Bar Professional Training Course 

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching

The course is delivered to replicate the demands and disciplines of life in chambers with an emphasis on learning by doing.

Teaching is delivered in the following ways:

• Advocacy is taught in a courtroom setting in groups of six and also one-to-one
• Small group sessions are held in groups of twelve
• Interactive large group sessions are also held frequently

Our unique training programme is written and developed in consultation with practitioners to ensure that it meets the needs of the modern-day Bar. You will use a number of sets of instructions and briefs based on realistic cases.


You are taught by professionally-qualified experts who bring a range of experience and specialist knowledge to the course. Our teaching staff are directly involved in practice and a number of staff sit, or have sat, in a part-time judicial capacity and maintain door tenancies. In addition, members of our staff, including BPTC Course Director Stuart Sime, are leading authors of practitioner and student texts used on most BPTC programmes around the country.

Advocacy
Advocacy is a key subject on the BPTC. You will get one-to-one advice on how to improve at various points in the year as well as your regular feedback in your advocacy classes. Advocacy training at The City Law School follows the system used in the training of pupils and junior barristers by the Inns' Advocacy Training Committee (ATC), because we believe advocacy is the most important element of the BPTC


Feedback
We believe feedback is central to your professional and personal development. Each member of staff is fully trained in providing effective feedback and throughout the course you are encouraged to assess your own development as well as that of your peers. Regular practice with fellow students and the feedback you are given ensures that you develop your skills to their full potential.

To make sure that our feedback is useful to you:

• The criteria for all skills areas are highlighted for students in the introductory stages
• All skills-based small group sessions focus on key aspects of the relevant skill
• Feedback is aimed at improving your performance, and is based on the assessment criteria
  

Training Materials
You will receive training materials that reflect the work you will do in pupillage and the early years of practice.


You will receive:

• Practitioner books in Civil Practice
• Practitioner books in Criminal Practice
• The City Law School BPTC Manuals (published by OUP as the "bar series")
  
• Textbook in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Full-time Timetable

• Four days teaching each week (typically around 14 hours class contact time)
• One day for preparation, professional development and research each week
• A recommended twenty-plus hours of private study and preparation work each week

Part-time BPTC Timetable
The part-time BPTC is delivered over two years with the major part of the training taking place in classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, starting at 6pm and lasting for three hours.

Some daytime attendance will be required for assessment; however, sufficient notice will be given to you in advance. As with the full-time route, attendance at all classes is mandatory and is a requirement of the Bar Standards Board.


Final term dates will be set prior to the start of each year, but the part-time course will last from September 2012 to May 2014. In addition to class time, you should expect to spend at least 10 hours of private study a week during term time and further periods during vacations preparing. Do consider the effects this effort will have on your time and energy before embarking on the course as gaining a professional qualification requires considerable commitment.
 

Assessment   

There are eight skills assessments and three multiple choice/short answer question tests. The assessments are a combination of 'unseen' and 'take away' papers. All assessments are based on realistic exercises reproducing the demands of practice and reflecting the work done on the course.

This includes: oral skills assessments which are recorded on DVD with actors playing the role of client and/or witness and written skills assessments that require you to write an opinion or prepare a piece of drafting.

Multiple choice tests/short answer questions will also be used to assess your competence level in Criminal Litigation, Sentencing and Evidence and Civil Litigation, Civil Evidence and Remedies and Professional Legal Ethics.

Opportunities

City Law School bar students regularly participate in the National and International Client Interviewing, Mock Trial and Negotiation competitions. Our students have won the National Mock trial competition three times in the last four years.

The course and careers teams are dedicated to assisting you with the development of your career. We provide a wide range of career-focused support for all students, whether or not they intend to go into private practice.

Services offered include:

• Pupillage Advisory Service
• Pupillage workshops & annual pupillage fair
• Centre for Career & Skills Development
• One-to-one consultations, CV advice and interviewing techniques
• Alternative Careers Service

There are a number of activities incorporated into the course which we regard as an essential part of learning how to become an effective advocate.