Northumbria Law School student wins top scholarship

A Northumbria University law student with her sights set on becoming a barrister has won a top scholarship from The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple to fund her Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).

Sophie Land, 27 from Newcastle, decided to swap an international career in the oil and gas industry for the courtroom, and is now studying on the Graduate Diploma in Law programme at Northumbria University Law School.

She has been awarded a Princess Royal Scholarship of £20,000 to support her studies. The Inner Temple’s Princess Royal Scholarships are awarded strictly on merit and are hotly contested. They require students to complete a rigorous application and interview process.

Describing her achievement, Sophie said: “I worked extremely hard to make sure that I stood out at interview. I talked about my commercial experience, and made every effort to take advantage of the extra-curricular activities and competitions that Northumbria University has to offer. I am very grateful for their support.”

The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) is the vocational stage of training to become a barrister in England and Wales and acts as the bridge between the academic study of law in the classroom to the practice of law in the courtroom.

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of four Inns of Court, which are the professional associations that provide legal training, selection and regulation to barristers in the UK.

Ann Ferguson, deputy programme leader of the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at Northumbria Law School, said: “We are delighted with Sophie’s success; this prestigious scholarship is an outstanding achievement for a high calibre student.  We are very pleased to have been able to support her through the opportunities on offer at Northumbria, as she works towards the fulfilment of her ambitions.”

Northumbria University is home to the largest law school in the North East of England. Multi award winning, it received the highly prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for the outstanding work of its Student Law Office – the largest University Law Clinic in the UK.

It is also one of only six institutions outside of London to provide the Bar Professional Training Course and won the prestigious ‘Best Law School’ accolade at the Attorney General’s Student Pro Bono Awards a record three times.