After completing a law degree, or a Law conversion course if you're a non-law graduate, you will need to take a Bar course approved by the Bar Standards Board.

Before you start your Bar course, you will also need to join one of the Inns of Court, with which you will complete 10 qualifying sessions after you have successfully completed your course.

The law conversion course for non-law graduates may be known as a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), Master's or Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL). It takes one year to complete with full-time study. You will need to undertake this qualification if you are a non-law graduate who wants to pursue a career as a barrister.

Before you begin your Bar course, you must first belong to one of the fours Inns of Court. The Inns of Court are professional associations of barristers and only they have the power to 'call' .

The deadline to apply to join an Inn is 12 weeks before the start of your Bar course.

All Bar course students must pass 10 qualifying sessions with their Inn after they have completed their Bar course.

Choosing your Inn

• Inns of Court events and schemes - The Bar Council - information on the Inns and links to their websites
• Becoming a barrister: what are the Inns of Court? - information from LawCareers.net

Qualifying sessions

• Inner Temple Qualifying Sessions - information on qualifying sessions at the Inner Temple Inn

The Inns of Court offer scholarships for the Bar course and the GDL.

• How to win yourself a scholarship with an Inn of Court 
• GDL Scholarships - Gray's Inn

To qualify as a barrister, you need to take a Bar course.

• Authorised Education and Training Organisations - from the Bar Standards Board