Page 57 - Judicial Diversity Update report

socio-economic backgrounds face much earlier on in their careers, both at
entry to the bar and career progression there. We interviewed a number of
judges from a lower socio-economic background who received funding for
high school, university and/or their professional qualification exams through
local authority and other scholarship schemes. Many of these initiatives no
longer exist and the Bar Professional Training Course is still prohibitively
expensive for many individuals (even with scholarships available). These
judges expressed concern that the current cohorts of barristers are therefore
less socially diverse as a result. The new Bar school programme appears to
offer greater flexibility and a more accessible approach to qualifying as a
barrister and may go some way to addressing these concerns. This overhaul of
barrister training will require careful monitoring. It is our hope these changes
to entry to the Bar will act to increase accessibility of the profession.

2.90. Some solicitor firms pay for trainees’ Legal Practice Course (and where
necessary Graduate Diploma in Law) as well as providing money towards
living costs. It is therefore no surprise that solicitors are more socio-
economically diverse than barristers. However, as explained above, the senior
judiciary continues to be drawn predominantly from the Bar, and the solicitor
firms also have an issue with retention of those from lower socio-economic
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backgrounds.

2.91. In addition to low application numbers, the data indicates that candidates from
lower socio-economic backgrounds are not being appointed in the same
proportions in which they apply. The difference is particularly stark for the
High Court. This indicates that there is something in the application process
which is prejudicing those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and this
should be investigated further.

132 See Bridge Group, ‘Socio-economic Background and Early Career Progression in the Law’,
September 2018, available online at
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c18e090b40b9d6b43b093d8/t/5cd180d73cfb160001436429/15
57233888333/03+Research+2018+Progression+law.pdf. The Bridge Group’s report noted that while
solicitors from lower socio-economic backgrounds are recruited into firms as trainees, they have
disproportionately high rates of attrition. The potential effect of socio-economic-background on the
retention and career progression of trainees means that as solicitors become more experienced (and
thus move into eligibility for judicial appointments) there will be fewer of them from a lower socio-
economic background. However, it must be noted that the Group’s report does not show that
individuals are leaving the profession entirely, only that they are leaving the firms they trained and
qualified with. It may be possible that such individuals are still able to apply as if they had remained.
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