Bar Course Scholarships

The Scholarships criteria are:

Academic Achievement

Good degree result/predicted grade

Demonstrates strong academic achievement at university (taking into account any mitigating circumstances).

Demonstrates strong academic achievement at each academic stage or improvement in academic achievement at different stages.

Evidence of scholarships or prizes awarded.

Advocacy Potential

Evidence of advocacy/public speaking experience in legal or non-legal contexts e.g. moots, debates, presenting to an audience, teaching, drama.

Uses precise and well-reasoned arguments.

Communicates with clarity and fluency.

Demonstrates persuasiveness and conviction.

Tailors style to the audience.

Legal Analysis & Reasoning

Effectively analyses the case.

Identifies the important issues.

Identifies the key points of the parties’ argument(s).

Identifies the appeal court’s decision and reasons.

Interpersonal Skills

Builds productive working relationships.

Treats people with courtesy and respect, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Responds appropriately to people from diverse backgrounds

Responds appropriately to people with different abilities

Motivation

Demonstrates commitment to a career at the Bar.

Has a good understanding of the profession.

Demonstrates interest in one/more practice areas and explains why.

Demonstrates what steps they have undertaken to learn more about a career at the Bar. E.g. attending webinars, listening to podcasts, undertaking work experience/mini pupillages, shadowing, marshalling etc.

In order to apply for a scholarship you will be required to submit an online application form, which will be linked below, when the application window is open.

The application form is broken down into 8 sections – contact information; educational details; legal and non-legal work experience; supporting information; interview requirements, contextual recruitment, references and equality monitoring.

The ‘supporting information’ section includes professional statement/ essay style questions, which are specific to the scholarship you are applying for and answers to these questions in particular will be used to assess your application.

Candidates submit one application form and are considered for all Inner Temple Bar Course Awards (listed above) at the same time.

Applicants are required to arrange for two references to be included in support of a scholarship application, which can be either academic or professional references.

All referees should have known the applicant for at least 6 months. Please note that family members cannot provide references.

Referees will be asked to provide brief comment on each of the scholarships criteria.

As part of the application form, applicants will be required to provide the names and contact details for their referees. An automatic email will then be sent to the referees, asking them to complete our online reference form.

The deadline for references to be submitted is Friday 8 November 2024.

References submitted after the reference deadline will only be accepted under extenuating circumstances, with prior approval from the Scholarships Team.

In line with the Inn’s commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we invite applicants to submit contextual recruitment information, as part of the scholarship application process.

Inner Temple is continuing to use the Rare Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) which allows us to understand each applicant’s achievements in the context in which they have been gained. We seek to award scholarships to the best people, from every background, regardless of their personal circumstances, and the CRS will help us to do that. The CRS is only ever used to screen people in, not out. Under no circumstances are candidates put at any disadvantage for supplying this information.

Contextual recruitment information is collected via a separate form, which is linked within the application form.

Applicants are asked to complete a financial means assessment form in the January after submitting their scholarship application. As part of this, applicants are asked to provide details of their financial situation for their upcoming Bar Course year. This includes income, outgoings, other financial support available (in the form of scholarships, grants, savings, and financial support from family/ guardians/ partners), and course fees.

The financial assessment data is only considered, after the scholarship interviews have been conducted and the scholars have been selected, based on merit as assessed against the Inn’s scholarships criteria.

The Inn's goal is to financially level the playing field amongst our scholars. The financial means assessment uses the collected financial data to calculate how much funding will be available to each scholar during their bar course year. The value of Major Scholarships and Exhibition Scholarships are determined based on this calculation. The minimum value of a scholarship is £3,000 and the maximum value of a scholarship is £20,000.

• To be eligible you must have the intention to practice at the Bar of England and Wales once qualified

• You must be eligible to start the Bar Course in academic year following application

• You can only apply for a scholarship if you have not yet started the Bar Course and will not have started at the point of interview (the following Feb/March)

• Students may only apply for a scholarship from one of the four Inns of Court. Names of applicants are shared between Inns to ensure that students have not applied to more than one Inn

If your course start date changes between submitting your application, and the interview, you must inform us, as this could affect your eligibility.

For example, if you plan to start the Bar Course in autumn 2025 or January 2026, you cannot apply in our upcoming Bar Course scholarship round.

The Inn expects all candidates to attend an in-person interview, unless there are exceptional circumstances which necessitate an online interview.

In 2026, Bar Course scholarship interviews will be held between Friday 13 February and Saturday 21 February (exact dates and locations will be confirmed by September 2025).

1. On arrival you will be registered and provided with an information sheet to read through. This sheet includes instructions for the case exercise, which forms part of the interview.

2. If attending in person, at the appropriate time you will be taken to a reading room and given a judgment to read through, which you will be asked questions on in the interview. The questions that you are likely to be asked about this judgment will be provided on the information sheet to help you prepare for this case exercise. If you are attending virtually, you will receive a copy of the legal judgment via email at the appropriate time.

3. When it is time for your interview, you will be greeted by a panel of four interviewers, who will take turns asking you questions based on the scholarships criteria. All panel members will have been sent your application form prior to the interviews.

4. The interview will last approximately 20 minutes.

Results are usually distributed, via email, within 3 weeks.

Each year, we hold pre-interview briefing meetings with candidates in late January/ early February, prior to the interviews. During these meetings, candidates are given further information about the interview format.