Pupillage Vacancy Information
6KBW College Hill is an outstanding, top-ranked set in the fields of criminal and public law. Our main areas of work include general crime, fraud, corporate crime and investigations, extradition, inquests, public inquiries and a wide range of public and civil law work relating to the criminal justice system.
Eighteen of our members are KCs, twelve are or have been Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey, and eleven are on the Attorney General’s panels of civil counsel. Our members have been involved in many of the highest profile and most difficult criminal cases of the last fifty years.
We act for both the prosecution and defence, and for both sides in public law challenges. Tenants from our chambers regularly appear in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Divisional Court. Our members also appear in cases around the world, including recently in the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
We aim to give our pupils the best possible grounding for their careers.
As a pupil with us, you’ll have the opportunity to work on high-profile cases with some of the leading practitioners in their fields. Working with your supervisor and other Members of Chambers, you’ll experience a variety of work across the range of our expertise. You’ll also be given the freedom to pursue work which interests you and encouraged to start developing your own practice.
You’ll be assigned to one pupil supervisor for each four-month period, though you should expect to work for other Members of Chambers during the course of the year. During your first six months, you’ll be in chambers and in court, working closely with your pupil supervisors. During your second six months, you’ll practise in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.
You’ll also take part in our Pupillage Training Course. In addition to sessions on the law and advocacy, the training programme includes a mock trial in front of a District Judge and a mock trial at the Old Bailey in front of a resident judge. We are proud of the success of our training programme and we aim to give our pupils the best possible grounding for a career at the modern Bar.
We make our tenancy decisions in early autumn, following a structured tenancy assessment. Nearly all of our pupils obtain tenancy with us or elsewhere.
We aim to offer the most generous pupillage funding arrangement at the criminal bar. This reflects both our commitment to attracting pupils from the widest possible range of backgrounds and our optimism about the future of criminal practice in chambers.
For 2025/2026 our pupillage award will be £57,000. The £57,000 consists of a grant of £28,500 in the first six, plus guaranteed minimum income of £28,500 in the second six.
The system of guaranteed minimum income means that, as a pupil, you will keep what you earn, but if your income falls below a certain level in any month, chambers will make up the shortfall.
Usually, our pupils earn in excess of the guaranteed minimum. In addition to the grant and guaranteed earnings, we will fund your professional courses during pupillage, we will pay your travel expenses outside of the M25 and give you a book grant (enough to purchase a copy of Blackstone’s or Archbold). In recent years, pupils have received a free copy of Blackstone’s and have access to Archbold and various other essential resources via our online Westlaw subscription.
We can also make some of your funding available during the BPC year, something we are always happy to discuss.
Chambers recognises that in our society groups and individuals have been and continue to be discriminated against on the basis of the following characteristics: race, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, being pregnant or on maternity leave, being married or in a civil partnership, age, disability, religion or political persuasion. Chambers further recognises not only direct discrimination but that there are practices which have discriminatory effects (indirect discrimination). We acknowledge that there is more to be done before the Bar can be said to fully reflect the society it serves (see the BSB report on Diversity at the Bar) and are committed to making 6KBW College Hill itself and the profession as accessible, welcoming and supportive as possible to the best candidates, whatever their background. A dedicated committee has been developing an action plan of positive steps we can take to address equality, diversity and inclusion.
Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to chambers between Wednesday 2 January 2025 and Wednesday 6 February 2025 using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’.
In addition to the standardised Bar Council questionnaire, candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:
1. Why do you believe you will make a good barrister? In your answer, please identify any relevant experiences or skills that you believe may help you in your career. (1000 characters max.)
2. Why do you want to join our chambers? In your answer, please give reasons for your choice of chambers and explain why you are interested in our areas of practice. (1000 characters max.)
3. Tell us about a time you persuaded someone. (1000 characters max.)
4. What is the greatest challenge you have faced so far? (1000 characters max.)
5. If there is anything else you would like us to know about you, please tell us here. (1000 characters max.)
