Kent Law School is delighted to see the awarding of five prestigious scholarships to their graduates this year, with the law students bound for pupillages with The Honourable Society of Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn.
These scholarships are part of the Inns of Court, the four Inns that have exclusive rights to call members to the Bar of England and Wales as barristers.
Kent Law School looks to support students and alumni with their individual efforts to secure scholarships, whilst the breadth of provision at the School prepares students for the demands of the scholarship interviews, often opposite notable barristers and Queen’s Counsels.
Part of Kent Law School’s provision is their renowned on-campus Moot court, in which sessions and competitions are regularly held, enabling students to tackle the difficult subjects and arguments put forward in a court of law; essential experience for those the path to becoming a barrister.
Milly Webb, who won the Cynthia Terry Scholarship at Gray’s Inn, credits her experience of mooting at Kent with giving her the skills and confidence to succeed. She said: ‘Any Inn of Court is going to want to know that you have engaged in advocacy as it is so integral to a career at the Bar. Whenever you go into any interview, it is so important to demonstrate good oral advocacy skills – you are essentially giving forward arguments concerning yourself and your own aptitude for the job/award/placement. Mooting also helps to refine your advocacy style so that you are able to articulate yourself more succinctly. I would say that that is vital when you are in an interview and there is not a lot of time to put across all the points you want to.’
Kent Law School also being a critical law school is also integral to how their students are able to adapt to a scholarship interview’s demands. Kent’s Law students are encouraged to look beneath the surface of the law and study its complexity and contradictions, to find challenges they can then seek to qualify and solve.
Beronique Addington, winner of Middle Temple’s Winston Churchill Scholarship, said: ‘A lot of us laugh about how you’re told we go to a critical law school but sometimes, we don’t know what that means. But in third year – with my assignments, interviews and work experience – it started to click. I think what the panel look for is your ability to evaluate your experiences, hence why so many people get asked the question about good or bad advocacy. Having an opinion on what you’ve seen in court and how you feel that did or didn’t work shows you’ve taken more out of the experience than just listening to court proceedings. Being at Kent Law School for three years gets you to do that without even thinking about it! I think that is why Middle Temple have really taken a liking to Kent Law School students. Don’t be afraid to be critical, it certainly helped me.’
Darren Weir, Mooting and Mock Trial Director at Kent Law School said of the School’s scholarship success: ‘We are delighted to see such tremendous successes come from the efforts of our graduates. Kent Law School’s hall-mark focus on Mooting experience and studying critical law have come to the fore, with our passionate and determined students able to tackle new challenges with the skills vital to practising law. These highly prestigious scholarships will go even further to bring out the best in these students, who I know will take this opportunity for everything it is worth.’