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The Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) explained

The Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) is designed to prepare you for Call to the Bar of England & Wales.

The programme covers the 10 compulsory modules required by the Bar Standards Board for Call to the Bar with the option of adding electives and progressing to complete an LLM.

The BVS has a full-time or a part-time option and is taught on-campus

Meet Anna Banfield, Programme Director of the Bar Vocational Studies at City St George's

Why do your Bar training with us

  • Graduate student

    Training programme covering all the 10 compulsory modules required by the Bar Standards Board

  • Community featuring raised hands

    Our programmes are designed to enhance employability

  • City campus building

    We have been training barristers since 1853

The BVS in practice

Flexibility to maxime your experience

This innovative programme offers the choice of three different routes depending on whether you wish to study only the modules that are compulsory in order to be eligible for Call to the Bar of England & Wales, or to further enhance your employability and develop specialist knowledge and skills. The Postgraduate Diploma comprises the subjects that form the compulsory vocational qualification for Call to the Bar.

Our programmes offer you a range of opportunities to develop your skills as part of the curriculum and we also offer extensive extra-curricular activities such as pro bono and mooting.

Securing pupillage

We have a successful Pupillage Advisory Service (PAS) with a proven track record in helping students obtain pupillage. You can access support from our award-winning Pupillage Advisory Service (PAS) as soon as you accept an offer.

All members of our PAS team are barristers with experience of involvement in pupillage selection for their Chambers. We also offer a number of other extra-curricular activities, such as pro bono work or mini-pupillages whilst you are on the course.

Supporting you through Bar training

The City Law School Bar Vocational Studies Scholarship

A partial fee scholarship of £2,000 awarded automatically to all students who accept a place on the course who have a first-class undergraduate degree or international equivalent.  

Alumni discount 

We are offering a Graduate Loyalty Discount of 20% on tuition fees to all our alumni when applying to any of our degree courses.

To be eligible for the discount you must have successfully completed an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at legacy City, University of London or legacy St George's, University of London, as well as being self-funded.

Study and personal support  

At The City Law School we pride ourselves on the quality of the support we provide all our students. Our purpose-built Law building has state of the art facilities such as a Law Library, Moot Course and Legal Advice Clinic and teaching space dedicated to and designed for professional skills training.

Programme options

You can select to apply for one of the available exit points for this course. All exit points have a full-time or part-time option.

  • Master of Laws (LLM)
  • Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip)
  • Postgraduate Diploma with Electives (PGDip with Electives)

For a September 2026 start, applications will remain open either until early August 2026 or until the programme is full, and open in November 2025.

Postgraduate Open Evenings at City St George's

Whether hosted in person or online, our Postgraduate Open Events are a great way to find out if City is the right place for you. You will meet our academics, staff and students, explore our facilities and get advice on our courses and other important aspects of university life.

Q&A session with Course Director

Put your queries directly to the BVS Course Director and supporting staff. Meet other applicants on the course.