Pupillage applications · England and Wales
Pupillage application pack: answer checker and interview practice
Paste an answer you are writing for a pupillage application and see it read point by point against our own rubric: our score, roughly how your words are spent, how many of our criteria it meets, and the change we suggest first.
More about this test
The first check is free, with no sign-in. The full pack adds 15 complete answer reports, 30 original interview questions with model answers, and 5 ethics scenarios on the BSB Handbook.
one payment, no subscription
Free answer check · no sign-in
0 of 300 words
Your answer is sent only to be read and is not stored on our servers. A draft stays in this browser tab while you work.
What is inside
Type what you would say to the panel, then see each answer marked point by point against our own practice criteria, with a model answer. The questions are original practice questions, not any chambers' actual interview questions. The ethics scenarios name the BSB Handbook v5.0 rules; for the Bar Standards Board's Professional Ethics assessment itself, see our separate Professional Ethics mock test (independent practice, not a BSB paper).
- 15 full answer reports: why the Bar, why this chambers, an example of a skill, or a short written argument
- Point by point: what works, what is missing and where it could go, comments on selected lines
- A rewritten version within your word limit, drafted only from your facts, with [prompts] where only you can add them
- 30 interview questions in four sets: motivation, competency, a current legal issue, ethics
- Write your answer, then see it marked point by point against our own practice criteria, with a model answer
- 5 ethics scenarios with model reasoning that names the BSB Handbook (version 5.0) rules it relies on
One payment unlocks the whole pack
- 15 full answer reports: why the Bar, why this chambers, an example of a skill, or a short written argument
- Point by point: what works, what is missing and where it could go, comments on selected lines
- A rewritten version within your word limit, drafted only from your facts, with [prompts] where only you can add them
- 30 interview questions in four sets: motivation, competency, a current legal issue, ethics
- Write your answer, then see it marked point by point against our own practice criteria, with a model answer
- 5 ethics scenarios with model reasoning that names the BSB Handbook (version 5.0) rules it relies on
Who it is for
Bar course students and graduates applying for pupillage through the Pupillage Gateway or directly to a chambers or other AETO: check each written answer before you submit, then prepare for interview. Still to sit a litigation paper? See our BSB litigation resit bundle (independent practice, not a BSB paper).
The 2026/27 Gateway timetable
- Fri 20 November 2026, 11:59amApproved vacancy adverts published on the Gateway
- Mon 23 November 2026, 12:01amApplicants can browse vacancies
- Mon 4 January 2027, 11:00amApplications open
- Thu 28 January 2027, 11:59pmApplications close: no extensions
- Fri 7 May 2027, 9:30amOffers made, all at the same time
- Fri 14 May 2027, 9:30amDeadline to accept initial offers
From the Pupillage Gateway's For applicants page, checked on 13 November 2026. AETOs that do not recruit through the Gateway may run their own timetable: check each advert.
The application, from the Bar Council's own pages
- Where you apply: the Pupillage Gateway is the Bar Council's online system for applying for pupillage. All AETOs advertise their pupillages there; most recruit through it, and some ask you to apply to them directly.
- What the form asks: the Bar Council's standard questions (education and work history, with a 300-word limit for each role description; positions of responsibility and interests, 200 words each; and others) plus up to seven bespoke questions where an AETO using the Gateway chooses to set them. "Why the Bar" and "why us" questions are AETO questions, so the wording is the AETO's own.
- AI policies: the Gateway's sample form says some AETOs have policies on using AI in applications, and asks you to read the policy of each AETO you apply to before you submit. This checker gives feedback on your own answer; its full report includes a rewritten version drafted only from your facts, which you must check and make your own.
- Competition: in the 2024/25 round, 683 pupillages were advertised, 3,912 people applied through the Gateway, and 287 of them (7.3%) received an offer through it.
- Experience counts: in the Bar Council's 2024/25 report, 9.1% of applicants with work experience or a mini-pupillage secured pupillage, against 2.2% of those without: approximately 4 times more likely.
Checked on 13 November 2026: the Pupillage Gateway's For applicants page and its sample application form and applicant user guide, and the Bar Council's Pupillage Gateway report 2024/25 (683 is the number of pupillages advertised on the Gateway; the applicant, offer and work-experience figures cover recruitment recorded on the Gateway, not selection run outside it).
Before you buy
Is this my sift score?
No. It is our reading on our own 1 to 5 scale and rubric, which does not reproduce any chambers' or AETO's scoring scheme. The Gateway's standard Bar Council questions have fixed word limits, and an AETO using it can add up to seven questions of its own, with its own wording. Use it to find what is vague, missing or overlong before you submit.
Does it write my answer for me?
It gives feedback on the answer you wrote, and the full report includes a rewritten version within your word limit, drafted only from your own facts, with [bracketed prompts] wherever it needs something only you can supply. Treat it as a suggestion to check and adapt, not text to paste. Some AETOs have policies on AI in applications (the Gateway's sample form says so): read the policy of each AETO you apply to, and make sure what you submit is your own.
Which questions can it check?
Four kinds: why you want to be a barrister, why this chambers or organisation, an example of a skill (a competency question), and a short written argument. Paste the question as the AETO set it and enter its word limit: without the question, your answer is read against the kind of question you chose.
How do the interview questions work?
Pick a set (motivation, competency, a current legal issue, ethics, or the five longer ethics scenarios), type what you would say, and submit. Each answer is marked point by point against our own practice criteria, quoting your words where it finds a matching passage for a point it credits, then you see a model answer. You get up to 3 marked attempts at each set. The questions are original practice questions, not any chambers' actual interview questions.
What about the ethics scenarios?
Five longer problems on the BSB Handbook version 5.0, with model reasoning that names the rules. Preparing for the Bar Standards Board's Professional Ethics assessment itself? See our separate Professional Ethics mock test: independent practice, not a BSB paper and not endorsed by the BSB.
What happens to my answers?
Answer checker: the free check does not store your answer on our servers; a draft stays in this browser tab while you work. Full reports, with your answer, are saved to your account only if you are signed in; if you buy without signing in, copy each report before you leave the page. Interview practice: your answers to a set and their marking are stored with that attempt, linked to your account or to the guest purchase on this device, so you can read your feedback again; if marking fails, your submitted answers stay in the attempt so it can be marked again.
How do I pay and get access?
One payment, no subscription, once the pack is on sale. The price is shown in pounds in the UK and in your own currency elsewhere where we support it; the checkout shows the exact amount before you pay. Access opens on this device after you return from payment and your purchase is confirmed. Sign in afterwards to keep it on your account. See our purchase policy.
Independent practice. Not affiliated with the Bar Council, the Bar Standards Board or any chambers. Every question is original. Purchase policy.