Countdown to BPTC registration

***Blog post updated 19th August 2019***
***Updated content in italics***

Many students think that collecting their books and signing on the dotted line is all they need to do to prepare to do the BPTC. However, to give yourself the space to succeed on the course, you need to have made some preparations and put certain systems in place. Let me explain…

The BPTC Wheelie Case

Barristers used to carry big shoulder bags full of their books and briefs. Rucksacks were always frowned upon, as it was somehow “heroic” to strain the back on the way to and from court. Thankfully times have changed, and the advent of cabin compliant luggage has meant that the wheelie bag has become the portage of choice for many barristers.

Why should it be any different on the BPTC? You are going to get given lots of big, heavy books (Newsflash: the White Book is actually 2 huge hardback books and a paperback supplement!) and a stack of case papers (briefs for baby barristers). So you can either struggle during the first days of the course, trying to carry them all, or you can bring a wheelie bag. I leave the choice to you. But don’t hold me responsible for any backache or loss of height so caused; 100% contributory negligence!

A Student Oyster card

Public transport in London without an Oyster card can become very expensive. A regular Oyster card will save you money. If you are a student at a UK university, you can get a student Oyster card which will save you even more money on fares. You need your student registration number. Applications can be made online.

You can find out more about the student scheme here: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/18-plus-student-oyster-photocard?intcmp=54727

Plan out your journey to law school and have a plan B. Trains are delayed or cancelled, traffic can slow down buses, and even the Tube can go wrong. You need to have another route to get to law school when things go wrong. 

Remember that if you are over 10 minutes late for a session, tutors are supposed to turn you away. You do not want absences from class just because you were too late to attend. 

  

Register at a GP practice

You may be in good health, but this is a worthwhile step to take. The Autumn term is a time when colds and flu get spread around the faculty. Attendance is compulsory, and you may need to get evidence from a doctor if you fall in and are in danger of missing lots of classes. Take the precaution of being registered from day one and you don’t have to worry should you get taken ill.

Get accommodation sorted for the duration of the course

You need to be able to devote your time to the hectic workload of the BPTC. You do not want to have a room or flat sorted for a month or so, only to find you have to move later on. It will be disruptive, you might end up missing classes, causing attendance problems. You might also lose books or notes when moving, which will be a disaster when you come to revision and consolidation. So make sure you have accommodation where you can bed down for the duration of the course.

Warn your family and friends the BPTC needs your full commitment

It is genuinely lovely that your family and friends want to spend time with you. You’re lucky. Mine… well, let’s not go there!

The BPTC has a very hectic workload. Also, the three big exams (the centrally set papers in civil litigation, criminal litigation and ethics) are demanding to prepare for; they are truly not exams you can cram for at the last minute.

So what I am advising is harsh, but necessary. Commit to the BPTC from September to June unless you are doing the BPTC LLM. Do not be tempted to go home over the holidays or study leave if you know that you will not be able to work when you go back. Family and friends often do not understand how much time and work you will need to put in. Or try to manage their expectations before you go home. Think about how susceptible to distractions you are.

If you are doing the BPTC LLM, there will a research week and a writing week in June. You are meant to be in the UK for this study fortnight. Your second supervision session will be in late June or early July, depending on your supervisor's availability. The BPTC LLM hand in date is early September.

Get organised

You will need to organise the many books, manuals and case papers you receive from us. You should be thinking of making notes in your classes, too. It all adds up to a big pile of stuff. You need to organise it all, or you will lose things. You also need a coherent idea of what is going on day by day and week by week on the course. I will be addressing the issue of getting organised in a future blog post.

Those are my thoughts on the necessary preparations to make for registration day and the first week. I hope you find it helpful.

You will find other helpful advice here: 
Coming to do the BPTC - get ready: http://snigsclassroom.blogspot.com/2015/08/coming-to-do-bptc-get-ready.html
How to prepare for the BPTC - by City Law School's excellent former student Blessing Mukosha Park: https://www.lawcareers.net/Information/BlogPost/Blessing-Mukosha-Park/How-to-prepare-for-the-BPTC-Course
On the BPTC, you will need to adjust to a new, practitioner, mindset. Ishan Kolhatkar explains, with contributions from top practitioners, how to "Think like a lawyer": http://bptclecturer.com/thinking-like-a-lawyer
 

Good luck – and I look forward to meeting you all very soon!

Coming to do the BPTC? Get ready!

**Updated 20 July 2017**

I occasionally get asked by law graduates and PG diploma holders about what they should do to get ready for the BPTC. I hope I can help with this blog post. 

So here goes - this is my advice to students seeking to do the BPTC!

1. Get some rest

Study can be exhausting. It can be truly stressful. So if your degree or diploma studies have left you feeling a little burnt out, then take some rest. 

When the BPTC starts, it will be full on. It will start from day one. Any cosy notion that "induction week" will be easy and simple is sadly, misplaced. We will hit the ground running!

So get some Rest and Relaxation. If you've got yourself through your degree or diploma, you probably have earned it. Take it, enjoy it. Come back in September energised. 

Get ready for full on, full time, intensive study from when you register. Dudes and dudettes, I am NOT kidding. 

2. Revise the core areas of the LLB / GDL (core areas of law)

The BPTC is not about teaching you the law. We will assume you know it already as a result of either your degree or post graduate studies in law. Time will not be spent on refreshing your legal knowledge.

The BPTC is about teaching you how to USE the law as a means to an end, a "problem solving" approach. The law will be applied, to try to help the client, in a tactical and practical way.

I therefore recommend that you go back to your notes or your textbooks... or dare I say it... your "Nutshells" in:
- The Law of Contract
- Tort law
- Criminal law

You will need to know this law in order to cope with the skills and knowledge subjects coming up on the BPTC.

3. Try to get ahead if you can

It is no secret that on the BPTC, the knowledge subjects are the greatest challenge to students.

The knowledge subjects are:
- Professional ethics
- Criminal litigation
- Civil litigation 
- Alternative dispute resolution (resolution of disputes out of court)
The first three are centrally assessed by the Central Assessment Board and are the most stringent elements of the BPTC.

It must therefore be no surprise that "getting ahead" or "getting a head start" might be a good idea. 

The BSB handbook on ethics will be given to you in hard copy, or in the form of the City Law School BPTC Manual on Professional Ethics. In the meantime, you might want to read online the current code of conduct, which can be found here:
Mobile friendly version: http://handbook.barstandardsboard.org.uk/handbook/
Downloadable PDF:  https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/media/1826458/bsb_handbook_31_march_2017.pdf
(Updated links)

If you have studied the law of evidence in the past, please do revise your knowledge. This will make a key part of your study easier. Go back over your notes and textbooks.

If you have not, you might wish to look at one of the titles I identify for either criminal or civil litigation below (which cover elements of civil and criminal evidence). There will be some coverage of some of the topics. It might not be worth embarking on wholly independent study of this daunting subject. Wait for the course to begin, and familiarise yourself with the other material mentioned in this post. Don't stress if you have not studied evidence before, I am not trying to put you off. I just do not personally advise self study for evidence as I found the subject difficult to study without guidance. There is much other ground you can make up based on the advise in this post!

I would advise that you read up on your criminal litigation. I suggest that it might be worthwhile to read the Criminal Procedure Rules. Please DO NOT expect to read, understand and remember these rules. Get used to the general concepts and ideas. Look up words which are technical and difficult. Work out the basic stages, terminology, definitions and elements, so these feel familiar and friendly on the course. 

You may want to get some help using Virginia Dunn's very helpful book "It's Criminal". It's designed as an initial overview, written in a friendly and accessible style.
(Update - the 2nd edition has just come out. Do not use the original edition as it will be out of date!)

You can find it here: 
http://www.worthpublishing.com/proddetail.php?prod=9781903269398

The BPTC is not just criminal in emphasis, there is also the civil half of the content. Civil procedure is logical, methodical but a little technical. It can be learnt, but needs understanding and then needs detailed study. Getting a "head start" will pay dividends. 

The Civil Procedure Rules is the best starting point. You will find them here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil. 

You will be given the "White Book" (AKA Civil Procedure 2017) when you enrol. So do not print the rules out out. But you may want to skim read the rules. Again, as with Criminal litigation, try to find your way around the concepts, terminology and ideas. Any technical and/or difficult words should be looked up in a legal dictionary. In the civil litigation process, you should identify the basic stages, terminology, definitions and elements.

My former colleague Virginia Dunn has also written a very easy to read and fun guide to civil procedure: 

(Update - now in its 3rd edition. Please do not use an old edition, or you will have out of date knowledge.)

http://www.worthpublishing.com/proddetail.php?prod=9781903269350 


Alternative Dispute Resolution will be taught on the course and many of the institutions will provide the textbook by Sime/Browne/Blake.
(Update - now in its 4th edition): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-practical-approach-to-alternative-dispute-resolution-9780198747666?lang=3n&cc=gb

You may want to do your own independent research on the following:
- Mediation
- Negotiation
This knowledge will stand you in good stead for the BPTC

New:
My final book recommendation will help you with understanding the skill of opinion writing, written by former BPTC lecturer and study skills tutor/coach Suzanne Reece:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Didnt-Write-Outstanding-Opinion/dp/0995543631

4. Get some advocacy experience

You will be expected to start on advocacy from almost day one on the BPTC. As a result, you might not want your first experience of public speaking to be on the BPTC.

There are lots of ways in which you can get some advocacy experience:

- Mooting
- Debating
- Teaching
- Preaching
- Volunteering for a legal representation charity
- Free Representation Unit
- Duty Solicitor Schemes
- CAB / Debt advice
- Speaking at a public function

5. Get relevant experience

If it is still possible, I would advise that you bolster the strength of your future Pupillage applications by doing the following:

- Mooting
- Debating
- Mini-Pupillages
- Other public speaking
- Legal volunteering

It will be difficult during the intensive study of the BPTC to commit to work experience. If you can get your experience for the purposes of CV or applications over the Summer, that is a drain on your available study time you do not need to worry about. 

6. Know the path ahead

I am continually amazed by how many students have not sufficiently researched the road ahead of them to work out what is required. I have honestly taught BPTC students who have not even done a single mini-pupillage before starting the course (which puts unnecessary pressure on the student to achieve that experience on the already busy BPTC year). 

Know what you need to do and when by reading "The Path To Pupillage", a thoroughly useful book by Georgina Wolfe and Alexander Robson (3rd edition): 
http://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Catalogue/ProductDetails.aspx?recordid=5285

7. Be completely comfortable with speaking and writing in English, with rapidity and efficiency

Here's where I am a complete and utter hypocrite. I am going to confess, I only know one language; English. And some would say my grasp on that language is poor at best! 

What I am trying to say is this - if English is your second language, you need to ensure you are confident in speaking in English in class fluently and frequently. You will be required to present advocacy in every single advocacy class, no excuses. You will be asked questions in knowledge classes and be expected to answer. Socratic learning - where students answer tutor questions to demonstrate their understanding of the reading required - will be used from the first day onwards. 

Yes, I could not manage a class in any other language except for English anywhere in the world. But equally, I am not expecting to enter the greatest profession in the world. So whilst my expectations seem high, you can understand why they exist. 

End note:

Please note, my dear prospective students, that I am not at all suggesting that you do all seven of the items on this list. They are just suggestions that I propose you try to do what you can in relation to - read what you can, understand what you are able. We will teach you over the course of the BPTC what you do need to know. I just suggest that where it is possible to use free time to get ahead, that it is a good idea.

Good luck, and I look forward to meeting many of you in September for the commencement of the BPTC!

Snigdha has recommended books by Virginia Dunn, Stuart Sime, Julie Browne, Susan Blake, Suzanne Reece, Georgina Wolfe and Alexander Robson. She has not received any form of financial or other incentive for doing so. The recommendation is based on their direct suitability to the BPTC based on 15 years of teaching experience. 
Update: I now have nearly 17 years of experience!