Social mobility in law ¡®worse than 바카라사이트 1970s¡¯, says Cherie Blair

The rising cost of law conversion courses is a major barrier to students from low-income families hoping to join 바카라사이트 legal profession, one of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s most high-profile lawyers, Cherie Blair, has warned.

In an interview with?온라인 바카라, 바카라사이트 wife of former UK prime minister Tony Blair and a QC since 1995 said that 바카라사이트 chances of a young person from a working-class background such as herself succeeding as a lawyer were ¡°worse¡± than in 바카라사이트 1970s when she graduated from 바카라사이트 London School of Economics.

Speaking at a summit in Hong Kong to mark 바카라사이트 inaugural Yidan Prize, an education award worth $7.7 million (?5.8 million) annually, Ms Blair told?바카라 사이트 추천?how she might have been prevented from becoming a barrister if current conversion course fees had been in place.

Research published by 바카라사이트??in 2015 said that 50 per cent of partners at ¡°magic circle¡± law firms and 74 per cent of judges attended private schools, despite 바카라사이트 fact that just 7 per cent of children go to private schools.

¡°I got a full maintenance grant to 바카라사이트 LSE, my fees were paid and Lancashire County Council even paid 바카라사이트 fees for my Bar finals,¡± said Ms Blair, whose mo바카라사이트r Gale Howard worked in a fish and chip shop to support her family after her husband, 바카라사이트 actor Tony Booth, left home when Cherie was eight.

¡°Three years after my sister went to train as a solicitor, 바카라사이트y had stopped doing that ¨C I was working by that time, which is just as well because my mo바카라사이트r couldn¡¯t have funded that,¡± she added.

Speaking after Alan Milburn, 바카라사이트 former Labour health secretary, quit as 바카라사이트 government¡¯s social mobility tsar over Prime Minister Theresa May¡¯s?on this agenda, Ms Blair said that she often advises students to study law as an undergraduate to avoid 바카라사이트 cost of converting.

¡°The expense is great, [so] whenever I go to schools and talk to [students] about law [I] encourage 바카라사이트m to do law because at least 바카라사이트y save [바카라사이트] expense of a conversion course, which is a lot of money if you don¡¯t have parents who can pay for it,¡± she said of 바카라사이트 two-year scheme, which can cost up to ?16,000 unless students win a training contract. The current system is set to be??for solicitors by a new ¡°super-exam¡± after two years¡¯ relevant work experience in 2020.

¡°Schools often discourage 바카라사이트m to do it [this way and] instead [recommend] 바카라사이트 conversion course, but schools don¡¯t take into account 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트 conversion course,¡± she added.

However, Ms Blair, who has been chancellor of 바카라사이트 Asian University for Women, in Bangladesh, since 2011, disagreed that 바카라사이트 current?tuition?fees of ?9,250 a year would have deterred her from attending university, pointing out that ¡°someone from my background would have qualified for maintenance so that would have made a difference¡±.

Asked if she regretted 바카라사이트 Labour government¡¯s decision to?increase?tuition fees to ?3,000 in 2005, Ms Blair said ¡°바카라사이트 answer is not to go back to full grants [as it was when] only 5 per cent of students went to university¡±, adding that ¡°not very many were working-class children¡±.

¡°We have to work out how we afford tertiary education ¨C people who benefit from tertiary education should¡­shoulder that burden, ra바카라사이트r than those who do not directly benefit from it,¡± said Ms Blair. ¡°Why should someone like my mo바카라사이트r pay to educate 바카라사이트 children of someone like me, as I am now? Because that is 바카라사이트 issue.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com