If you are a barrister who has held your practising certificate for less than three years, then you must undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in accordance with the New Practitioner Programme. However, if you want to apply for an exemption or waiver from your CPD requirements under this Programme, you can do so here.
Before you apply for either a Waiver or an Extension of Time to complete the CPD requirements under the New Practitioner Programme, please read the criteria and guidelines which you can download from this page.
For information about extensions and waivers on the Established Practitioner Programme, visit our guide to the EPP
How to apply
Please complete the application form and ensure that you have submitted all necessary supporting evidence and associated fee with it.
Failure to provide supporting documentation may result in a delay to us being able to assess your application.
NPP Extension
You do not currently need to apply for an extension of time to complete the NPP. Please see the CPD for those on the New Practitioner Programme page for more details.
NPP Waiver
Application for a waiver of all or part of the New Practitioners Programme for newly qualified barristers.
£135 - Application Form - Guidelines
Application process
The assessment process takes between six to eight weeks, after all necessary information and fees are received.
In every case, we have the power to request further information or documentation be supplied in support of an application.
Please note that it is the primary responsibility of the applicant to provide all relevant information and supporting evidence at the time of application. Applicants should not seek to rely on us to ask for it.
All applications and supporting documentation will be treated with the strictest confidence.
NOTICE (24 July 2020) - Please note that we are no longer accepting cheques in payment of application fees. All fees must now be paid:
- by direct bank transfer (using 'AUTH + your name' as a reference). If you wish to pay by bank transfer, please include a screenshot or receipt as proof of the transaction with your application documents, or by separate email to the Authorisations Team; or
- by telephone, using a credit/debit card. If you wish to pay by credit/debit card, please contact the Authorisations Team on 020 7611 1444 (10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:00pm, Monday to Friday).
Reviews
If you are unhappy with a decision made by the Authorisations Team you may request a review by the Independent Decision-making Body (IDB). Applications for review must be made within one month of the decision. All review requests are dealt with by an IDB Panel on paper only.
