Barrington Hibbert Associates partners with UCL Laws to launch new undergraduate scholarship

The lack of diversity is one of the biggest challenges facing the legal profession. The greatest barrier to entering the profession for young people is the cost of the course.

Barrington Hibbert Associates is proud to partner with UCL Laws to launch a new scholarship for an undergraduate student studying LLB Law. The scholarship is open to applicants from a low-income background and will support fees and maintenance for the duration of their degree starting in the 2022/23 academic year.

UCL Laws is one of the world’s top law faculties, ranked sixth in the world by Times Higher Education Rankings 2022 and first in the UK for research excellence in the most recent Research Excellence Framework 2021.

UCL Laws’ vision is of a faculty which provides a diverse, inclusive and deeply non-discriminatory home for both staff and students – caring as well as competitive – to achieve excellence and allow all its members to flourish.

UCL was founded to open up university to those traditionally excluded from it. But, for too many, financial need can be a big barrier. It impacts which university a student chooses, how fully they engage in student life, and how far they take their studies. With the help of supporters like Barrington Hibbert Associates, UCL can ensure that the brightest people thrive.

Michael Barrington-Hibbert CEO of Barrington Hibbert Associates said:

“It is a real honour to be able to support the scholarship and help ensure that the brightest minds can thrive regardless of their circumstances.

While recent years have seen a big step forward in how we think about diversity, inclusion, and belonging, social mobility is an area that is all too often overlooked.

Research has found that amongst the ten top City law firms, over 50% of partners attended independent schools, with those from lower socio-economic backgrounds taking on average a year longer to progress to partner.

The legal profession has a strong duty to reflect the society that it serves, and to do this, it must be inclusive of individuals from a range of backgrounds, all of whom should be given the opportunity to excel based entirely on their abilities and commitment rather than their backgrounds.”

UCL Laws Vice Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Dr Lucinda Miller said:

“The Barrington Hibbert Associates Scholarship will be transformational for its recipient, eliminating the financial barrier that would otherwise prevent access to the exceptional legal education that we provide at UCL Laws.

Philanthropy can play a key role in ensuring that wealth is not a determinant for access to law school, and that we all benefit from the enrichment of a diverse legal community. We are therefore delighted, and extremely grateful, that Barrington Hibbert Associates are able to support us in our mission to build a truly diverse and inclusive law school.

UCL Laws has a diverse and progressive community of researchers, students, leading academics and alumni, and has long shown itself to be ambitious and passionate about doing good in the world.”

Through producing research that matters, the faculty lends a clear, rigorous and intellectually imaginative voice to global conversations. It provides inspired and innovative teaching, meaning that UCL Laws students are learning from leading enquiry and the very best academics.

To apply for the Barrington-Hibbert Scholarship visit the UCL Laws website.

To find out more about supporting students at UCL Laws, please contact Nick Marsden, Deputy Head of Major Gifts (University) at n.marsden@ucl.ac.uk