FAQs

Yes. There are a variety of options available for students to complete the vocational component of their training. We refer to this simply as the Bar Course, and you can apply for a scholarship for any of the courses offered by the course providers.

Students can only apply to one Inn for a GDL or Bar Course Scholarship. All applicant names for these scholarships are shared between the Inns to ensure that students have not applied to more than one Inn. Only Lincoln’s Inn Pupils can apply for our Pupillage Grants.

There are some International and European Scholarships that are open to members of all Inns e.g. the EFTA Court Scholarship or the Pegasus Trust run by Inner Temple.

Applications are only accepted during the application windows outlined on our website. No late applications are accepted.

It is not necessary to join an Inn of Court before applying for a Bar Course or GDL scholarship, however you will be required to join the Inn as part of the terms and conditions of acceptance of one.

You will need to be a member of an Inn to apply for the International and European Scholarships.

Yes. Part-time students are eligible to apply for either year of their course but may only receive one scholarship. i.e students who are offered and accept a scholarship in their first year are not eligible to re-apply for the following year.

All Lincoln’s Inn GDL Scholarship, Bar Course Scholarship and Pupillage Grant values are calculated using a means test. The merit level of a scholarship bears no correlation to the amount of money awarded.

Applications from residents outside of England and Wales are accepted; however scholarships are only awarded to those who intend to practise at the Bar of England and Wales.

We ask for two references to be submitted alongside your application before the deadline. You will be unable to submit your form without your references being uploaded. Incomplete application forms cannot be submitted and late application forms will not be accepted. The onus is on the candidate to ensure that their referees have submitted their references before the deadline.

Guidance for Referee’s can be found here.

No – there is an initial sift prior to the interview stage. Sifting statistics can be found on the scholarship webpages.

After submitting your form you should be sent an email giving you an approximate date when you will be notified if you have been selected for interview. Once the sifting process is complete, all applicants will be notified by email.

Lincoln’s Inn conducts Bar Course scholarship interviews in London, Birmingham and Manchester. You can indicate your preferred interview location on the application form.

GDL and International scholarship interviews all take place in London.

The most effective way for the interview panel to get to know you is through an in-person interview and the Inn encourages all candidates to attend an in-person interview if they are reasonably able to do so.

Should a candidate not be able to attend an interview in person, it is possible to be interviewed remotely via video conferencing software. Remote interviews will only be arranged for good reason.

If you feel that you need to be interviewed remotely you will need to contact the Inn to check that you are eligible and arrangements can then be made. Our remote interviewing policy can be found here. 

Yes, if you will be starting your course in January you can still apply. Please look at our table here to see when you can apply based on your start date.

There should be no issues with having the same referees, as long as the references are updated to reflect the correct year and correct course.

Applications for the Bar Course scholarship from previous GDL scholarship applicants are not compared. This means that any similarities will not be noted, nor any applicant penalized for similarities.

Applicants are usually interviewed by a panel of three members of the Inn, chaired by a Bencher or senior member of the profession.

Interviews usually last around 15-20 minutes. The questions asked are all relevant to the criteria found on the website.

Bar Course and GDL scholarships are awarded on merit with the financial value of the award being calculated via a means test.

All applicants are scored on the scholarships criteria and the scores are then moderated. There are a limited number of scholarships on offer each year (around 100 for the Bar Course and up to 32 for the GDL). Candidates are ranked by their score and the top-scoring applicants are awarded a scholarship. 

For the Bar Course scholarships, we aim to let candidates know the outcome of their interview by the end of April.

For all others, we usually let applicants know within a month of the interview date.

Each candidate is scored by three panellists. Their scores are then moderated and reviewed by the Scholarships Committee. We would therefore not usually alter any scores after this point, as it would be unfair to other candidates.

If a candidate feels that they have been unfairly treated during the scholarship process they should get in touch with the scholarships team as soon as possible so steps can be taken to address the issue. Candidates should not wait until the result of their interview to raise these issues.

We accept GDL scholarship applications for those wishing to undertake a two year LLB/LLM as long as it is not their first degree and that they are not already eligible to start the Bar Course. 

We also accept GDL scholarship applications for those wishing to undertake alternative Law Conversion Courses. These are treated in the same way as the GDL.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please contact [email protected]. 

No – there is no guarantee of a Bar Course scholarship should you receive a GDL scholarship.

GDL scholars should be aware that there is far more competition for Bar Course Scholarships.

Members cannot receive more than one of each type of scholarship or grant and cannot reapply after an award has been accepted and paid.

Yes, you can.

Previous applications are not noted anywhere on subsequent applications.

Any additional queries can be directed to the Scholarships Coordinator via email: [email protected].