Law loses its appeal with undergrads

The statistics showed a fall of 2.6 per cent in 2010, taking the number to 16,890 from the reported 17,346 in 2009.

This arrives despite a steady rise in law course acceptance rates since 2006, where 14,925 were reportedly accepted.

The statistics however also showed a rise of 2.3 per cent in general university acceptances across the UK (according to the August UCAS report), plus the overall number of applicants for places rising by almost 12 per cent.

The news comes during growing concern over the number of students enrolling on higher education courses, such as the Legal Practice Course and Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), without a fair prospect of attaining a training contract or pupillage at the end. 

The chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales, Nicholas Green QC, revealed last Saturday (6 November) that over 4,000 applicants to the bar are now routinely competing for about 460 places.