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Pupil Supervisor Course Material

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Pupil Supervisor.

Please find below links to materials relating to the supervision of pupils, including the rules and regulations by which you will need to abide, tips to improve your supervision skills and some useful templates provided by the Bar Standards Board to guide your monitoring, appraisal and assessment responsibilities.

Your reading and understanding of the materials will form part of the training requirement and they will be referred to throughout the Session (typically hosted in April/May each year). Should you require further clarification of any points therein, please contact the relevant author or organisation.

We recommend that you read as widely from the materials below as possible, but have nonetheless detailed the key study areas:


Pupil Supervisor Requirements
You should read all of Part 4 of the Bar Qualification Manual (Work-based Learning/Pupillage Component of Bar Training), with particular focus on 4B, 4C and 4J.

BSB Handbook

  • Part 2, The Code of Conduct: Core Duties and Rules that barristers, including pupils, are required to adhere to. This will be relevant to day-to-day practice and the Ethics exam that pupils will take in pupillage. It also includes Equality & Diversity requirements.
  • Part 4, The Qualification Rules. This sets out the regulatory framework for qualification as a barrister, including pupillage


Bar Qualification Manual
Part 4 of the Bar Qualification Manual has been covered under "Pupil Supervisor Requirements" above. You are also welcome to read the rest of this resource, in particular Part Six (Authorised Education and Training Organisations), although this is not compulsory.

The Authorisation Framework
Supervisors should have a broad understanding of the four key principles in the downloadable Authorisation Framework: Flexibility, Accessibility, Affordability and High Standards.

Professional Statement
The Professional Statement describes the knowledge, skills and attributes that all barristers will have on “day one” of practice. Pupils must meet the competences in order to complete their training and apply for a practising certificate. Pupil supervisors must be fully familiar with the competences in order to assess whether pupils are ready to apply for the provisional practising certificate at the end of the non-practising period, and successfully complete pupillage at the end of the practising period.

The Curriculum and Assessment Strategy
This downloadable document describes the curriculum for pupillage, including the compulsory courses that pupils must attend and exams they must pass. The competences in the Professional Statement are mapped to the components of training, including pupillage, and describe which competences must be demonstrated in order to apply for the provisional practising certificate and to complete pupillage successfully.

Equality and Diversity
The key requirements relevant to pupillage are found in:

  • The BSB Handbook
  • Section 4C of the Bar Qualification Manual
  • The accessibility criteria in the Authorisation Framework and supporting guidance for pupillage

In addition to a knowledge of the rules and relevant aspects of the legislation, pupil supervisors must understand how to apply considerations of equality, diversity and inclusion as a pupil supervisor, with particular reference to the following:

  • Their role in creating an appropriate learning environment.
  • Understanding unconscious bias.