Qualifying Sessions Round Up 2022/2023
The Pre-Pupillage team has been exceptionally fortunate over the course of the 2022/2023 academic year to have the help and expertise of a wide array of member volunteers. This year’s QS programme has covered a diverse range of topics and we would not have been able to put together such a varied set of sessions without a dedicated roster of practitioners and judges in place to shape and support them.
The Qualifying Sessions programme for 2022/2023 followed on from the lessons learned in previous years and was consequently held across a variety of platforms, with sessions held in person, online or in hybrid working formats. The department has worked harder than ever to ensure that student members from outside of London are able to access educational events as easily as those living in London, and we consequently held a variety of Circuit-focused sessions online, as well as all-day in-person events at regional hubs in Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Cardiff.
The department has worked harder than ever to ensure that student members from outside of London are able to access educational events as easily as those living in London.
Of particular import, the Inn’s three annual residential weekends rolled out in a different way this year, with the May event – typically held at Crewe Hall – instead moved to the Inn itself, owing to booking clashes surrounding the coronation. The May event, titled ‘Money Laundering’ and concerning financial crime, was the first time a student residential weekend has been held onsite at the Inn, with students and volunteers encouraged to stay at a nearby hotel to add to the sense of residential community. Student feedback on the Inn’s facilities and the overall teaching provided was extremely positive and we are particularly grateful to Master Robin Sellers for organising this event. Running a weekend in an entirely new way has given the Qualifying Sessions committee the opportunity to look into residential weekend formats more broadly for the future and consider what programme and location changes might result in more effective and enjoyable educational content.
A few additional highlights of the year included an exceptional series of EDI-themed panels, including the interactive ’Tackling Harassment’ event, the always-popular online Ethics trainings run by Master Charles Bagot and Master Zachary Bredemear, Master Alistair Hodge’s exceptionally engaging Mooting Masterclass, and the series of excellent lectures held as part of both the Reader’s Lecture Night and Social Context of the Law series.
The Education and Training Department is hugely grateful to all its Bencher and member volunteers, whose time and assistance has been completely invaluable to the running of this year’s Qualifying Sessions programme.
Julia Armfield
Education Programmes Manager (Pre-Pupillage)
