Aspiring barristers to submit video applications

In a drive to uncover latent advocacy talent beneath the exam grades, a leading legal training provider is asking potential barristers to submit a video demonstrating their oral skills alongside their written online application to join their Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) programme from September 2019.

BPP University Law School, in what is believed to be a first for a UK legal provider, said the initiative will provide an invaluable additional indicator for informing the assessment of applications when so many students apply with similarly high academic qualifications.

Anna Banfield, Head of Professional Routes (Barristers) and member of the Academic Council said that the written submissions to its BPTC were still important to determine a sufficient level of academic competence. “However”, she added, “the additional video component will provide us with greater insight, in the form of objective evidence, of core oral communication skills, so we can make an even more informed judgment earlier in the process to determine who we offer a place to on our course . Previously, we have held interviews for some candidates later in the process. This year we will have this additional insight up front for everyone. That is both more timely and equitable for all candidates and helps us to ensure that we select the very best candidates who can go on and succeed in a career at the Bar”.

And there is further good news for candidates in this new approach. Every applicant will automatically be considered, either for an Advocacy scholarship, based on performance in the video, or for an Academic Excellence scholarship, based on the written application, worth up to £5000, without having to submit a separate application.

Christopher Kessling, Head of Law at BPP Holborn, barrister and BPTC lecturer, added that it wasn’t production values they were interested in but the candidate’s capability. “We’re interested in the raw advocacy potential of students not a slick, voiced-over commercial. Three to five minutes on a suitable topic filmed on a smart phone is all we need, as long as the candidate is visible and their voice is audible. It’s really about giving candidates the opportunity to showcase their talent”.

Nor is the law school interested in wannabe actors whose advocacy skills outstrip their academic credentials. Kessling added: “We’re looking for the candidates that have it all: the academic credentials and the skills that we know are vital to succeed. They have to pass both the paper application and the video element to be offered a place at BPP.”

Applications for the BPTC via BARSAS open on 17 December 2018 and close on 18 January 2019. Within that window, applicants will need to submit direct to BPP their video applications. Instructions for completing the process including the topics from which applicants can choose to argue for their point of view, will be released by 10 December on BPP’s website.

Further information on the BPP BPTC programme is available here.

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