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SCMP Reporter

The coming school year will mark the last time overseas students will be able to study the English Bar Examination Course (BEC) through distance learning.

  The General Council of the Bar of England and Wales has ruled that from next year people wanting to qualify as barristers must complete the one-year programme at colleges in England.

  The new course will be a combination of the distance learning programme and the full-time Bar Vocational Course, allowing graduates to practice in Commonwealth countries as well as England and Wales.

  The final BEC distance learning course this year will allow graduates to practice only in Commonwealth countries.

    Catherine Bennett, a student counsellor with Holborn College in London, which places distance learning students, said the new course would be more practical.

   'It will have more practical skills requiring a student to be on-site, which isn't appropriate for distance learning,' Ms Bennett said.

  'It is a coincidence that it is happening the same year as the handover. Hong Kong students can still take the course but they will have to go to England for a year.'   To qualify for the final BEC programme this year, applicants need a second-class honours Bachelor of Laws degree or the Common Professional Examination, a law conversion course that takes one academic year.

  The Bar examination consists of four compulsory papers in tort, criminal law, equity and trusts, law of contract and two optional papers.

  Some subjects involve two examinations which would require a student to sit for a total of eight examinations.

  Ms Bennett said about 800 foreign students worldwide, including 12 placed by Holborn from Hong Kong, entered examinations for the Bar this year. The pass rate was 46 per cent. The course costs about $13,000.

 'It's a tough course and not one to be taken lightly. Because of the workload, to qualify as a barrister is respected and accepted around the world,' she said.

  Holborn, the first college in Britain to offer Bar examination by distance learning, is expecting many Hong Kong students to enrol in the programme this year because of the change.

  At present, distance learners are required to take two three-week study trips to England during the school year.

   'People don't have to step off the career ladder. They can continue in their profession,' Ms Bennett said.

  'It's really earn-while-you-learn and still live in Hong Kong and be able to stay with your family.'   Students will also be required to attend nine dinners at one of four Inns of Court barrister colleges in London before they are allowed to enter examinations.

  The dinners are formal occasions with wigs and gowns, and are designed to let students mix with colleagues from around the world.

  'It brings home the tradition of the English Bar with toasts, prayers and ceremonies which you can't fail to be impressed by,' Ms Bennett said.



Final chance to study outside UK for English Bar