About this course
- Entry year: 2012/13
- Course code: M30D62
- Applications: University
- Level: Postgraduate
- Department: Bristol Law School
- Campus: Frenchay
- Duration: The course is delivered over two years commencing late October with attendance on a week's induction course followed by further attendance on ten weekends per year.
- Delivery: Part-time block release, Distance/open learning
- Study Abroad: No
- Course director: Jo Stringer
Introduction
The Bristol BPTC provides the foundation of your career as a barrister. It is a demanding course, but at the same time stimulating and rewarding. We aim to be as supportive of your pastoral care as we are of your academic progression and the course will equip you with skills and knowledge to excel at the Bar and beyond. Our course aims to develop the reflective practitioner - providing you with outstanding opportunities to develop your advocacy, research, conference and mediation skills and to assist you in securing a pupillage in a competitive environment.
We not only provide a BPTC of national and international repute but also provide a number of opportunities to enhance your CV (many of which take place by necessity during the week) and thereby increase your chances of obtaining pupillage and improving your employability generally.
These include:
- Conferencing with serving prisoners
- Teaching legal skills to LLB undergraduates both nationally and internationally
- Advocating in court for victims of domestic violence
- Advocating in Mental Health tribunals
- Participating in our Bristol chambers-sponsored civil and criminal advocacy competitions
- Advising on environmental issues
Alternative Dispute Resolution Training
All Bar Professional Training Courses (BPTC) will enable you to study Resolution of Disputes out of Court (Redoc) as a separately taught and assessed subject. On our BPTC, you will not only study Redoc, but also have the opportunity to go an important step further by becoming an accredited civil and commercial or workplace mediator of the ADR group, Bristol at no additional cost.
Find out more about studying the BPTC course at UWE.
Structure
Content
The part-time course is of 2 years duration, with face-to-face teaching commencing in October in the first year during a four day induction, followed by 11 study weekends in each academic year. The study weekends take place every 3 to 4 weekends (excluding the summer break) and comprise intensive skill based sessions from 09:30 - 17:30 (Saturday and Sunday). The compulsory knowledge subjects (civil litigation, criminal litigation and professional conduct) are built upon in your compulsory skills sessions (advocacy, conferencing, REDOC, opinion writing and drafting), which are in turn enhanced through your options.
The course takes you from the initial stages in criminal and civil proceedings through to trial. During the course, you will firstly master the compulsory subjects within the civil and criminal areas, before moving on to two specialist options of your choice in the second year of the course.
The BPTC comprises the following compulsory elements:
- Civil litigation, evidence and remedies
- Criminal litigation, evidence and sentencing
- Professional Conduct
- Advocacy (civil and criminal)
- Conferencing skills
- Drafting
- Fact management
- Legal research methods
- Opinion writing
- Resolution of disputes out of court (REDOC)
Options:
The teaching of optional modules takes place after the compulsory subjects during the second year of the course. They are not intended to teach you substantive law, but to provide you with an opportunity to develop the skills you have acquired. We offer a wide choice of optional modules to assist you in specialising in the area of law that you are most interested in or would like to practice.
You are required to pursue a combination of two of the following options:
- Clinical negligence
- Criminal law
- Employment law
- International competition law
- International environmental law
- Family
- International trade
- Pro Bono (Free representation unit) - may count as a double option
- Refugee and asylum law
Please note: All option modules are subject to change.
Teaching and learning
Teaching and learning on the BPTC is flexible and teaching is carried out in small groups in dedicated student base rooms or through online workshops, enabling you to get the most out of your time both at the University and off campus. Tutors on the course also have extensive practical experience.
On the part-time route, certain knowledge subjects will be supported through online delivery and you will have a dedicated online subject tutor to support and guide you. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will also enable you to carry out much of your work remotely and at a time to support you and your commitments outside the course. You are provided with training in the induction week to ensure that you are able to deal with the electronic delivery aspect of the course.
Monthly skills sessions with written and verbal feedback enable you to continually develop your written skills and skills in advocacy and conferencing. All advocacy tutors are ATC accredited and all REDOC tutors are accredited mediators to ensure our teaching quality is of the highest standard. These skill sessions are also recorded for your reflection and improvement.
You will have the opportunity to participate in mock trials and other court applications with professional actors participating in conferencing and criminal advocacy assessments to ensure realism at every stage of the course.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Training
At UWE we recognise the skills required in the increasingly competitive environment of pupillage. We have teamed up with ADRg, a leading provider of Alternative Dispute Resolution services and training. Together, we offer all UWE BPTC students the opportunity to qualify as an ADRg Accredited Mediator at the end of the BPTC course at no additional cost.
"In a ground-breaking initiative ADRg has been contracted to deliver mediation services training for students studying the BPTC UWE, Bristol. It is part of ADRg's mission to educate and work alongside the next generation of leading dispute resolvers. Although many professionals come to mediation in the latter part of a professional career, there is merit in educating young professionals and capturing their enthusiasm and interest as early as possible. They will then be more informed and aware of the process, its benefits, how and when to use it and its overall role within the broader dispute resolution framework." Michael Lind, Managing Director, ADR Group |
We are not alone in believing this is important for aspiring barristers. Lord Neuberger, Master of the Rolls, speaking at a Civil Mediation Conference previously said the culture of mediation "if it is to be litigation's twin should be embedded from the very beginning of a lawyers training"
Assessment
Civil Litigation, Criminal Litigation and Professional Ethics assessments are all centrally set by the Bar Standards Board and are examined by way of multiple choice and short answer questions. Opinion writing and drafting are locally set, unseen assessments in controlled conditions. All other assessments are locally set and are either completely seen or partially seen; in that advanced information is made available to enable you to research the relevant areas of law.
The criminal based subjects are assessed in the first year of the course (March-June) and the civil based subjects and options are taught and assessed in the second year.
Mock assessments with generic and/or individual feedback will also be given throughout the course in all subjects to provide you with the opportunity to continuously monitor and improve your performance. This may be in the form of written or verbal feedback and helps you to develop the skills and techniques to deal effectively with all forms of assessment.
Special Features
Study facilities
Bristol Institute of Legal Practice has excellent, state-of-the-art facilities, including dedicated postgraduate study rooms and mock law courtrooms, which you can use for group or private study. The courtrooms are also equipped with the latest recording equipment to record the advocacy sessions for later analysis and actors are used, as well as briefs that are based on real cases, to ensure realism throughout the session. Our 24-hour dedicated chambers library, together with the University law library and computer rooms allow you to access a wide range of legal resources at any time of the day/night, including Justcite, LexisNexis, Westlaw and iLaw.
Our innovative and nationally recognised online learning support (commended by the Bar Standards Board), will also enhance and support your learning in the skills and knowledge subjects. This can be accessed 24/7 to provide interactive support and create a virtual learning environment on demand, including online video demonstrations, narrated PowerPoint slides, video demonstrations of criminal and civil advocacy applications and online multiple choice questions to self-test knowledge areas.
Dedicated Support
We pride ourselves on the student experience we offer and our students are given the highest level of support both during their studies and after they have graduated. Highly experienced and supportive tutors enable you to develop your knowledge quickly on the course. The majority of the course is taught through small group sessions, of 6-12 students, meaning you will benefit from substantial face-to-face contact with your tutors.
Every student is allocated a personal tutor, who they can meet with to discuss all aspects of the course and to give you one-to-one guidance on career development. We recognise that each student is different and all personal tutors are available by telephone and email, as well as face-to-face, meaning you can fit your studies around your other commitments. There is also a dedicated law careers support member of staff, as well as "Ask the Experts" careers events, to help you further your career after completion of the course and to allow you to put questions to experts in a diverse range of legal careers.
Pro Bono Unit
The Bristol Law School Pro Bono Unit has developed a comprehensive programme to provide opportunities for you to undertake legal Pro Bono work in and around the Bristol area in all areas of law, particularly advising and representing victims of domestic violence. This service won the Best New Pro Bono Activity at the Attorney-General’s Pro Bono Awards 2011.
Careers/further study
The BPTC prepares you for a successful career as a barrister and aims to give you the necessary skills and knowledge to secure a pupillage. Many of our graduates have gone on to successfully work as a Barrister after completion of the BPTC, with others working as Legal Associates, Managers and Legal Advisers. A dedicated careers booklet is available at the start of the course to assist you in thinking about how to develop your career and to give you advice on attending interviews or in filling in your pupillage application form.
There is also the opportunity to take a top-up LLM in Advanced Legal Practice after successfully completing the course by submitting a 15,000 word dissertation (course fees apply).
Entry
Entry requirements
Applicants must have joined an Inn of Court by 31 May of the year of entry and should have completed the academic stage of study by having either:
- A qualifying law degree of second class honours or above
Or;
- A qualifying non-law degree of second class honours or above AND to have achieved a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).
If English is not your first language, you will also need to demonstrate your English Language proficiency. For example, you should have either:
- A minimum grade of 7.5 in each element of the British Council International English Language Test (IELTS)
Or;
- A TOEFL score of at least 600 (written) or 250 (computer) scale.
In determining whether to accept an application, we take into account a number of factors, including:
- Your actual or predicted academic record
- Your statement in support of your application
- Commitment to the profession as evidenced by attempts, successful or otherwise, to obtain placements, mini-pupillage or any other experience in a legal setting
- Your references
Fees
Full details of fees for this course can be found on our postgraduate fees pages.
For funding options, please see our funding and scholarships information.
How to apply
Applications for both the full-time and part-time BPTC must be made via the Bar Standard Board's central online applications system. Applications open in mid October of the intended year of entry and the first round closes in mid-January.
For further information on the BPTC course and/or how to apply, please contact the relevant course director:
Full time: Delyth.James@uwe.ac.uk or 0117 32 82270
Part time: Joanne.Stringer@uwe.ac.uk or 0117 32 83472
For further information on the current fees, please contact the course administrator at:
For further information
Page last updated 14 December 2011