised a day where I could shadow her. This was an excellent experience to put on my application for mixed common law sets. I actually even ended up getting more out of it as the Coroner I shadowed was an old tenant of one of the sets which I had a second round interview at so I could extract further valuable information. Those personal connections create a large amount of intrigue from Chambers.

If your CV lacks public speaking/advocacy experience, you do not just have to fill it with mooting (although naturally, take every mooting opportunity you can get). Consider joining a debate society at one of the Inns of Court, or the drama society if that is more of your thing. You could also join a group like toastmasters, or sign up to one of the Vocalise schemes. If you have the opportunity like I did, deliver a talk online at your university, or join the speed mooting advocacy club which holds weekly sessions.

Some other ideas to fill gaps, if you are interested in criminal or police law, you can see all the upcoming metropolitan police misconduct hearings and sign up to observe any you find interesting. You can do the same if you are interested in medical negligence with GMC and NMC hearings. If you are interested in applying to commercial sets, go and observe some hearings in the Chancery/King’s Bench Division.

If you are passionate about a niche area of law, write an essay for the Bar Council Law Reform competition. Even if you aren’t one of the lucky winners who banks themselves some cash, having detailed knowledge about a specific piece of legislation can show your commitment to said niche area of law and will score you serious points with more boutique and specialist sets.

7. Sell your story.

Along with providing evidence of your claims about yourself, this is arguably the most important thing to do. Most chambers will be looking for not just somebody who will be an excellent barrister, but somebody who will be collegiate, personable and multi-dimensional. They are not looking for a Blackstone’s or White Book on legs. It is not enough to just show the experience, you need to show that you are well-rounded.

I found a lot of value in discussing my hobbies and interests outside of law, and I think the chambers who read my applications felt the same, but you need to make the link and show the relevance. For example,

If you play a team sport:

• It shows the ability to work with a team of people from different backgrounds;
• It shows you have a competitive edge which spurs you to give your best efforts for your clients; and
• It shows you have a healthy avenue to decompress from a stressful day.

If you have had a bereavement or other traumatic event:

• It shows you have the resilience to push throw and grow when you face setbacks;
• It can often form part of your resolve and illustrate your motivation to pursue a career at the Bar; and
• It can show you have the skillset to deal with emotionally difficult situations (particularly prudent in Family and Criminal law).

If you’re an avid reader:

• It enables you to relate to a number of different people having read stories from different people’s perspectives;
• It illustrates your wide vocabulary and confidence with written English; and
• It may show you can process a large volume of words in a short amount of time.

There are a million different avenues for this but if the application questions allow it, you should absolutely take the opportunity to show who you are and more importantly, why you are who you are. If a part of your resolve comes from a traumatic experience, do not be afraid to mention it and explain the relevance. Don’t look for sympathy or be overly emotional, but nevertheless, highlight it:

I have the desire and determination to work as a barrister. Despite losing my dad at 12 and dropping out of school at 16 with no A-levels, I am halfway through the BPC having obtained a first class LLB top of my cohort, utterly resolute on making it to the Bar.

8. Make the most of out of your mini-pupillage experience.

This builds on the above but you can write so much more about your mini-pupillages than: ‘I watched a criminal trial at the Old Bailey and could see that was where I wanted to be in the future’. Keep detailed notes of what you did and who you met as it provides excellent content in your applications.

Some examples:

I observed part of a public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal and noted the emphasis on information gathering rather than an adversarial style of witness handling. In fact, I found this style of advocacy so intriguing that I sought out work experience with a Coroner, which was fascinating.

I observed a cracked trial in an ABH & TTK case, which included a Goodyear indication, noting in particular how the barrister I was shadowing handled a difficult client who continued to give mixed instructions throughout the conference

I observed part of a trial at the Old Bailey concerning multiple counts of attempted murder against an alleged gang member. Specifically, I saw the Examination in Chief and Cross-Examination of the OIC as well as the defendant.  During EIC of the defendant, I noted counsel’s resourceful use of her own body and surroundings to assist the defendant’s understanding of space/distance as he had previously highlighted this as an issue.

Reflecting on what you saw and applying it to what you want to do shows you care, shows you can self-analyse and it shows that you are detail-orientated which is a key skill of a barrister.

9. Proofing – you are often blind to what you have written.

Obviously read and re-read your drafts before you send them to anyone else, but before you press submit, have someone trusted read them. Trust me when I say there is almost a 100% they will pick up on things which you have not. If you are lucky enough to have access to ULAW’s employability department, make an appointment with Anna Williams because she will meticulously ensure your application reads like a dream. If not, have a parent, BPC friend, or anyone you trust read it for you.

Nothing will put a set off your application like a typo, poor sentence structure or incorrect use of grammar. Get the easy bit right. And even if you do get through to interviews with a typo, you don’t want to be that candidate who is presented with a copy of their application and asked to explain why you have spelt judgement with an e!

Final Thoughts

Drafting pupillage applications is not for the faint of heart and it is important to remember that when you are doing it. It’s meant to be hard, you’ve picked a difficult but very rewarding path and you should be proud for pursuing it. Take breaks, go for coffee and remember to even be writing the applications is an achievement.