Pupillage application deadline extended (again) to Thursday 9 May

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By Alex Aldridge on

The Bar Council has extended the pupillage application deadline for a second time after disastrous new website Pupillage Gateway stopped working again today…

The deadline is now Thursday 9 May at 5pm. Earlier this week, the deadline was extended for the first time due to the same technical problems.

The Bar Council has issued the following statement:

“The Bar Council has extended the deadline for submission of pupillage applications via the Pupillage Gateway to 17:00 on Thursday 9 May.

“We are aware that the performance of the Pupillage Gateway in recent days has been wholly unacceptable. Following investigation by the Bar Council and its supplier, it is clear that the system has been unable to cope with the volume of users. The slow responsiveness of the site has not been remedied to a satisfactory level, despite a server upgrade earlier this week.

“Our supplier has been working non-stop to resolve these issues. Whilst many have successfully submitted their applications, others have experienced difficulties. We are further extending the deadline because we are determined that no applicants will be adversely affected as a result of the system’s shortcomings.

“Applicants should use all of the extended period to work on and submit applications rather than leave submission entirely to the end of the extended period.”

The news will be a relief to wannabe barristers, who this afternoon became understandably rather anxious…

There are more angry comments about today’s problems on our previous Pupillage Gateway post.

This isn’t, of course, the first time that there have been problems with the pupillage application system. Pupillage Gateway’s hopeless predecessor, Pupillage Portal, went into meltdown in the run up to application day in three out of four of its miserable years of existence. Going back a bit further, New Statesman legal correspondent David Allen Green (aka Jack of Kent) recalls similar chaos 15 years ago.