Excellent new guide - Pupillage and How to Get It

From time-to-time a well-presented website appears and offers valuable insight into what can be a bewildering, dauntless area.   Pupillage is the final, vocational stage of training for those seeking to practise at the Bar of England and Wales and the Pupillage and How to Get It website has to be regarded as essential reading for all aspiring barristers.

The primary author of the guide,
Beheshteh Engineer, obtained criminal pupillage in the 2017 round on the first attempt and did so as a candidate from a largely “non-traditional” background.   The website is a development of an earlier web page by Simon Myerson QC which first appeared in 1996 and Simon has been actively involved as a "contributing editor."

It is obvious from reading the information on Chambers' websites about particular barristers that their personal backgrounds vary considerably but they will all have undertaken the key stage of pupillage.

No punches are pulled - "Most of you won’t get pupillage. There are about 5,000 applicants per year and about 430 places" - "without a good degree you are greatly disadvantaged" - "nearly everyone’s CV looks like yours, so you have to work out how to stand out"  ....

Tough?  Certainly!  But here is a guide which helps to demystify the process.  It is friendly, readable, to the point and takes the reader through all the stages.   Realism about your personal prospects is crucial but if you think that you have what it takes then go for it armed with the benefit of this excellent guide and be as well-prepared as you can be.

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PS:  Although produced from the viewpoint of England and Wales, the guide is also likely to be helpful to those aspiring to the Bar in either Scotland or Northern Ireland.