Fees rise 'will prevent poorer students training for the Bar'

12 April 2012

Social mobility among trainee barristers will become more limited with the Government's increase in tuition fees, a law chief warned.

Peter Lodder QC, chairman of the Bar Council, says the introduction of fees up to £9,000 a year could push poorer students' debts to "frightening levels" and deter them from entering the Bar. He said efforts to attract barristers from ethnic minority and poor backgrounds could be thrown into "reverse".

Mr Lodder's warning came in a speech in London as he unveiled the findings of a new survey of ethnic and gender diversity among barristers. It shows that 34.4 per cent of barristers are women, up from 32.9 per cent five years ago, and 10 per cent are from ethnic minorities, one point higher than in 2006.

Diversity is less prevalent in the higher ranks, with women making up 11 per cent of QCs and ethnic minority representation from black and Asian communities at 4.3 per cent.

Mr Lodder promised that the Bar would "cast its net widely".

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