Civil unrest in Bangladesh - which this week saw long-serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina resign and flee the country - could affect students and lawyers hoping to practise as a barrister in England and Wales, it has emerged.

The Bar Standards Board will announce next Monday whether exams for bar training students and transferring qualified lawyers on 19, 21 and 23 August will go ahead.

The unrest began last month when university students staged protests against quotas for government jobs. However, the protests escalated and became deadly. Violent clashes continued even after the Supreme Court limited the percentage of government jobs reserved for relatives of veterans of the 1971 war of independence.

The BSB explained that students choosing to sit their vocational bar training exams in their home country are generally students who are resitting their exams and have therefore left the UK at the end of their course.

Exams are held in person at assessment centres, typically those run by the British Council. However, due to the current unrest, all British Council offices are temporarily closed.

The BSB said: ‘As there is continuing unrest in the country, we are closely monitoring the situation for candidates intending to sit the centralised exams on Monday 19, Wednesday 21 and Friday 23 August in either Dhaka or Chittagong. We intend to make an announcement about this on Monday 12 August. If the exams cannot proceed, the next available examination session for students affected by this suspension is likely to be December 2024.

‘Some st⁠udents were also due to take resits in Bangladesh for some of their provider-set exams in August, and they will also be affected by this situation. We are continuing to monitor the situation in conjunction with the five bar training providers who have students currently located in Bangladesh.

‘Bar training providers are in contact with the affected students about what this means for them and what alternative arrangements are available to them. Students who are affected should contact their course providers through the usual channels, where possible, if they have any questions.’