The average fee for the Bar Professional Qualification Course (BPTC) has passed £16,000 for the first time.
The figure now stands at £16,239 after five of the eight providers of the course raised their prices for 2019/20. The average price is £348 higher than last year.
BPP, which runs the BPTC in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds, has frozen its prices for a third year running, while City Law School and Northumbria University also declined to raise fees.
Northumbria remains one of the cheapest course providers, tying with the University of the West of England in charging £15,000. Meanwhile, BPP’s London course is the most expensive at £19,070.
The biggest fee rise this year came at the University of the West of England, upped its price from £14,000 to £15,000.
The last time the average cost of the BPTC actually fell was in 2017. That year, the University of Law (ULaw) slashed its prices, meaning the average course fee across the eight providers dropped by £72. The £18,735 ULaw is now charging in London remains below the £19,040 it asked students to shell out in 2016.
BPTC fees 2019: in full
| 2019/20 fees | Increase | Percentage change | |
| Bristol Law School at UWE | £15,000 | £1,000 | 7.1 |
| BPP Birmingham | £15,680 | £0 | 0.0 |
| BPP Bristol | £15,680 | £0 | 0.0 |
| BPP Leeds | £15,680 | £0 | 0.0 |
| BPP London | £19,070 | £0 | 0.0 |
| BPP Manchester | £15,680 | £0 | 0.0 |
| Cardiff Law School | £16,650 | £700 | 4.4 |
| City Law School | £18,500 | £0 | 0.0 |
| Manchester Metropolitan University | £15,500 | £1,020 | 7.0 |
| Northumbria University | £15,000 | £0 | 0.0 |
| Nottingham Law School (Nottingham Trent) | £15,200 | £400 | 2.7 |
| University of Law, Birmingham | £15,485 | £585 | 3.9 |
| University of Law, Leeds | £15,485 | £585 | 3.9 |
| University of Law, London | £18,735 | £585 | 3.2 |
| Nationwide average | £16,238.93 | £348 | 2.2 |
