The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court. The Inns of Court are membership organisations for barristers and students intending to practise at the Bar.
As well as offering training and support to its members, the Middle Temple acts as a professional home for barristers.
The Inn’s membership includes students, barristers and judges. The governing body is known as Masters of the Bench (or Benchers).
The Inn offers a number of services and provides information to its student members to help them hone their skills as advocates and introduce them to life at the Bar.
Further information can be found using the links on the left of this page. If you have any enquiries with regard to any of these services please contact the Education Department on 020 7427 4800.
Click here to download the information pack for new BPTC students 2019/20.
[Page last updated: 26 June 2020]
Due to the current Covid-19 situation the staff at the Middle Temple will be working from home where possible until further notice. Should you need to contact any member of staff, please do so by email in the first instance, or if urgent, visit our webpage for a list of relevant telephone numbers. We aim to provide as helpful a service as possible, but there may be delays and certain limitations to what is possible in the circumstances.
We will be constantly reviewing the situation and will hope to return to usual service as soon as is possible and within Government and Public Health England guidelines. In the meantime, we aim to provide as many of the services we practically can and hope that all our members take the appropriate precautions at this difficult and challenging time.
Thank you for your understanding.
Benchers: benchers@middletemple.org.uk
Membership: members@middletemple.org.uk
Education: education@middletemple.org.uk
Events: events@middletemple.org.uk
Library: library@middletemple.org.uk
Finance: finance@middletemple.org.uk
Estates: estates@middletemple.org.uk
The Inn has decided to cancel lunch in Hall with immediate effect until at least 1 September. We will continue to monitor the government guidelines and hope to be able to resume a normal lunch service as soon as we possibly can.
The Inn will also be cancelling or postponing all internal and external events. The Inn will be issuing a full refund for all tickets. There is no need to request a refund. Please bear with us while we work through all the bookings. Masters of the Bench: If you have charged your ticket to your Bench Bill then no charge shall be incurred. If you have paid in advance, the Inn will issue a refund.
Middle Temple Library will be reopening for one week on 13 July as part of a rota with the other three Inn libraries. Opening hours will be 10am to 4pm with measures and restrictions put in place to ensure the health and safety of members and staff. In order to adhere to government guidance on social distancing, the number of members allowed into the library at any one time will be restricted. More information and times can be found here.
Opening hours and dates will be continually reviewed in order to adhere to government regulations. Inner Temple Library can only accommodate 10 readers at a time. Further information on how to access their services will be available on their website.
Middle Temple Library will continue to run a free document delivery service remotely for members of the Inns of Court during this time. Enquiries can be made to the library at: library@middletemple.org.uk or 020 7427 4830.
The Education team are still hard at work, in our respective homes, trying to provide as many of our usual services as possible. Below are some key updates, but for specific detail please see the relevant Education pages.
We realise that many student members have not yet completed their Qualifying Sessions and need to do so in order to be Called. We cannot hope to replicate the full effect and value of the qualifying sessions which take place normally within the Inn and on circuit; however, with the help of many Benchers and members of the Inn, we plan to offer a substantial number of free remote sessions. The sessions will be advertised on the Inn Calendar.
As the BSB have cancelled the April sittings of the centralised exams, many student members will likely be taking these exams for the first time in August instead. This will have a knock-on effect on Call dates - further details are available here.
The Middle Temple is aware that many of its members will be in financial difficulties as a result of the current public health crisis and will do what it can to help alleviate hardship.
For practising members of the Bar, the Inns have agreed to work through the Bar Benevolent Association (BBA) and, initially, have committed a substantial sum to the appeal. Barristers who have held a brief are eligible to apply to the BBA for support.
For students and pupils who are not eligible for assistance from the BBA the Inn has created a Hardship Fund, which is larger than the usual pupil support and hardship fund and available to a larger category of applicants. Click here for futher details.
Under Treasurer and Chief Executive |
The Library is currently closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but will be reopening for one week on 13 July as part of a rota with the other three Inn libraries. Opening hours will be 10am to 4pm with measures and restrictions put in place to ensure the health and safety of members and staff. In order to adhere to government guidance on social distancing, the number of members allowed into the library at any one time will be restricted. Full details can be found here.
