Bar Student Diaries Part 1: Facts that Surprised me about doing the BVS

Hi everyone, I'm Tarra! I'm studying the Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) in City St George's, which is a postgraduate law course.

This is Part One of my series entitled Bar Student Diaries, whereby I post threads around my life as a Bar student! Today I will be covering 4 facts that surprised me about doing the BVS!

 1. There’s a Lot of Prep Involved!
Law is about reading, reading and reading – this might sound all too familiar if you have done an undergraduate degree in law. For context, you are typically given a reading list for each session, and you are required to complete at least the essential reading before tutorials. Tutorials are small-group sessions whereby you prep by answering a set of questions from that week's readings, and then come you go to class ready to discuss the answers!

What surprised me about the BVS was the sheer amount of prep I had to do. You would be looking at 4-6 hours of prep for a single 2-hour tutorial session, which I was not expecting at all in the beginning. I have been told the BVS was a heavy course – however, I was not expecting the workload to be this heavy. The BVS really does reflect real-life practice herein in the sense that you feel you might not have quite enough time for everything, and while this might sound challenging, this gives you a good idea of how time management working as a barrister would be like!

 2. It’s Like Having a 9-5 Job
Gone are the days of being spoon-fed information by lecturers; and gone even are the days where lectures are simply an overview of a topic taught on syllabus. In fact, gone are the days where we would have lectures at all! The BVS is 100% tutorial-based, and all learning takes place online on the student portal such that when you turn up to classes, you are already expected to have read up on the topic and be able to answer the questions!

Not only that, but there are also review and consolidation questions for your tutorials at the end of the week, so not only do you have to consistently prep for next week’s classes; you would also periodically have to review the lessons you have already taken. I was told that the BVS should be considered as something of a 9-5 job, and in this sense, I can attest that this piece of advice is completely accurate!

3. Contact Hours are not Many :0
With the BVS being such a heavy course, I was expecting to have classes most of the time – however, I was surprised to realise that I would only be in class 3 days a week for about 10-12 contact hours! Indeed, most of the time would be spent self-studying and consolidating the materials!

4. Lecturers bring tons of experience to the course!
Finally, the last thing that surprised me was that most, if not all my lecturers, had solid qualifications in that they used to be practising barristers at some point in their career. This meant that they were able to provide me with real-life applications of what we learned in class based on, for example, a case they did or came across (confidentiality notwithstanding). I have learned so much from them during my time on the BVS, and I really appreciate their help and support. Considering the breadth and depth of their experience, I could not have asked for better tutors!

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