Applying for PASS

Our desired outcomes for PASS participants are as follows:

• Development of professional and advocacy skills beneficial to pursuing a career at the Bar.
• Increased understanding of the routes to the Bar, including an awareness of how to access funding and support.
• Increased understanding of the Bar and what a career at the Bar involves.

For those who have been unable to obtain mini-pupillage placements at the beginning of the programme:

• Access to a mini-pupillage without financial obstacles.

To be eligible for PASS you must:

• Have attended state school for the majority of both your secondary and sixth form education (ages 11-18)

AND

• Be on course for (or have achieved) at least a 2:1 in your undergraduate degree or, where a classification lower than a 2:1 was achieved, demonstrated academic ability at a higher level of study or in the workplace.

You must also meet at least one of the following contextual criteria:

• First generation of your family to access higher education.
• Recipient of Free School Meals at any point.
• In the care of the Local Authority at any point in your schooling. This is often referred to as being ‘care experienced’.
• Estranged from all parents/primary caregivers.
• When you were aged 14, the main household earner worked in one of the following professions:

• technical and craft occupations (e.g. motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver)
• routine, semi-routine manual and service occupations (e.g. postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter or waitress, bar staff)

OR

• were long-term unemployed.

• You are on income or housing benefit (e.g. Job seeker’s allowance, PIP. This does not include student finance or disabled student’s allowance).

You must also be residing in the UK for the duration of the programme (October-July). Those studying abroad, therefore, are not eligible.

You cannot be on the Bar Course during PASS and must not have already completed the Bar Course.

We welcome applications from mature applicants and applicants with disabilities. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Participation in one of the below partner programmes is also considered as part of the application:

• Inner Temple Schools Project (Discovery Days)
• Sutton Trust: Pathways to Law

In addition to contextual criteria, we assess applications against four key strengths which we ask the candidate to demonstrate in their written application and in a short, recorded video interview. These strength areas are:

 
To be eligible for the COMBAR scholarship, candidates must also demonstrate an interest in the commercial Bar via an additional short, recorded video interview after finding out if they have been successful in their application for PASS.

Candidates must complete our online application form to be considered. After the closing date you will be informed whether you have been selected to progress onto the next stage of the application process. The following factors will determine this:

• Only candidates meeting the eligibility criteria and who have submitted a complete application will be invited to take part in the interview process.
• In the event of a large numbers of applications, the application form will be scored at this point with scores being considered alongside the number of contextual criteria met to determine who to interview.
• Those being invited to interview will at this point be sent information as to how to complete the interview. Interviews will involve completing a pre-recorded interview via the application portal.

Please ensure you use specific examples of your experience and skills on your application form.

Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT or similar) use is not permitted at any stage of the application process. Suspected use of AI in the course of the application and interview process will be investigated and a candidate who is found to have used this may be disqualified, as per our Applications Misconduct Policy.

The video interview will involve answering short questions which will be primarily scenario based. You will be given a time limit to respond to each question.

After the application deadline, we will ask for details of two references. Please ensure your referees know you have put them on this application. References will be tick box based: referees will not have to write feedback but should be able to confirm that you are on track for, or have achieved, at least a 2:1. Your referees should know you in an academic and/or professional setting – e.g. personal tutor, line manager, module supervisor.

The deadline for application forms is 23:55 on Sunday 28 June 2026. All eligible applicants who have progressed to the next stage will be emailed on Monday 13 July notifying you that you need to complete a video interview on the application portal. You will have two weeks – until 23:55 on Sunday 26 July – to complete the video interview.

Those who do not complete the video interview will not be considered for the scheme.

You will be informed of the outcome of your application via email by 17:00 on Friday 4 September 2026.

Monday 13 April 2026: Applications open

Sunday 28 June 2026 23:55: Applications close

Monday 13 July 2026: Eligible applicants asked to complete video interview

Sunday 26 July 2026 23:55: Deadline for video interviews

Friday 4 September 2026 17:00: Informed of outcome of application via email