FAQs

We hope to have answered all the questions that frequently arise from applicants, however if you have a query that is not answered on our website, please feel free to get in touch on [email protected]

How many pupils does XXIV Old Buildings take?

We take up to 3 pupils each year.

What is the pupillage award?

The current pupillage award at XXIV Old Buildings is £85,000. Of this, £55,000 is to be paid as a scholarship during the non-practising period of pupillage, although half of it may be drawn down in advance. The remaining £30,000 is to be paid during the practising period, and is to be supplemented by amounts earned in your own right during that period.

Do I need to have undertaken a mini-pupillage before applying for pupillage?

We do not require applicants for pupillage to have undertaken a mini-pupillage with us, and our mini-pupillages are not assessed. Our experience is, however, that prospective pupils are more likely to wish to become pupils at XXIV Old Buildings if they have completed a mini-pupillage with us, and we therefore encourage potential applicant to consider applying for mini-pupillage. See more details about mini-pupillage.

How do I apply for pupillage at XXIV Old Buildings?

XXIV Old Buildings does not process applications using the Pupillage Gateway platform. We manage our own application process using our own simple online form. Click here for more details.

Do I need to have a First Class degree?

Academic achievement is one of several objective criteria by which we assess pupillage applicants, and applicants with a First Class degree may score more highly on this criterion than those with a 2.1 (we also look at results in post-graduate qualifications). A First Class degree is by no means a pre-requisite to obtaining pupillage at XXIV Old Buildings. We will also take into account relevant mitigating circumstances that may have affected an applicant’s degree classification.

Do I need to have gone to Oxbridge?

No. The members of the pupillage committee undertaking the first-round sift of application forms will not know where you have gone to university, and will simply score your best academic results. Whilst many of our tenants have attended Oxbridge, it is not at all a pre-requisite, and your application will not be scored more highly simply because of the university you have attended. We want to attract the best candidates for pupillage, regardless of where they have gone to university.

If I am unsuccessful in applying one year, will I be able to apply again?

Yes. We are happy to consider applications for pupillage from people who have not previously been successful in applying for pupillage with us, and recognise that applicants’ skills and experience can improve year on year.

How many of its pupils does XXIV Old Buildings take on as tenants?

We want all of our pupils to become tenants, and invest heavily in their training in the expectation that they will achieve the standard to enable them to do so.

How do you assess your pupils?

The focus of pupillage at XXIV Old Buildings is emphatically on training. We think that it is fairest for pupils to be assessed holistically by their supervisors throughout the course of the entire year, taking into account all of the work that they do in the context in which it is done. For this reason, we do not set formal assessments or competitive advocacy exercises, still less do we pit pupils against one another during the year.