Lack of work-life balance

A new report has found fewer pupil barristers are willing to recommend pupillage, citing increased stress levels as a major concern.

Only a third of pupils would now “definitely” recommend the profession as a career path, the report notes — down from 42% last year. It describes this as a “significant decline” in those willing to recommend the bar to others. However, it’s not all doom and gloom: 90% of pupils still reported a positive experience of pupillage.

A lack of work-life balance, according to over a third of respondents, was the main reason why a career at the bar “was seen to be potentially not viable” in the long term. Pupils in publicly-funded practice areas were more likely than others to cite this reason. Many also highlighted a lack of work-life boundaries.

Other stand out reasons could include stress levels, which 88% respondents described as “moderate” or “high”, plus insufficient pay in some practice areas, last minute workloads, poor scheduling, and high debt. On median working hours, 38% reported 41-50 hours per week, with 41% saying they work more than that.

These findings come from the Pupil Survey 2025, run by the Bar Council. Some 170 responded, amounting to approximately one third of all total pupils (609). All responses were anonymous.

Pupils’ median debt range is a hefty £50-60k so it’s not surprising four in ten cited “some degree of financial hardship”. The median award bracket was £30-39,999 but over half the pupils working in crime take home under £30k. Meanwhile, one quarter of male respondents have pupillage awards of £60k or more — almost double compared to women (13%) — with many offered by sets on the Legal Cheek Chambers Most List.

About 40% earned pupillage in their first application cycle, but 14% reported going through four yearly cycles before gaining the competitive traineeship. A scant 8% described the process as “not very challenging” — compared to 50% calling it “very challenging”. Respondents sought better feedback on rejections, “access to more financial resource”, and improvements to the pupillage gateway.

Stats for bullying, harassment, or discrimination were down compared to previous surveys, though 17% still reported personal experience. In “most cases”, another barrister was responsible — almost one in five said it was their pupil supervisor, with heads of chambers and practice managers also cited.

The report also revealed most pupils criticised the BSB ethics exam, a compulsory three hour test during pupillage, for “its unfairness, being stressful, and for its inconsistent administration”. It probably didn’t help that, according to respondents, it was “unnecessary” and duplicates training from the bar course.

Interestingly, the report notes one in five pupils “were recorded as LGBTQ+” which is “significantly higher” than the general population. Other demographic stats reflected the general population.