Checked 27 October 2026. The headings, statutes and cut-off date were read in the BSB’s Criminal Litigation Syllabus 2026 (10 December 2025) and its summary of changes on 27 October 2026. The syllabus applies to assessments in the calendar year 2026 and may be amended; check Part 3B of the Bar Qualification Manual for the syllabus that applies to 2027 sittings.
The BSB Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing exam is 75 multiple-choice and single best answer questions in three hours, closed book, on a syllabus of 28 headings. The 2026 syllabus “applies to all centrally set assessments taking place in the calendar year 2026”, so it governs the December 2026 sitting; it is based on Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2026 and its first supplement, with “a general cut-off date for syllabus content” of 31 July 2025. Below are the 28 headings grouped into procedure, evidence, youths and sentencing, and appeals, what each one tests in plain words, the statutes and cases the syllabus says you must be able to name, a checklist you can tick off, and three practice questions with worked answers. Independent — not affiliated with the Bar Standards Board. ProSyllabus is an independent study site and nothing here is official. Every exam fact and figure below is quoted or summarised from the BSB’s own documents, read on 27 October 2026.
BSB Criminal Litigation Syllabus 2026, Bar Qualification Manual Part 3C and Chair’s Report Part 1, read 27 October 2026.
FreeTests: Hearsay evidence · Inferences from silence and other conduct · Sentencing principles
BSB Criminal Litigation Essentials: free sample
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The format
Chair’s Report Part 1 describes the paper as “a closed book three-hour paper comprising 75 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and single best answer questions (SBAs).” The Bar Qualification Manual adds: “You are not permitted any material other than a writing utensil, if applicable”, and, for the exams other than Civil Litigation Paper 2 (whose permitted materials it lists separately): “Only writing materials are allowed in the exam room.” That is 2.4 minutes a question on average (our arithmetic). The pass standard is set for each paper: it was 40/75, 40/75 and 42/75 in the three sittings with published Chair’s reports we saved (August 2025, December 2025 and April 2026); see the table further down.
An SBA question gives you a short set of facts and several plausible options, and asks for the best one. A well-built wrong option is usually a rule that applies to a slightly different situation: the wrong court, the wrong time limit, or the test for a different gateway (our observation). That is why the syllabus wording matters so much.
The 28 headings, grouped
The syllabus lists 28 headings. For each, it sets out subtopics, then the “examinable material”, naming the exact paragraphs of Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2026 that are tested. Some material is labelled “Explanatory material (which will not be assessed)”: heading 1 is almost all of that kind, apart from the classification of the offences it names. The summaries in the right-hand column are ours, drawn from the syllabus’s own lists.
| No. | Heading | Group | What it tests (our summary of the examinable material) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overview of criminal procedure | Procedure | Mostly explanatory material that is not assessed. What you must know: the classification of the named offences (theft, robbery, burglary, fraud, sexual assault, rape, common assault, ABH, GBH and wounding under sections 18 and 20 OAPA 1861, criminal damage, and possession, possession with intent and supply of Class A and B drugs). |
| 2 | Preliminaries to prosecution | Procedure | The PACE Codes and their importance; Code C.10 cautions and special warnings and Code C.11 interviews; arrest, detention and treatment of suspects (custody officer, legal advice, appropriate adults, detention time limits); the CPS; starting proceedings by written charge and requisition or summons, and time limits. |
| 3 | Bail and remands | Procedure | Adjournments and remands; custody time limits (detailed limits not required); the presumption in favour of bail, its exceptions and the statutory grounds for withholding bail; conditions; applications in the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court; prosecution appeals against bail; failure to surrender and breach. |
| 4 | Magistrates’ courts, allocation and sending | Procedure | Initial details of the prosecution case (CrimPR Part 8); preliminary hearings and ambiguous pleas; factors in electing Crown Court trial; plea before venue and allocation, including criminal damage and low-value shoplifting; committal for sentence; sending under section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; linked summary offences. |
| 5 | Disclosure of unused material and defence statements | Procedure | Retaining and revealing unused material, the test for prosecution disclosure, time limits and the continuing duty to review; defence statements, alibi and witness notices and the consequences of failure; public interest immunity and third-party material. |
| 6 | Indictments | Procedure | Form, structure and time limits of the indictment; joinder of counts and of defendants; specimen counts; severance; amendment; voluntary bills; CrimPR rules 10.1 to 10.8. |
| 7 | Preliminaries to trial in the Crown Court | Procedure | Arraignment, pleas (including to lesser offences) and changing plea; plea and trial preparation hearings; offering no evidence and leaving counts on the file; applications to dismiss. |
| 8 | Summary trial procedure | Procedure | Pre-trial rulings; trial in the defendant’s absence; abuse of process for delay; the steps of a summary trial and the legal adviser’s role; no case to answer (Galbraith); verdicts and reasons; sections 9 and 10 Criminal Justice Act 1967. |
| 9 | Jury trial procedure | Procedure | Trial in the defendant’s absence; unrepresented defendants; abuse of process; the steps of a jury trial, including written statements and admissions; no case to answer; speeches, summing up and directions; majority verdicts and alternative verdicts. |
| 10 | Preliminary evidential matters | Evidence | Facts in issue, relevance and admissibility, formal admissions; judge and jury roles; the common law discretion and section 78 PACE. |
| 11 | Burden and standard of proof | Evidence | Legal and evidential burdens, the general rule and its statutory exceptions, the impact of the Human Rights Act, and the standard of proof and direction on each side. |
| 12 | Preliminary issues relating to witnesses | Evidence | Competence and compellability, including the defendant, a spouse or civil partner and children; oaths and affirmations; witness summonses and warrants. |
| 13 | Examination of witnesses | Evidence | Examination in chief, memory refreshing (section 139 Criminal Justice Act 2003), previous consistent statements and hostile witnesses; cross-examination and the finality rule on collateral matters; re-examination; special measures. |
| 14 | Hearsay evidence | Evidence | The rule against hearsay and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 gateways and safeguards (sections 114, 114(1)(d), 115 to 118 and 124), and making or opposing applications under the CrimPR. |
| 15 | Character evidence | Evidence | Bad character under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (sections 98, 100, 101(1)(a) to (g) and 101(3)); non-defendant and defendant gateways and exclusion, including Hanson and admitting propensity evidence; procedure; proof of convictions; bad character directions; good character and the good character direction, including the impact of Hunter. The syllabus Note names Hanson, Vye and Hunter. |
| 16 | Confessions and unlawfully or unfairly obtained evidence | Evidence | Definition of a confession (section 82(1) PACE) and its admissibility under section 76 PACE, the voir dire, evidence found through an inadmissible confession, and exclusion under section 78. |
| 17 | Inferences from silence and other conduct | Evidence | Lies and the Lucas direction; sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, including advice to a defendant about not testifying. |
| 18 | Visual identification evidence | Evidence | Identification cases and the Turnbull guidelines, breaches of PACE Code D, dock identification, supporting evidence and stopping a weak identification case. |
| 19 | Opinion evidence and experts | Evidence | The general rule against opinion evidence and its exceptions, and using expert evidence at trial. |
| 20 | Privilege | Evidence | The privilege against self-incrimination and legal professional privilege, including waiver. |
| 21 | Youth courts and youths in other courts | Youths and sentencing | “Child” and “young person”; youth court procedure; when a youth appears in the adult magistrates’ court or the Crown Court, including the dangerous offender provisions; youth court sentences. |
| 22 | Sentencing principles | Youths and sentencing | Purposes of sentencing and guidelines; seriousness, guilty-plea reduction, aggravating and mitigating factors and totality; reports and victim statements; indications of sentence (Goodyear); Newton hearings; sentencing in each court; committal for sentence. |
| 23 | Non-custodial sentences | Youths and sentencing | Absolute and conditional discharges; fines and default; community sentences and breach. |
| 24 | Custodial sentences | Youths and sentencing | Custody in each court, the restrictions on imposing it, length, mandatory and minimum sentences, and suspended sentences. |
| 25 | Ancillary orders and costs on conviction | Youths and sentencing | Costs; the surcharge (section 42 Sentencing Act 2020); compensation; deprivation orders (sections 152 to 155) and drugs forfeiture; confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. |
| 26 | Dangerous offender provisions | Youths and sentencing | Specified offences (section 306 Sentencing Act 2020) and the assessment of dangerousness (section 308). |
| 27 | Appeals from the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court in its appellate capacity | Appeals | Magistrates rectifying mistakes; appeal to the Crown Court, its procedure and powers, including increasing sentence (section 48 Senior Courts Act 1981); case stated and judicial review. |
| 28 | Appeals from the Crown Court | Appeals | Rectifying sentence; leave to appeal, grounds and procedure; renewal after refusal; loss of time directions; fresh evidence (section 23 Criminal Appeal Act 1968); how the Court of Appeal decides conviction appeals; retrials; references on a point of law after acquittal and of unduly lenient sentences; prosecution appeals against rulings; the Criminal Cases Review Commission; the Supreme Court. |
Headings from the BSB’s Bar Training Criminal Litigation Syllabus 2026 (10 December 2025); the summaries are ours. Read the syllabus itself for the paragraph references and exclusions.
Our grouping of the BSB’s 28 headings. The syllabus and the Chair’s reports we read give no weighting of questions by heading, so the number of headings is not a guide to the number of questions.
FreeTests: Hearsay evidence · Inferences from silence and other conduct · Sentencing principles
BSB Criminal Litigation Essentials: free sample
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The statutes and cases the syllabus names
In a “Note” under several headings the syllabus lists “the specific statutory provisions with which students should be familiar (and able to refer to by section number)” and “the specific leading case authorities with which students should be familiar (and should be able to refer to by name)”. The table lists those Notes provisions and cases by group; where a row says “also in the examinable material”, the provision is on the syllabus but is not one of the Notes provisions to quote by section number.
| Group | Statutes named in the syllabus | Cases to name |
|---|---|---|
| Procedure | Sections 9 and 10 Criminal Justice Act 1967 (headings 8 and 9). Also in the examinable material: section 51 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (sending); PACE Codes C.10 and C.11; CrimPR rules 10.1 to 10.8 | Galbraith [1981] 2 All ER 1060 |
| Evidence | Section 139 CJA 2003 (heading 13); sections 114, 114(1)(d), 115, 116, 117, 118 and 124 CJA 2003 (14); sections 98, 100, 101(1)(a)-(g) and 101(3) CJA 2003 (15); sections 76 and 78 PACE 1984 (16); sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (17) | Hanson [2005] EWCA Crim 824, Vye [1993] 3 All ER 241, Hunter [2015] EWCA Crim 631, Lucas [1981] QB 720, Turnbull [1977] QB 224 |
| Youths and sentencing | In the examinable material: section 42 (surcharge), sections 152 to 155 (deprivation), section 306 (specified offences) and section 308 (dangerousness) of the Sentencing Act 2020; section 27 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 | Goodyear [2005] EWCA Crim 888, Newton (1982) 77 Cr App R 13 |
| Appeals | In the examinable material: section 48 Senior Courts Act 1981; section 23 Criminal Appeal Act 1968 | None named |
From the Notes and examinable-material lists in the BSB’s Criminal Litigation Syllabus 2026.
Cut-off date and amendments
The syllabus says: “The general cut-off date for syllabus content is 31 July 2025, the date to which the material in the main volume of Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2026 is up to date.” It also warns: “amendments to the examinable material set out in this syllabus may, where necessary, be issued at a later date to take account of implementation of the changes to the criminal justice system which were announced by the Ministry of Justice in December 2025.” The same warning is in the summary of changes. In practice: revise the law as at 31 July 2025, and check Part 3B of the Bar Qualification Manual for any amended syllabus before your sitting.
Because this syllabus covers assessments in the calendar year 2026, it does not cover the April and August 2027 sittings. If you are planning a 2027 sitting, check Part 3B of the Bar Qualification Manual for the syllabus that applies then, rather than assuming the 2026 references carry over.
A checklist of all 28 headings
Criminal Litigation 2026: tick off each heading
Tick a heading once you have read its examinable paragraphs and can answer questions on it from memory. The bar shows how much of the syllabus you have covered.
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How the paper behaved: August 2025 to April 2026
| Sitting | Candidates | Pass standard | Pass rate | Note from the Chair’s report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | 1,103 | 40/75 | 57% | Standard rounded down to 40 because of a typographical error in question 66: “the transposing of the complainant’s name with that of the defendant’s at one point in the fact pattern” |
| December 2025 | 787 | 40/75 | 56% | Recommended 39.9/75, rounded up to 40/75 |
| April 2026 | 1,832 | 42/75 | 66% | Recommended 41.3/75, rounded up to 42/75; no interventions; 9 questions below a 40% pass rate |
From the BSB Chair’s Reports Part 2 for August 2025, December 2025 and April 2026, sections 1.2, 2.2 and 2.3. These are the three sittings with published Chair’s reports we saved; the Summer 2026 sitting has also taken place.
The April 2026 report found “no significant evidence suggesting a fall-off in candidate performance during the examination”: the average pass rate was 68% on questions 1 to 25, 59% on 26 to 50 and 63% on 51 to 75. Every figure for both subjects is in our pass marks and pass rates guide.
FreeTests: Hearsay evidence · Inferences from silence and other conduct · Sentencing principles
BSB Criminal Litigation Essentials: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
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Your result shows how long each question took you.
Three SBA questions with worked answers
Give yourself about two and a half minutes for each, the paper’s average, before you read the answer.
Question 1 · Hearsay evidence
Minutes after being stabbed, and while bleeding heavily, Callum Ward shouted to a passer-by, 'Tony Briggs did this!' Ward died before trial. The prosecution wish to adduce what he said. On which basis is it most likely to be admitted?
- Previous complaint: the statement was made by a victim to another person about conduct amounting to the offence charged.
- Res gestae: he was so emotionally overpowered by the event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded.
- Confession: the statement accuses another person of the offence and so is admissible against that person at trial.
- Business document: the passer-by received the statement and passed it on to the police officer who recorded it in the course of his duty.
Answer: B. CJA 2003 s.118(1) preserves the common law res gestae rule, including a statement made by a person so emotionally overpowered by an event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded. A spontaneous accusation minutes after a stabbing is a classic example; s.116 (death) could also apply. The previous complaint rule in s.120 needs the complainant to testify, and only the maker's own admissions are confessions.
From the ProSyllabus BSB Criminal Litigation mock test: an original question, not a BSB exam or past question. It is one of that test’s three free questions.
Question 2 · Inferences from silence and other conduct
Before interview, Leon handed over a prepared statement saying he bought the laptop from a man at a car boot sale for £80, and then answered 'no comment' to all questions. At trial he gives the same account and adds nothing new. Can a s.34 inference be drawn?
- Yes, because his refusal to answer questions in interview is itself a failure within s.34
- No, because s.34 cannot apply at all where the suspect has received legal advice at the station
- Yes, because a prepared statement is never a substitute for answering questions under caution
- No, because every fact he relies on at trial was mentioned in the prepared statement
Answer: D. Section 34 bites on failure to mention facts later relied on, not on silence as such. If a prepared statement contains all the facts relied on at trial, there is no failure to mention them and no s.34 inference arises (Knight), though an inconsistency between the statement and the evidence may be relevant in other ways.
From the ProSyllabus BSB Criminal Litigation mock test: an original question, not a BSB exam or past question. It is one of that test’s three free questions.
Question 3 · Sentencing principles
Dean is charged with an either-way offence. At his first hearing in the magistrates' court, when asked, he indicates a guilty plea. He is committed to the Crown Court for sentence. Under the Sentencing Council's guilty plea guideline, what is the maximum reduction he should receive?
- One-quarter
- One-tenth
- One-third
- One-fifth
Answer: C. The court must take into account the stage at which the offender indicated an intention to plead guilty and the circumstances (Sentencing Act 2020 s.73). Under the guideline, a plea indicated at the first stage of proceedings, normally the first hearing at which a plea or indication is sought, attracts a maximum reduction of one-third. Committal for sentence does not reduce that entitlement.
From the ProSyllabus BSB Criminal Litigation mock test: an original question, not a BSB exam or past question. It is one of that test’s three free questions.
| Question | Syllabus heading | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hearsay evidence | B: Res gestae: he was so emotionally overpowered by the event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded. |
| 2 | Inferences from silence and other conduct | D: No, because every fact he relies on at trial was mentioned in the prepared statement |
| 3 | Sentencing principles | C: One-third |
The table repeats the three answers for readers on a version of this page that does not show the cards.
Practise under exam conditions: BSB Criminal Litigation mock test, three free questions first.
Revising the syllabus: a method that fits SBAs
| Stage | What to do (our suggestion) |
|---|---|
| Read by heading | Work through the examinable paragraphs heading by heading, in the syllabus’s order. Skip the “explanatory material” once you understand it; it is not assessed. |
| Learn the Note items by heart | The sections and cases in the syllabus Notes are the ones it says you must be able to cite. Make one card per item: what it says, when it applies, and the trap next to it. |
| Write your own “wrong option” | For each rule, write the rule a half-prepared candidate would confuse it with (bail in the magistrates’ court vs the Crown Court; section 76 vs section 78; Newton vs Goodyear). That is how SBA distractors are built. |
| Test by group | Once a group is done, sit 20 to 25 questions on it at 2.4 minutes each. Log each miss by heading number. |
| Full mocks last | In the final four weeks, sit full 75-question mocks in three hours, closed book. |
For the dates of the next sitting and the resit rules see our dates and resits guide; for the Civil papers see our Civil Litigation guide; the full exam page is the BSB centralised assessments exam page.
FreeTests: Hearsay evidence · Inferences from silence and other conduct · Sentencing principles
BSB Criminal Litigation Essentials: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the BSB Criminal Litigation exam?
75 multiple-choice and single best answer questions in three hours. It is closed book: only writing materials are allowed in the exam room.
What is the cut-off date for the Criminal Litigation syllabus 2026?
31 July 2025, the date to which the main volume of Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2026 is up to date. The BSB says amendments may be issued later to reflect criminal justice changes announced by the Ministry of Justice in December 2025.
Which syllabus applies to the December 2026 Criminal Litigation exam?
The Criminal Litigation Syllabus 2026, which the BSB says applies to all centrally set assessments taking place in the calendar year 2026.
How many headings are in the Criminal Litigation syllabus?
28: procedure (1 to 9), evidence (10 to 20), youths and sentencing (21 to 26) and appeals (27 and 28), in our grouping.
Which cases must I know by name for Criminal Litigation?
The 2026 syllabus names Galbraith, Hanson, Vye, Hunter, Lucas, Turnbull, Goodyear and Newton.
Does the BSB say how many questions come from each heading?
Not in the syllabus or the Chair’s reports we read. The syllabus sets out what is examinable, not a weighting.
Are the questions on this page from a BSB exam?
No. They are original questions from the ProSyllabus BSB Criminal Litigation mock test, written to the 2026 syllabus. They are not BSB exam or past questions.
Sources
- official — BSB: Criminal litigation, evidence and sentencing, Bar Training Syllabus 2026 (final version, 10 December 2025)
- official — BSB: Bar Qualification Manual, Part 3C Centralised assessments (exam format, permitted materials, standard setting, examination dates, results review process)
- official — BSB Central Examinations Board: Chair’s Report Part 1, Bar Training, BTT, BPTC and BTR, all sittings
- official — BSB Central Examinations Board: Chair’s Report Part 2, April 2026 sitting (dated 25 July 2026)
- official — BSB Central Examinations Board: Chair’s Report Part 2, December 2025 sitting (dated 2 April 2026)
- official — BSB Central Examinations Board: Chair’s Report Part 2, August 2025 sitting (dated 25 November 2025)
- official — BSB: Bar Qualification Manual (whole PDF, including Part 3B Bar Training Syllabi and the 2020 change to attempts)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
