The College of Law in Birmingham is to offer a part-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) beginning September 2011.

BPTC course leader Paul Shoulders said: ‘The new part-time course, subject to validation by the Bar Standards Board, will open up the potential rewards of a career at the bar to people who need to work to support their studies, or who have other commitments on their time. The course is designed not only to help students achieve pupillage with a barristers’ chambers, but also to prepare them for working life at the bar.’

The college’s BPTC includes mock trials in Birmingham Crown Court with real judges and senior barristers. There are also mooting, negotiation and advocacy competitions, plus the opportunity to gain experience of supporting clients in tribunals as part of a pro bono programme.

The part-time course runs over two years, compared with one year full-time, and features an average of 26 hours of formal training and private study a week, including 15 study weekends a year.

Meanwhile, BPP law school is to give Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) students greater flexibility in how they pay their fees, following NatWest’s withdrawal of its Professional Trainee Loan Scheme from April 2011.

Full-time LPC and GDL students can now choose to spread their interest free payments over four annual instalments rather than the present two, after paying a deposit. Part-time students can also make eight payments over the programme, up from four.

Students reading part-time for the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) will be able to opt to pay eight payments over the programme, while full-time students will continue to pay three.

The new instalment options will be available to all students starting programmes in September 2011, including undergraduate and postgraduates on degree programmes at BPP’s Business School.