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Incoming Pegasus Scholars

What is an Incoming Scholar?

An Incoming scholar refers to a Pegasus Scholar chosen by one of our reciprocal partnerships to undertake a placement of up to 8 weeks in London.

Each Autumn we welcome a cohort of approximately 10-12 scholars in the heart of Legal London who take part in a series of visits and shadowing opportunities at various chambers and courts alike.

Preparing for your placement

Overview of Placement 

Below is an example of an agenda for an incoming scholar, besides what is listed there are also various visits and opportunities on offer for scholars during the course of their programmes.

Activity Details
Pegasus Trust Autumn dinner 6pm at Inner Temple
Temple Bar Reception Hosted by the American Inns of Court at Lincoln’s Inn
Call to bar deferred trinity term The Inner Temple Call to the Bar Ceremony, followed by a reception
Chambers Placement 1 Based on scholars areas of interest
Chambers Placement 1
Chambers Placement 2
Chambers Placement 2
London Court Visits Visit to the Royal Courts of Justice, Supreme Court and Old Bailey.

This week will also include meetings at the Law Society and with members of the judiciary as well as tours of the four Inns of Court libraries.
Edinburgh and Belfast Visit A chance to explore the other branches of the legal networks making up the United Kingdom.
Chambers Placement 3 For scholars on 8-week programme
Chambers Placement 3 For scholars on 8-week programme

Pre and Post Placement Surveys

As part of our ongoing commitment to improvement of the Trust and its offering, scholars are asked to complete the following surveys prior to and immediately after their placements have taken place, please note surveys are also an imperative part of our processes.

Chambers and Visits in London

Chambers Placement

The chambers placement is the core of the incoming placement, scholars are given the opportunity to spend two weeks at a time at various chambers.

Scholars have the opportunity to experience between 1-3 different sets during their time and may spend time help with drafting papers, learning court customs, experiencing different working patterns and getting hands on experiencing shadowing barristers in their fields of interest.

 

 

Additional Visits

The Trust also provides scholars with opportunities to attend a variety of events at the Four Inns including mock trials, lectures as well as tours, talks and a chance to experience a call to the bar ceremony 

 

Scholars will also spend a week undertaking London Court Visits, they will have the opportunity to tour and visit judges at various courts, including the Royal Courts of Justice, the Old Bailey, and the Supreme Court as well as a visit to the Law Society.

Edinburgh and Belfast

Every year, the Trust organises trips to Parliament House in Edinburgh and the Laganside Courts in Belfast. As the judiciary in the UK is separated by country, this is an opportunity for scholars to experience the Scottish and Northern Irish judiciaries, which they may not yet have encountered during placement at the Bar of England and Wales.

 

This is a non-compulsory trip, scholars may elect to spend an extra week in chambers in lieu of these visits if preferable

Edinburgh

A visit to Parliament House is usually scheduled for the first week of November.

 

The visit includes a tour of the Faculty of Advocates and the legal library, followed by meetings with members of the judiciary and an opportunity to sit in on active trials.

Belfast

The visit to Belfast is usually scheduled for the latter half of the first week of November.

 

The visit takes place at Laganside Courts, where scholars will be met by one of our partners in Belfast. They will guide the group through a tour of the courts and libraries, as well as a meeting with the Lady Chief Justice.

Travel and accommodation

The Trust provides travel for scholars to get to Edinburgh, Belfast and Return to London; however, scholars are responsible for organising their own accommodation for the Trip.

Further details regarding the itinerary and travel arrangements will be sent in the autumn ahead of placement.

Visa

Visa

All scholars barring those with UK citizenship or who are already on an existing visa will require a Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange visa (previously known as a tier 5 visa) as outlined by UKVI (UK Visa and Immigration) regulations.

Please see the below advice for the application process to be undertaken by all incoming scholars applying from outside of the United Kingdom.

The application process for this visa is twofold:

  1. In the first instance scholars will reqire a ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’. This certificate can only be provided by a government accredited and endorsed body which can guarantee the undertaking of an ‘authorised exchange’. For the purposes of the trust this sponsorship body is the Bar Council.
    1. The Bar Council is the lead representative body for Barristers in England and Wales- as such they are government accredited to provide sponsorship for placements, exchanges, mini- pupillages and fellowship programmes. It is the latter of these that the Pegasus Trust provides sponsorship for.
    2. Scholars will need to fill out the Bar Council application form after checking eligibility criteria can all be met for both the Bar Council and UKVI alike (click here for criteria and more information from the Bar Council)
    3. Once scholars are ready to send applications, a letter from the trust will be written to confirm agendas for incoming scholars and placement details.
    4. Upon submitting applications, the Bar Council will submit an application on your behalf to UKVI should all documentation be in order-you will then receive a sponsorship letter and code at this point scholars will be able to continue to the visa application on UKVI.
    5. Regarding fees, all fees for visas and applications alike will be reimbursed or paid for directly by the trust- please contact the trust (pegasus@innertemple.org.uk) when you are ready to submit your application to confirm all payment details
  1. The second part of the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) visa process is the application to UKVI directly. This application has a longer lead time than the Certificate of Sponsorship process, as such we recommend allowing as long as possible (up to 12 weeks) for this step where possible.
    1. Much as with the Bar Council, UKVI also has its own criteria to be met, please make sure that this is agreeable before submitting your application
    2. The Visa can be applied for up to 3 months prior to the start of your scholarship program, please keep this is in mind when deciding on when to make applications.
    3. The usual lead time is approximately 3 weeks for scholars applying from outside of the UK- this can differ due to busier periods, documentation issues as well as any additional information requested from UKVI as such we do strongly advise applying at your earliest opportunity.
    4. As with the Bar Council application the GAE visa application also includes a fee that will be reimbursed by the trust, please contact the trust directly upon undertaking this application for finance queries (pegasus@innertemple.org.uk)
    5. You will also need to share the application code with the Bar Council and arrange a right to work check with them once your visa application has been approved.

Useful Links 

Stipend

For Scholars who receive a stipend from the Trust and for those who will require visa reimbursment please see below:

To access your Pegasus Scholarship Stipend/ Reimbursement the Trust offers various forms of bank transfer:

 

  1. Bank account transfer.
    1. UK Bank Transfer- if you have a UK bank account you can input details via the form here and we can organize a bank transfer.
    2. International bank transfers can be done but this is up to the discretion of the scholar as for those without a UK based bank account this may cause you to incur losses due to currency exchange rates and banking charges.
    3. Revolut and Wise are online banking apps that scholars have used in the past to circumvent the issues with currency exchange and banking charges so this may be something to consider. See more about Revolut. See more about Wise. 

Scholars receiving a stipend will receive £500 Per week as well as £1500 Accommodation booster.

Following your placement

We would ask that scholars share a short article about their activities and any pictures they do not mind being shared on our social platforms (LinkedIn and Instagram) to keep future scholars abreast of the activities they can expect in London.

 

Scholars are also asked to fill out the post placement survey.