Mini pupillage

7KBW offers a combination of intellectually stimulating work across all fields of commercial law and a friendly, supportive environment for pupillage and tenancy. We recognise that mini-pupillages are a valuable way for prospective applicants to experience what life and practice in 7KBW are like, and to break down barriers to entry to the Bar.

We encourage any individual who wishes to find out more about a career at the Commercial Bar and at 7KBW in particular to apply for a mini-pupillage.

If you are thinking about applying for a mini-pupillage, please read this section of our website carefully: it contains information that will help you to make the strongest possible application.

What to expect from mini-pupillage at 7KBW

We offer mini-pupillages in person and (by arrangement) virtually. We encourage candidates to come to 7KBW for an in-person mini-pupillage, because we consider that that is the best way to gain a sense of the work and the people that make 7KBW unique.

Your mini-pupillage will take place over one day. You will meet a junior barrister from 7KBW, who will give you a commercial law case or legal problem to read and discuss together. You will also meet a more senior barrister (either a King’s Counsel or a senior junior) and a senior clerk, to give a broader insight into the opportunities legal practice at 7KBW offers. If you opt for a virtual mini-pupillage, these meetings will take place via video call.

Mini-pupillages at 7KBW are not assessed. They are an opportunity for you to find out about us. It is not essential that you apply for a mini-pupillage before applying for pupillage, but we strongly encourage you to do so.

No-one should be discouraged from considering a career at the Commercial Bar because they lack means: 7KBW will pay reasonable travel and accommodation expenses (up to £250) for in-person mini-pupils.

What we are looking for from candidates for mini-pupillage

We assess applications for mini-pupillage by reference to the same criteria as 7KBW uses to assess pupillage applications. You can find those criteria in the pupillage section of our website at https://7kbw.co.uk/pupillage/selection-criteria/.

A good application is one that shows how you meet all these criteria by reference to your achievements and skills. We encourage you to take the time to think carefully about this when preparing your application: there is no single way to meet any criterion, and our experience is that candidates can often find inventive ways to demonstrate meeting the selection criteria. We welcome anyone, regardless of background, who is interested in, and has the potential to succeed at, the Commercial Bar. All offers are made strictly on merit.

When you come to apply for mini-pupillage, you should be studying for, or should already have, a university degree.

We welcome applications from: both law and non-law undergraduates; non-law graduates doing, or about to do, a graduate degree or conversion course in law; transferring solicitors and foreign lawyers; and law graduates in other professions.

If you are still an undergraduate, we recommend that you only apply after you have some university-level exam results.

How to apply for a mini-pupillage

Applications for those wishing to complete a mini-pupillage between 1 January and 30 April 2025 closed on 1 December 2024. The deadline for the next round of applications is 1 March 2025 and the application form will be posted here soon.

There will be three steps to the application process:

Step 1

An application form which includes the facility to give details of your results in any UK degree course examinations undertaken to date (broken down by subject, indicating percentage marks); if you cannot submit those details via the application form (for example, because you studied in a system that does not use UK degree classifications), please include them in your CV.

The form includes optional contextual recruitment questions. This enables us to take into account a candidate’s background and circumstances, where relevant, in the assessment of that candidate against the selection criteria.

Step 2

You will need to submit a covering letter and a CV. The covering letter should express the reasons for your interest in the Commercial Bar in general and 7KBW in particular. It is also your opportunity to draw out relevant skills, experiences and abilities. A good cover letter for a mini-pupillage application is rarely longer than a page.

Step 3

You will be invited to complete a questionnaire to help support our diversity and equal opportunities monitoring. It is anonymous and completing it is voluntary, but it greatly assists us. The information you provide will be treated in total confidence: it will not be available as part of the selection process and will not be used in deciding to make any offers.

When to apply

We have three rounds of mini-pupillage. The deadlines are:

1 December – for those wishing to complete a mini-pupillage between 1 January and 30 April the following year.

1 March – for those wishing to complete a mini-pupillage between 1 May and 31 July.

1 July – for those wishing to complete a mini-pupillage between 1 September and 14 December.

In each case, your application should be received by us by 23:59 UK time on the day stated.

Applications in each round are reviewed at the end of the period.

In our experience, demand is usually greatest for the application round between 1 January and 30 April, which coincides with the Pupillage Gateway applications window. Please note that if you apply to us for that round, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate successful candidates before the Pupillage Gateway applications deadline.

Decisions regarding applications will be communicated as soon as possible following the end of each application period. We receive more applications in each round than we can accommodate and are unable to accommodate every applicant. Owing to the large number of applications, we are also unable to provide personalised feedback.

If your application for a mini-pupillage is not successful, this will have no impact on any application you may make for pupillage.

There is also no bar to re-applying for a mini-pupillage. If you are making a repeat application, we would strongly encourage you to take time to consider how your CV and cover letter demonstrate you meet Chambers’ selection criteria, and to consider what additional achievements and experiences you can mention as compared with your previous application.

Access to the Bar schemes

7KBW is committed to promoting diversity at the Bar and actively seeks to encourage individuals from a wide range of backgrounds to consider, and pursue, careers at the Commercial Bar.

In recognition of the importance of widening access to the Commercial Bar, members of 7KBW participate in several schemes administered by other organisations that offer placements, including:

Middle Temple’s Access to the Bar Awards for undergraduate and postgraduate students from backgrounds that do not traditionally encourage aspirations for the Bar, details of which can be found on Middle Temple’s website at https://www.middletemple.org.uk/becoming-barrister/access-bar-award.
Inner Temple’s Pegasus Access and Support Scheme for students from backgrounds currently under-represented at the Bar, details of which can be found on Inner Temple’s website at https://www.innertemple.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/how-to-get-involved/pass/.
Bringing [Dis]Ability to the Bar (BDABar), which supports a mini-pupillage programme for aspiring barristers with disabilities: https://www.bdabar.org/.
Bridging the Bar: a scheme committed to increasing the equality of access to opportunities in the legal profession across all underrepresented groups. Further details can be found at https://bridgingthebar.org/.
10000 Black Interns, which offers six-week paid internships. In the legal sector, these are split across a variety of chambers and other organisations. Details can be found at https://www.10000blackinterns.com/.
In each case, 7KBW provides mini-pupillage placements in Chambers which are organised by the relevant scheme: you will need to apply directly to the administering organisation (which will decide where to allocate you) and not to Chambers. The administering organisations also provide additional training, support or other placements, which vary from scheme to scheme.

7KBW recognises the value of these schemes as additional ways to promote access to and participation in the Commercial Bar. They stand alongside Chambers’ commitment to offering mini-pupillages to outstanding candidates from diverse backgrounds: candidates who would be eligible to participate in these schemes (or who have already participated in these schemes) are welcome and encouraged to apply directly for a mini-pupillage. Where appropriate, we may take positive action in our recruitment process to address the under-representation of certain groups at the Commercial Bar, to the extent permitted by law.