The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its annual summary of the latest available diversity data for the Bar. It covers pupils, practising King’s Counsel – KC – and practising non-KC barristers. Last year’s report is available here. This report assists the BSB in meeting its statutory duties under the Equality Act 2010 and sets out an evidence base from which relevant and targeted policy can be developed.
Overall, this year has seen the continuation of several longer-term trends, including an increase in the proportion of practising barristers who are female; who are from a minority ethnic background; who have primary care of a child; and who are aged 55 or more. Some key findings from the report are as follows:
- The overall percentage of women at the Bar increased by 0.6pp from December 2023 to December 2024, to 41.2 per cent. This represents an increase of 5.3 percentage points in the ten years since 2015.
- The proportion of KCs who are female increased from 20.3 per cent in 2023 to 21.1 per cent in 2024, a 0.8pp increase. This represents an increase of 8.1 percentage points in the ten years since 2015.
- Around 17.3 per cent of the Bar is from a minority ethnic background. This compares to around 19.1 per cent of the 16-64 working age population in England and Wales as of late 2024.
- The proportion of the Bar from a minority ethnic background has increased by 0.4pp compared to December 2023, and by 4.3pp in the last ten years.
- The percentage of non-KC barristers from a minority ethnic background has increased from 17.5% to 17.9%, and the percentage of KCs from minority ethnic backgrounds has increased from 10.7 per cent to 10.8 per cent.
- There is still a disparity between the overall percentage of barristers from minority ethnic backgrounds across the profession (17.3%), and the percentage of KCs (10.8%) from minority ethnic backgrounds, although the disparity is reducing over time.
- There has been an increase of 0.9 percentage points in the proportion of the Bar with a declared disability. The increase was largest for pupils.
Commenting on the report, BSB Director-General Mark Neale said:
“It is encouraging to see that over the last year the Bar has continued to become more representative of the society that it serves. Nonetheless, there are still significant disparities, including between the proportion of the Bar who are female and the proportion of KCs who are female and between proportion of the Bar who come from a minority ethnic background and the proportion of KCs who come from a minority ethnic background.
Breaking down these barriers to progress is therefore key and this data reinforces why our equality, diversity and inclusion work is crucial, including our continuing review of the Equality Rules and the development of our new five year strategy. We very much look forward to the dialogue with the profession on the revision of the Equality Rules proposed by Barabara Mills KC in her inaugural address.”