Raising the Bar

In this episode Elena chats to Joel Semakula about tackling Pupillage Interviews. Joel made the reserve list seven times over 2 rounds of pupillage interviews before being offered pupillage third time round with his very first application. Are they different from other interviews? Is there a difference between 1st round and 2nd round interviews and the questions asked? How can spreadsheets help? W...

How does one go from being a probation and aftercare officer in Jamaica, spend 6 years as a professional contemporary ballet dancer and end up as a specialist family law barrister? Guest interviewer, Alana Hughes interviews Barrister Kevin Gordon on his interesting journey to get to the Bar.        

Have you ever wondered what a student mentor does and how they can help you? This week Elena chats to student mentor, Rachel Barnes, on what made her decide to become a student mentor and what the benefits are for both the student and the mentor.  

What is a Senior Scholarship? Who can apply? What should you consider when applying? Elena chats to Ruby Shrimpton, a Gray's Inn scholarship recipient, on all this and more in this episode.

The Pupillage Gateway opens for submissions on 7 January 2020 - a process fraught with tension and anxiety for most students. Just how does one go about submitting the best possible application for pupillage? How many chambers should you apply to? When do you know your application is ready to submit?  In this episode our host Elena, chats to Gemma Walsh about her experiences and how she refined he...

This year, Gray's Inn became the first of the Inns to have it's own LGBT+ Society. Gray's has long been celebrated as a diverse institution, welcoming students and barristers from around the world. The formation of the LGBT+ Society formalises the openness that is at the heart of the Inn.   This episode is guest-hosted by Gwyn Evans and Verity Bell, both committee members of the LGBT+ Society. Tun...

Today on Raising the Bar, Elena finds out about two of Gray’s Inn debating initiatives; Vocalise & Griffin. Vocalise is a student-led prison debating initiative administered by the Inn’s Education Department, while Griffin introduces secondary and sixth form students to the legal profession. Elena speaks to Joe, a former Vocalise mentor, and Hamsi, a former Griffin mentor, to find out why these in...

The AGIS podcast Raising the Bar is up and running for the new academic year! In our first episode, AGIS publicity officer Elena Johnson speaks to Riaz Hussain QC, a member of our scholarships committee, about the process of applying for a Gray's Inn BPTC scholarship. If you're thinking of applying for a scholarship, or already have, this episode is for you. Packed with useful tips for both applic...

Louisa Brown a BPTC student at BPP, London joins me to discuss her journey to the Bar, all the way from Blackpool to Cambridge, to Yale and back!  Music credit: Scott Holmes, Our Big Adventure.  Many thanks to Gray's Inn for the continued support. 

This is the first episode of the brand new podcast brought to you by the Association of Gray's Inn students, hosted by Alana Hughes, discussing all things BPTC scholarship applications!