Pupillage:

We are a leading public law set with a strong reputation in planning, environmental, and licensing law. Our members are often involved in the leading cases in our areas of law, including cases in the appellate courts. You will be involved in interesting, impactful, and important cases throughout your pupillage and will learn from leading practitioners.

Pupillage at Francis Taylor Building is a challenging and rewarding experience which will equip you with the skills necessary for a successful and rewarding career at the Bar. We offer our pupils a highly competitive pupillage award. Our Pupillage and Tenancy Committee will oversee a bespoke training and assessment programme which includes a series of practice specific seminars and advocacy exercises. We invest heavily in our pupils in the hope and expectation that they will become tenants at the end of their pupillages.

We are known for being a supportive and collegiate set. Our pupils are never in competition with each other; if both meet the standard for tenancy, then both will be taken on. We work hard to ensure that pupils feel welcome and supported in Chambers. We see our pupils as the future of Chambers. This is proven by our high retention rate for pupils.

We offer a highly competitive pupillage award of not less than £75,000 (including £15,000 guaranteed earnings in your second six) with an option to draw down up to £25,000 in the year before the commencement of your pupillage. Junior tenants can expect to earn considerably more than the pupillage award annually in their first few years of practice.

Pupillage is split into three four-month seats, each with their own supervisor. The first six months of pupillage is non-practising and the second six is practising. This means you will get court and other advocacy experience of your own early on in your career.

Pupils follow a bespoke training and assessment programme during their pupillage which is overseen by the Pupillage and Tenancy Committee. It is designed to ensure that pupils meet the thresholds and competencies specified by the Bar Standards Board in the Professional Statement. After twelve months of training, all of our pupils have the skills necessary to develop successful and rewarding careers at the public law Bar.

During the first four months of pupillage, our pupils attend fourteen practice area specific seminars delivered by members of Chambers. These are designed to teach pupils the basics of our specialist areas of law. A full list of the seminars which we host can be found here. Towards the end of the first four months of pupillage, our pupils take part in a mock High Court hearing. They are provided with written and oral feedback on their performance.

Pupils take part in two further assessed mock High Court hearings and two assessed mock planning inquiries. The mock planning inquiries are undertaken in conjunction with external consultancy firms who will act as witnesses in the run up to and during the inquires. The mock High Court hearings are often presided over by current or retired members of the judiciary. Pupils will receive written and oral feedback on their performances. These exercises are principally designed to allow pupils to develop their advocacy skills.

In their practising second sixes, our pupils are supported in building their own practices. Our pupils can regularly expect to be in court on their feet with their own clients and cases. As well as this, they will frequently be instructed as juniors to other members of Chambers in more complex cases. Pupils are also encouraged to work for other members of Chambers. We encourage our pupils to take on pro bono work as part of the Advocate Pupil Pledge.

As well as receiving written feedback on their performances in advocacy exercises, pupils receive regular feedback from their supervisors and from other members of Chambers that they work with. At the end of each seat, pupils receive a report from their supervisor and are given an opportunity to discuss their progress. Members of the Pupillage and Tenancy Committee meet with pupils throughout the year to monitor their progress.

Our pupils are encouraged to participate in Chambers social life throughout their pupillages. We assign our pupils a junior practitioner mentor at the beginning of their pupillages who they can go to for advice and support throughout the year. We pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative and collegiate atmosphere in Chambers and work hard to ensure that pupils feel part of this.

Pupils are automatically considered for tenancy towards the end of pupillage without the need for any further application or interview. The decision is taken on the basis of the assessments, pupillage supervisor feedback and work done for other members of Chambers. If taken on as tenants, pupils can expect to be supported by Chambers in their transition from pupil to tenant by our clerks and staff.

We usually seek to recruit two pupils a year. Vacancies are advertised on and applications made through the Pupillage Gateway. The Pupillage Gateway timetable for 2024/25 has not yet been published. Please continue to check the Pupillage Gateway for further information.

Our selection process has three main stages. The criteria for each stage is explained below in the next section.

• Paper sift: We first undertake a paper sift of all applications in order to determine who should be invited for first round interview. We usually invite around thirty candidates for a first round interview.
• First round: The first round interview lasts around thirty minutes. You will be given a brief public law problem question to consider shortly before the interview. The majority of the interview will be spent going through the problem question. The panel are likely to ask you some questions about your application form and your motivation for applying to Francis Taylor Building as well. The interviewing panel will consist of two members of chambers, neither of whom will have been involved in the paper sifting exercise.
• Second round: The second round interview lasts around an hour. We usually invite up to a dozen candidates for a second round interview. The second round interview follows a similar format to the first round interview. You will again be given a public law problem question to consider shortly in advance of the interview and this will be the focus of the interview. Some time will also be left at the end to discuss your reasons for applying to us and your suitability for a career at the planning and environmental law Bar. You will be interviewed by at least three members of Chambers at varying levels of seniority, none of whom will have been involved in earlier stages of the application process.

We also host a drinks reception for those invited to a second round interview. This is strictly separate from the formal selection process; no member involved at any stage in the above process will attend the reception. It is an opportunity for candidates to get to know us and to ask questions about life in chambers in a more relaxed setting before your second round interview takes place.

We look for ambitious and able candidates with strong academic credentials who have a genuine interest both in public law and in our core areas of practice. We look for candidates who we think are suitable for a career in our specialist areas and who we think have the skills and qualities necessary to become tenants with us at the end of their pupillages. We do not expect candidates to have detailed knowledge of our core areas of practice, as our pupillage programme is designed to familiarise pupils with them.

We apply objective and transparent selection criteria at each stage of the application process. All of us who are involved in the pupillage application process have received training in equality and diversity from the Bar Standards Board and are mindful of the challenges that applicants, particularly those from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, may face when applying for pupillage.

At the paper sifting stage, we select candidates for a first-round interview based on four main criteria:

• academic achievement and intellectual ability;
• advocacy experience and achievement;
• suitability for and interest in our work; and
• non-legal work, interests and life experience.

A copy of the sub-criteria applied at the sifting stage can be found here.

During our first and second round interviews, we assess candidates solely on their performance at interview and against the following criteria:

• intellectual ability;
• articulacy and cogency;
• interest in our areas of work; and
• suitability for a career at Francis Taylor Building.