TARGETjobs Law salary survey 2011: how much will you earn as a pupil barrister?

After you've completed the vocational stage of training to become a barrister – the Bar professional training course or BPTC – you need to undertake a year of practical, on-the-job training at a barristers' set of chambers, known as pupillage. The Bar Standards Board has stipulated that all pupillages starting after September 2011 must carry a minimum award of £12,000 for a 12-month pupillage, in monthly instalments of at least £1,000. In reality some pupillages carry awards well in excess of this figure – up to £65,000.

What do commercial law barristers earn?

Unsurprisingly, the most generous pupillage awards are available from commercial and chancery sets, where they are typically in the region of £40,000 to £50,000 for 12 months. Eight sets advertising in our print publication TARGETjobs Law offer £60,000 a year or over to pupils. At the other end of the scale, sets carrying out publicly funded work (eg family law or criminal law sets) continue to feel the squeeze.

Why do criminal barristers earn less than commercial lawyers?

Criminal set 187 Fleet Street’s award of £10,001 in the first six months, which is typical for criminal law chambers. But as Gareth Branston, barrister at 23 Essex Street, is keen to point out in our criminal area of practice overview , aspiring criminal barristers are more likely to be driven by their love of advocacy than money: ‘All work at the criminal bar is now government funded and therefore tightly controlled. Those wanting to become fat cat lawyers should seek their nourishment elsewhere. Financial life at the very junior bar can be extremely challenging indeed.’

12-month pupillage awards from TARGETjobs Law advertisers

• Bedford Row – £25,000
• 42 Bedford Row – £24,000
• Blackstone Chambers – £60,000
• 1 Chancery Lane – £40,000
• Crown Office Row, Brighton – £19,000
• One Crown Office Row – £40,000
• Devereux – £42,500
• One Essex Court – £60,000
• 187 Fleet Street – £10,001
• Francis Taylor Building – £40,000
• 2–3 Gray’s Inn Square – £25,000
• 4–5 Gray’s Inn Square – £39,000
• Hailsham Chambers – £30,000
• Hardwicke – £40,000
• Henderson Chambers – £50,000
• Keating Chambers – £50,000
• 7 King’s Bench Walk – £60,000
• 11KBW – £45,000
• Landmark Chambers – £40,000
• Littleton Chambers – £45,000
• Maitland Chambers – £60,000
• Matrix – £27,500
• Monckton Chambers – £60,000
• Four New Square – £50,000
• 3PB (3 Paper Buildings) – £25,000
• 4 Pump Court – £50,000
• Pump Court Chambers – £24,000
• Queen Elizabeth Building – up to £25,000
• Ropewalk Chambers – £25,000
• Selborne Chambers – £42,500 minimum
• 4 Stone Buildings – £45,000
• 5 Stone Buildings – up to £40,000
• 2 Temple Gardens – £60,000
• 3 Verulam Buildings – £60,000
• Wilberforce Chambers – up to £65,000

Many barristers’ chambers will also offer guaranteed earnings or ‘receipts’ for pupils in their second six months on top of their pupillage award (including 29 Bedford Row, 187 Fleet Street, 2–3 Gray’s Inn Square, Queen Elizabeth Building and Pump Court Chambers). Chambers don’t tend to sponsor their pupils through the BPTC year in the same way as the solicitors’ firms support their future trainees through the legal practice course (LPC), but some sets will offer an advance on their award to help students fund their vocational course (including Keating Chambers, Matrix and 2 Temple Gardens). For more information on the awards, guaranteed earnings and support during the BPTC course each set of chambers can offer, see individual chambers’ profile.   online or pick up a copy of TARGETjobs Law 2012 from your careers service or department.

Qualified barristers' incomes

Cash flow can be erratic in the early years of tenancy since there is an inevitable time lag between billing for work done and receiving fees. However, the competent barrister’s fee-earning capacity increases dramatically in years one to three. Those joining commercial sets will soon find their earnings on a par with their university peers who opted for a finance career in the City. Even those choosing less lucrative areas of practice will find their fee income increasing substantially as they establish a legal practice. Full details of all pupillage awards are published in the Pupillages Handbook, available from the TARGETjobs National Pupillage Fair, and online at pupillageportal.com.

More advice on choosing a pupillage

• Have you got the skills to be a barrister?
• How the areas of practice differ at the Bar – aside from earnings
• Compare barristers’ earnings to trainee solicitor starting salaries