Exclusive: Potential £2k+ increase
The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) is considering increasing fees for its Bar Course by around 13% and making students pay a larger share of the cost earlier in their studies, Legal Cheek understands.
The not-for-profit provider, launched in September 2020 and funded by the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC), has long pitched itself as a lower-cost alternative to other London Bar Course providers. Its website says fees are set at “the lowest sustainable level consistent with providing high-quality education and skills training”.
For the 2025-26 academic year, the course was priced at £16,600, including Bar Standards Board fees, textbooks and legal research resources, making it one of the cheaper barrister training options in London.
But Legal Cheek understands the ICCA is considering increasing the total fee to around £18,750 — a potential rise of more than £2,000 — alongside a significant rejig of how the cost is split across the course for the 2027-2028 intake.
One of the more eye-catching features of the ICCA’s offering is its two-part structure. Part one, currently priced at £4,150, consists of three months of virtual, self-directed study covering civil and criminal litigation. Part two carries a much steeper price tag of £12,450 and is taught in person at the Inns of Court, focusing on practical skills including advocacy, drafting and conferencing.
The cheaper first stage has allowed aspiring barristers to get started with less financial commitment upfront.
Under proposals Legal Cheek understands are being considered behind the scenes, however, the current 25:75 split between parts one and two would be rebalanced to 50:50, bringing the cost of each stage to close to around £9,400.
The proposed changes come months after COIC recruited its first finance director, whose job description includes responsibility for “[m]odelling high-confidence ICCA student number and tuition fee income scenarios and forecasts”.
The fee increase would bring ICCA’s course roughly in line with pricing at other London-based Bar Course providers. An exact comparison isn’t possible yet, though, since those providers haven’t yet published their fees for 2027–2028.
An ICCA spokesperson told Legal Cheek:
“Discussions relating to fees for the ICCA Bar Course for 2027-28 are still proceeding through our governance processes and we will make an announcement in early Autumn.”
