By Gazette reporter2021-05-24T11:12:00+01:00
The Law Society has today launched its member survey on the Practising Certificate fee for 2021/22. The Society proposes to maintain its share of the overall PC fee collection at £28.5m, the same level as in 20/21. Representing the views of the profession has never been more important, given the ongoing implications of the pandemic and Brexit, and the unprecedented market transformation and regulatory change, said Society president I. Stephanie Boyce. We understand the pressure that our members remain under and that is why we will keep our cost to members flat next year – this follows a 10% fee reduction in the current year.
The independent review of last year’s Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) has found that the three-way relationship between the BSB, the eight law school providers of the BPTC, and the electronic testing company Pearson VUE, which delivered the online exam, “ultimately contributed to the complexities in the booking and delivery of the examinations.”
An independent review, conducted by Professor Rebecca Huxley-Binns of the University of Hull and Dr Sarabajaya Kumar of UCL, has now concluded.
They report that the three-way nature of the relationship between the BSB, Pearson VUE and the law schools led a system that was not joined up. “Once the examinations started, and technical and other difficulties came to light, providers were in an exceptionally difficult situation,” they concluded. “The BSB directed candidate complaints to Pearson VUE. Pearson VUE sometimes redirected candidates to the BSB. In frustration bordering on exasperation, candidates turned to their Pro