tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932746992402771668.post1041669827519041738..comments2023-07-10T17:01:53.149+01:00Comments on Pupillage and How to Get It.: News Just InSMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06066695497843105646noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932746992402771668.post-47120227162957211412007-07-30T11:05:00.000+01:002007-07-30T11:05:00.000+01:00Congrats Simon - it is reassuring for someone appl...Congrats Simon - it is reassuring for someone applying for pupillage in the near future to know that these things to be looked at and changes made. <BR/><BR/>I wonder sometimes, how much of Oxbridge's excellence comes from the student's raw intelligence and how much comes from being nutured in a very focused environment with likeminded individuals and lots of support. I am not criticising this - as this is how all universities should be (and perhaps would be if they could afford it!!) but I do think that this should be borne in mind when considering less "polished" candidates from newer institutions, who too would flourish under such care (if Chambers could be bothered to give it! )<BR/><BR/>I agree with the concept of “competencies” – You can usually download them from the Chambers’ website and that would give unconventional candidates a chance to see where to enhance their CV to make up for a low grade or different university. It encouraged me during my degree to see Matrix uses this method (or did back then..) and I knew that I would not be able to go straight into the BVC and then Pupillage without gathering a few year’s work experience and contacts along the way - which would have been much harder with the debt of the money I have had to borrow to do the BVC hanging over my head and influencing the jobs i could feasibly take on and still pay the mortgage... <BR/><BR/>Also (a brave thing to say for someone about to start on the BVC) from talking to my friends who have undertaken the course already, they did say it was quite easy – the only problem was how “paper-heavy” it was, and how much time it took up, without being that challenging… I will be able to elaborate on this after September – and may well eat my words! Will keep you posted.<BR/><BR/>LLPoppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01048245328095180792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932746992402771668.post-40070930293417731302007-07-28T18:58:00.000+01:002007-07-28T18:58:00.000+01:00Diversity? That'll be the day.Diversity? That'll be the day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932746992402771668.post-4210884394900613802007-07-28T13:32:00.000+01:002007-07-28T13:32:00.000+01:00Dear Simon,I am a barrister on the pupillage commi...Dear Simon,<BR/><BR/>I am a barrister on the pupillage committee of an employment/PI set and I have been reading your interesting posts for some time now. We are already trying to adapt our selection system so that the paper sift at least is competency-based; we changed our marking system this year and it seems to have worked out fairly well. However, we feel we are very much wandering around on our own in the dark at the moment, as we don't know of any other chambers doing this. I think it would be extremely helpful if your Education and Training Committee could come up with some suggestions/guidance as to the kinds of competencies the Bar should be looking for in prospective pupils. Should you be interested in our experiences, I would be happy to discuss them with you; let me know and I can email you.<BR/><BR/>The second point I wanted to make is something that has been bothering me for a while. We do our best to make our selection process completely "university blind". We don't take into account the university someone went to in giving marks for academic ability (all Firsts, 2:1s and 2:2s get the same score respectively). Nor do we consider this at the interview stage (which is generally a problem which candidates have 30 mins to consider at the first interview, followed by a more complicated problem for them to research then present at the second). However, the individuals who do best, and to whom we offer pupillage, are still predominantly, although far from exclusively, Oxbridge-educated. Thinking about it myself, there are two potential explanations: the Oxbridge-educated candidates are just better, or our interview process inadvertently advantages such candidates. Just throwing that into the mix, really; any thoughts you have would be very welcome.<BR/><BR/>I think you're doing good work here; the Bar is (in my state school and Oxbridge-educated view) not as much of a lost cause as the angry anonymous poster on one of your other threads suggested, and I hope that the committee you sit on can take at least some action to make it better and more diverse.<BR/><BR/>AnnaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932746992402771668.post-51390027337161176672007-07-27T17:12:00.000+01:002007-07-27T17:12:00.000+01:00Simon,great news....I have been reading your blog ...Simon,<BR/><BR/>great news....I have been reading your blog with interest for a number of weeks.<BR/>It will be good to see what changes are coming over the horizon by the time I look to undertake my BVC....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com