Each of the four Inns of Court (Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray’s Inn, and Lincoln’s Inn) offers scholarships to hundreds of students each year studying the GDL and the Bar Course. The application and interview process differs for each Inn, and (unsurprisingly), this article will concentrate on the process for Inner Temple. I hope, however, that my tips will be applicable for scholarship interviews at the other Inns too.
The Inner Temple Application Process
For the GDL and Bar Course, the scholarship application process begins with a written form. Inner has a huge advantage in that they generally interview every candidate who applies. Make sure you don’t leave submitting to the last minute and check with your referees in good time before you apply. After submitting your written form, you will receive a date and time for your interview, which will most likely be a Friday evening or Saturday.
The interview for the GDL and Bar Course differs slightly. For the Bar Course, you will be given a short judgment to read thirty minutes before your interview. Part of the interview will then comprise questions on the judgment, such as identifying the arguments of each party, summarising the judgment, or offering your opinion on the case. Then, you will have a general interview with the panel about your application. The GDL does not have the judgment element of the interview and rather goes straight into questions about your application form, motivations for becoming a barrister, and any other questions the panel wishes to ask. You are usually asked to do a short advocacy exercise in both GDL and Bar Course interviews, whereby the panel might ask you to argue for or against a current affair or general debate topic. At the end of the interview, the panel will ask you questions surrounding your personal financial circumstances.
Top Tips
Having interviewed for a scholarship at Inner three times – twice successfully, and once unsuccessfully – I hope to be in a fairly good position to give my advice! Above all (and it is easier said than done), stay calm and confident, and try to enjoy yourself.
My first top tip relates to the application form. It sounds obvious, but make sure you can talk about everything you write on your form, as you could be asked about anything in the interview. I was actually asked about something one of my referees had put on a reference – about an essay I had written at university – which I had not anticipated! Before your interview, go through your form forensically and pick out any detail you could be asked on and make sure you can elaborate on it. I made bullet points on everything I had written about – from work to mini-pupillages to extra-curricular activities and any other examples I had given – and just elaborated a few sentences so I knew I could elaborate on everything I had written.
My second tip relates to the advocacy exercise. As discussed above, there is likely to be a part of the interview where you will be asked to speak about a topic or debate. Make sure you keep up with current affairs and think about any topical debates happening at the moment. Practice thinking of any topic and speaking about it for a minute, and you could even do this with friends or family. This will help you practice thinking and speaking under pressure about a topic which you may not previously have thought about. It’s really important that you have a clear structure for this part, so you might want to use signposting (e.g. I have three points to make: firstly…, secondly…) as this part of the interview is a test of your potential as an advocate. It’s much easier to be persuasive when you can clearly follow the points someone is making.
My final tip relates to both the form and the interview. Have a look on the Inner Temple website and find the application criteria (you can find them here: https://www.innertemple.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/scholarships/application-criteria-general-guidelines/). Think about each point, and how your experiences and skills fit into each one. For example, Inner has said that they are looking for ‘Character – Calmness under fire, the ability to work hard for long hours and against deadlines, sound personal values, and integrity. So, you might want to think of a time where can you show that you have done this – such as working in a bar, balancing a degree with extra-curricular activities, or anything else relevant. Just before your interview, write down your top three examples of skills that you want the panel to know about.
Finally, it is important to remember that anyone could get a scholarship, and you have to believe that it could be you! Make sure you are true to yourself; in answer to the question ‘why the bar?’, you should answer genuinely, not what you think you ‘should’ be saying or what the panel wants to hear. I was so nervous, but the panels were all lovely; they are practicing barristers that have given you their free time to listen to your story, and they want you to succeed. I wish you all the best of luck and feel free to reach out with any questions.
Lauren Gardner