Doerries QC based the figure on a student living in London and opting to complete a non-law undergraduate degree first. With the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) still to go, an aspiring barrister in this category could be saddled with as much as £27,000 of tuition fee debt before they’ve even begun their legal training.

With this latest figure higher than previous estimates, Doerries QC told The Guardian: ‘I hear from the junior bar that practising barristers paying off debts of between £40,000 and £60,000 is by no means uncommon [but] those figures are for individuals who completed their undergraduate degrees before higher tuition fees were introduced.’

London providers can charge students as much as £10,000 for the GDL and £19,000 for the BPTC. Factor in these additional training fees, plus the cost of living in London for five years, and a cost of £127,000 doesn’t seem far off.

Doerries QC believes this latest cost estimate creates a ‘huge social mobility challenge’ for the bar. The Inns of Court provide almost £5m in bursaries and scholarships each year, but the bar chair claims the majority of students are forced to juggle study with part-time work, unless they come from a ‘wealthy background’.

And the news isn’t much better for those thinking to study outside of London, as Bar Council estimates suggest would-be barristers outside the capital will still have to find around £111,000. Source: The Guardian