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Revealed: Inside pupil barrister pay at the country’s top chambers

By Ryan Scott on Oct 13 2025 8:47am

Up to six-figure sums fresh from bar school 🤑

The country’s top chambers are continuing to spend big in the race to attract the brightest graduates and future stars of the bar.

At the very top end, pupillage awards now sit an impressive £100,000 — an eye-watering sum for twenty-somethings fresh out of bar school. Several other leading sets have followed suit, increasing their awards to between £80,000 and £90,000, figures that would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago.

While some pupillage awards are paid as a fixed sum, others are structured to include guaranteed minimum earnings during a pupil’s practising second six, when they can take on their own cases. This means some rookie barrister could earn excess of their pupillage award, depending on how much of their own work they undertake.

These figures far outstrip the starting pay of trainee solicitors at top City firms, where the highest first-year salaries sit around £65,000. For those who go on to secure tenancy, the bar’s top commercial practitioners can reportedly take home as much as £360,000 in their first year of practice, eclipsing even the £180,000 newly qualified (NQ) salaries now offered by top US firms in London.

Applying for pupillage? Check out the 2026 Legal Cheek Chambers Most List for an in-depth look at life in over 50 of the UK’s top sets

But it’s not a direct like-for-like comparison, as the bar figures reflect total earnings, from which rookies must pay chambers rent and other overheads. Since barristers are typically self-employed, they also miss out on the perks enjoyed by law firm employees, such as private healthcare, workplace amenities, and paid holidays.

It’s also worth noting that not every area of the bar offers these generous financial awards. Many sets specialising in publicly funded work, such as criminal, immigration, and some family law chambers, continue to offer awards close to the Bar Standards Board minimum. From 1 January 2025, this stands at £24,203 per year for pupillages in London and £22,019 for those outside the capital.

You can view all pupillage awards on our 2026 Legal Cheek Chambers Most List

Pupillage Awards 2026: What top sets are paying

Chambers	Pupillage Award
Gough Square Chambers	£100,000
Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers	£100,000
3VB	£90,000
7KBW	£90,000
Blackstone Chambers	£90,000
Crown Office Chambers	£90,000
Fountain Court Chambers	£90,000
4 New Square Chambers	£85,000
Atkin Chambers	£85,000
Falcon Chambers	£85,000
Gatehouse Chambers	£85,000
Hailsham Chambers	£85,000
Henderson Chambers	£85,000
Keating Chambers	£85,000
Maitland Chambers	£85,000
Serle Court	£85,000
Wilberforce Chambers	£85,000
XXIV Old Buildings	£85,000
2TG	£82,500
3 Hare Court	£80,000
4 Pump Court	£80,000
4 Stone Buildings	£80,000
Brick Court Chambers	£80,000
Erskine Chambers	£80,000
Essex Court Chambers	£80,000
Francis Taylor Building	£80,000
New Square Chambers	£80,000
Outer Temple Chambers	£80,000
Radcliffe Chambers	£80,000
South Square	£80,000
Tanfield Chambers	£80,000
Twenty Essex	£80,000
11KBW	£75,000
12 King’s Bench Walk	£75,000
5 Stone Buildings	£75,000
Devereux Chambers	£75,000
Kings Chambers	£75,000
Landmark Chambers	£75,000
Monckton Chambers	£75,000
Pump Court Tax Chambers	£75,000
Selborne Chambers	£75,000
Ten Old Square	£75,000
39 Essex Chambers	£70,000
Cornerstone Barristers	£70,000
Serjeants’ Inn Chambers	£70,000
5 Essex Chambers	£65,000
Deka Chambers	£65,000
3PB	£60,000
7BR	£60,000
No5 Chambers	£60,000
42BR Barristers	£55,000
Express Solicitors (pupillage)	£27,000