Six in ten pupil barristers are women, new figures show

Record high

More than six in ten pupil barristers are women, according to new figures from the Bar Standards Board (BSB), marking the highest proportion recorded since the regulator began collecting diversity data a decade ago.

The BSB’s annual Diversity at the Bar report, covering data as of December 2025, shows that 60.3% of pupils are female, up from 58.3% the previous year and an increase of nearly 11 percentage points over the past decade. The overall number of barristers also exceeded 19,000, with the 602 pupils currently in training representing the highest pupillage headcount in the report’s history, up from 589 in December 2024.

Progress at pupillage level sits in contrast to the picture at the top of the profession. Women make up just 21.5% of King’s Counsel, up slightly from 21.1% in 2024, leaving a significant gap compared to the 41.9% of barristers overall who are female.

The proportion of pupils from a minority ethnic background increased to 26.9%, up from 24.5% in 2024, yet only 11.3% of KCs are from a minority ethnic background compared to 18.3% of non-KC barristers. Black and Black British barristers make up 3.9% of non-KCs and 1.2% of KCs

Around one in three barristers who provided information on schooling attended a UK independent school between the ages of 11 and 18, compared to approximately 6.6 % of school children in England. Nearly 54% of barristers also had at least one parent who attended university.

On disability, 9.7% of barristers who responded declared a disability, well below the estimated 16.7% of the UK’s employed working-age population. The figure drops to 5.4% at KC level.

More than a quarter of practitioners (27.4%) are now aged 55 or over, up from 16.1 % in 2016. Response rates for some monitoring categories remain below 50%, which the BSB acknowledges limits the conclusions that can be drawn.