Education & Training Stategy
FOREWORD
Treasurer and Education & Training Committee Chair
Foreword
We are delighted to introduce the next five year strategy for Education and Training (E&T) at the Inn. The Inner Temple is widely recognised to have innovative and progressive education programmes for its students, pupils and new practitioner members; this strategy seeks to build on that, and to strengthen the focus on continuing education for members of the Inn at all stages of their career at the Bar.
The Inn’s E&T activity over the past seven years has been directed by the previous E&T five year vision document launched in 2017. This described a future where the digital world would become more prominent and professional roles would continue to change, but that advocacy would still be at the heart of what the Bar does and accordingly at the forefront of the Inn’s E&T activities. Further, as the majority of our professional members have been practising for more than five years, it seemed important to develop educational programmes relevant to them and not just to new entrants.
The completion of Project Pegasus, which redeveloped our Treasury Building to create modern E&T facilities, and the experience of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated development in some areas but necessarily delayed others. The purpose of this new strategy is to consolidate what has gone before and to develop new ideas and directions within the Inn’s E&T programmes. Advocacy will always remain at the forefront of the Inn’s educational activity; but we want to extend the range of activity through the Established Barrister programme, an idea which was conceived in the 2017 vision, but which this strategy seeks to follow through.
The content of this strategy has been informed by two member-engagement events, in-person at the Inn and online. The input from members was discussed and the strategy refined by a working group whose members were drawn from across the full range of the Inn’s membership and staff. We are grateful to all of them but our particular thanks go to Gail Fleming, Director of Education, without whose creative energy and experience in professional education this strategy could not have been drawn together as swiftly or clearly as it has.
The Hon Mr Justice Michael Soole
The Hon Mrs Justice Juliet May
ABOUT THIS STRATEGY
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
outreach; scholarships; educational courses and events; and professional support, including mentoring and career guidance.
This document sets out the Inn’s education and training priorities, which will inform more detailed annual operational plans.
The scope of the strategy relates only to education and training. This is defined as outreach; scholarships; educational courses and events; and professional support, including mentoring and career guidance. The Education and Training Department undertakes to work closely with the other departments of the Inn where relevant to achieve this strategy’s objectives, in particular the Treasury Office and Library.
There are many external bodies involved in educating and training barristers at different points of their careers. We aim to work collaboratively with others to make best use of everyone’s resources. This strategy document therefore also aims to help relevant external bodies understand and appreciate what the Inn is planning to do.
There has been positive progress in increasing the diversity of the profession’s membership. More barristers and pupils come from backgrounds previously underrepresented at the Bar. We have an important role in continuing to support all of our members to fulfil their potential, irrespective of their background.
THE INN’S MISSION
We are an Inn with a global membership that takes a progressive approach to strengthening and promoting the rule of law and a vibrant, diverse, legal community. Led and shaped by the profession for the profession, we are dedicated to attracting the best candidates and ensuring that everyone, at each stage of their career, has access to excellent education and training resources so they can develop and thrive.
Through its outreach, social mobility and public legal education work, The Inner Temple keeps diversity and inclusivity at the centre of all its work
THE INN’S VALUES
Our values are:
Dedicated:
We believe in the pivotal role of The Inner Temple in upholding the rule of law, the legal profession and wider community;
Excellent:
We strive to achieve excellence in all aspects of the Inn’s work;
Progressive: We aim to develop a vibrant legal community whose members are representative of the people it serves;
Friendly and Hospitable: We listen and support each other.
THE VISION FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING
We aspire to attract diverse talent to the Bar and provide excellent education and support through all stages of our members’ careers, being inclusive to all. We embrace innovation whilst respecting the history and heritage of the Inn, shaping a legal community where all thrive.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
OUR 6 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES ARE:
Aspiring to excellence
Supporting our members
Valuing our volunteers
Being innovative
Being inclusive
Collaborating with others
Our strategic priorities have been developed in response to the key challenges and changes facing the Bar of England and Wales. These priorities have been determined after considering external research alongside the informed views of our members and wider stakeholders.
We aspire to attract diverse talent to the Bar and provide excellent education and support through all stages of our members’ careers, being inclusive to all. We embrace innovation whilst respecting the history and heritage of the Inn, shaping a legal community where all thrive.
Aspiring to excellence
The Inn will:
• Enhance the quality of our educational programmes through evidence-based evaluation and focusing on continual improvement.
• Make decisions based on internal and external research, evaluation, and policies.
• Strive for excellence in teaching and mentoring which reflects the highest quality legal research and published best practice.
• Identify and apply best practice in selection procedures for all Inn awards and scholarships.
How we will do it:
We will develop a consistent approach to evaluating the success and efficacy of our activities. We will also endeavour to achieve that we adopt best practice by taking inspiration from other comparable professional bodies and sectors.
Supporting our members
The Inn will:
• Provide an educational offer which includes resources, guidance, and opportunities for personal and professional development at every stage of a barrister’s career.
• Strengthen the voice of junior members.
• Foster a supportive environment that nurtures physical, mental, and emotional health, prioritising wellbeing and signposting to relevant services.
How we will do it:
We will focus on the areas in which the Inn already excels, including advocacy and ethics. We will endeavour not to duplicate training that is already provided by others, for example by Specialist Bar Associations.
Students and pupils are the future of the Inn and of the profession. We will work with them to further develop student and pupil ambassador roles to act as an effective sounding board when developing our education offer.
We recognise the importance of wellbeing in a profession with historically high rates of attrition (particularly among women). We will design our educational activities to create a safe and supportive environment for both participants and trainers. We will work with others to ensure that we are able to effectively signpost to specialist advice and support as necessary.
Valuing our volunteers
The Inn will:
• Design and implement a volunteering strategy which:-
• Values volunteers;
• Maps volunteering opportunities to career stages;
• Minimises the risks of late cancellations and withdrawals;
• Ensures high quality teaching and assessment; and
• Utilises a diverse pool of volunteers that reflects both the student and wider population.
• Develop a sustainable pool of advocacy trainers with a clear pathway for progression and recognition.
How we will do it:
The Inn could not deliver its education and training portfolio without the support and input of volunteer members of the profession. We will encourage members to become volunteers and identify volunteering opportunities that best align with both career stage and personal circumstances.
Volunteering needs to be enjoyable and personally rewarding. We will collect and consider volunteer feedback to enable this to happen. We will continue to work on our progression pathway with a view to expanding and supporting our senior pool of trainers and recognising the significant contribution that our advocacy trainers give back to the profession.
To support our aspiration for excellence, our volunteers should have the requisite knowledge and skills. Further, our Volunteer and Participant Code of Conduct will be kept up to date and provided to all volunteers.
Being innovative
The Inn will:
• Implement a roadmap for our “Digital Learning Hub” to enhance accessibility, engagement, and effectiveness of educational delivery.
• Use technology to enhance our outreach and support programmes including mentoring and careers advice.
• Use technology to reduce our administrative burden and reduce our carbon footprint.
• Plan and adapt innovatively when there are changes in the external environment.
How we will do it:
We expect many technological advances over the next five years and will be actively seeking to harness these to improve efficiency and the quality of learning experience. The Digital Learning Hub is a priority area for development, as we aim to introduce more online content to our programmes and create a more interactive and engaging learner experience.
Many of our current support programmes (such as mentoring and mock interviews) still rely heavily on manual administration. We will identify opportunities to use technology to improve accessibility, structure and the evaluation of these services.
We will be alert to external changes and plan for any impact on our educational programmes. This could include the introduction of apprenticeships, use of generative artificial intelligence or regulatory changes.
Being inclusive
The Inn will:
• Design and deliver educational events that cater for the needs of members irrespective of location.
• Ensure that our education activities reflect the variety of practice areas at the Bar.
• Attract talented individuals to the Bar from currently underrepresented groups through realistic, responsible and transparent outreach activities.
• Support our student societies to be inclusive, accessible and welcoming to all.
• Strive for equitable scholarship results through processes that are fair and transparent, while optimising the use of available scholarship funds.
How we will do it:
The Inn recognises the need to develop and maintain a diverse membership where all are welcome. Some members are employed and others self-employed. Some are based in London while others are based on Circuit. We will strive to ensure that all members feel valued.
The use of technology to offer hybrid events has vastly improved access to our educational content for members on Circuit. However, we recognise that the virtual learning experience is different to having an opportunity to
network and discuss experiences in person. We will design and deliver events to achieve the aims of the relevant activities whilst also improving the experience for all. We will undertake to seek feedback where appropriate and use this to modify our approaches.
Our outreach activities will continue to focus upon dispelling myths that the profession remains the preserve of the elite. However, we will also be realistic with our messaging and explain that it is challenging to secure pupillage given the mismatch between applicants and available pupillages and tenancies. We will continue to develop an inclusive approach that targets underrepresented groups and provides the necessary insight, demystifying the Bar and building confidence.
Our scholarships make a vast difference to the lives of many who could not otherwise afford to study for a career at the Bar. We will continually review our processes to ensure they recognise potential irrespective of background and that financial awards support those with greatest need.
Our student societies are the beginning of a lifelong collegiate experience within the Inn. We will continue to work with them to ensure they are a stepping stone to an enduring connection with the Inn and its members, ideally linked into future volunteering and supporting other members. They are also a valuable way to develop our students’ key skills preparing them for practice.
Collaborating with others
The Inn will:
• Collaborate with the other Inns and the Council of the Inns of Court (“COIC”) to develop and influence education policy, make best use of our pooled resources and capabilities, and align our regulations and policies where it is appropriate to do so.
• Work in partnership with Inns of Court College of Advocacy (“ICCA”) to support the development of future and practising barristers.
• Engage with Specialist Bar Associations to avoid duplication and maximise the impact and reach of our educational activities.
• Collaborate with the Bar Council and other organisations to provide an effective outreach programme, and use Pupillage Gateway data and experience to inform our scholarships and pre-pupillage support programmes.
• Collaborate internally to deliver this strategy, making best use of our pooled resources and capabilities
• Work collaboratively with academic benchers and partners to inform and enhance our educational activities.
How we will do it:
We will work closely with a broad range of partners to identify opportunities for useful collaboration with clearly defined outcomes, whilst avoiding duplication. We hope to make it easier for our members to navigate the broader education and training landscape so that opportunities are not missed.
DELIVERING THE STRATEGY
This strategy is intended to be delivered over the next five years. Each year, the Inn will produce relevant corporate objectives and a business plan which will measure our performance against these strategic aims.
We recognise there will be changes and challenges along the way with new legislation, technologies and policies. We will adapt and respond to these as they arise. We are confident in our vision.
Acknowledgements
We extend our thanks to the members of the Education and Training Strategy Working Group who were pivotal in the creation of this strategy
The Hon Mr Justice Soole
The Hon Justice Juliet May DBE
Professor Timothy Macklem
Paul Infield
Joseph Hart James Kitching
Sophie Cartwright KC
Simon Regis CBE
Henrietta Amodio
Greg Dorey CVO
Gail Fleming
Robert Hodgson
Francesca O'Neill
Dr John Saddington
William Sneddon
Dr Anton Van Dellen