Legal Trainee Scheme - Barrister

Applications are now open for the Crown Prosecution Service legal trainee scheme. This is an exciting opportunity to kick‑start your legal career and become a fully qualified barrister.

At the Crown Prosecution Service, we’re responsible for delivering justice through the independent and effective prosecution of crime. We’re the largest provider of criminal law pupillages in England and Wales, offering you a comprehensive training and a permanent role at the employed Bar after successfully completing our legal trainee scheme. We’re proud to be recognised by our legal trainees in the Legal 500 Future Lawyers survey 2025 for our client secondments, confidence of being kept on, work/life balance, inclusiveness, international secondments and approachability.

Our legal trainee scheme is an extensive training programme to help you become a fully qualified barrister. You gain valuable experience in all areas of our legal work, from reviewing cases and preparing pre‑charge advice to attending meetings with victims and witnesses. You’re guaranteed a permanent position as a crown prosecutor or crown advocate after successfully completing your pupillage. You are supported by a supervisor who offers guidance and opportunities to develop your understanding of working as a prosecutor.

Your first six months are non‑practising – completing advocacy training, legal courses and an optional secondment in chambers. During your remaining six months, you put your training into practice – building your advocacy skills, presenting cases in court and working with criminal justice partners. You can develop your knowledge by working in specialist crime areas including rape and serious sexual offences, organised crime and fraud.

We’re committed to your professional growth and expect, following your initial role in the magistrates’ court, that you have the necessary skills to apply for promotion opportunities based in the Crown Court including senior crown prosecutor and senior crown advocate roles.

We’re looking for aspiring barristers with an interest in criminal law. You must have a law degree, Graduate Diploma in Law or Common Professional Examination, and have completed your Bar Course before September 2027. Sound legal intellect and the ability to present cases clearly, both verbally and in writing is essential.

About Disability Confident: A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people.

For more details please go to .

At the Crown Prosecution Service, we pride ourselves on providing benefits that ensure our employees' needs are central. We want to ensure you can thrive at work and home, offering support to achieve a balance. This includes flexible working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a family‑friendly approach to work. We also offer a range of benefits including:

• flexible and family‑friendly working
• competitive salary
• civil service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.9%
• 25 days leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus bank holidays
• 3 days paid volunteering leave
• an extra privilege day for the King's birthday
• £350 a year individual learning budget
• wellbeing support and counselling
• cycle2work scheme, high street retailer offers and discounts