Law Careers
Barrister vs Solicitor: What Is the Difference and Which Career Is Right for You?
A complete guide to the differences between barristers and solicitors, what each career involves day to day, how to qualify for each, and how to decide which route suits you.
EO Careers Team
If you are exploring routes into the legal profession, our Law Careers hub covers practice areas, qualification routes, salaries, and the skills that matter in applications.
Most people asking "what is the difference between a barrister and a solicitor?" are really asking a more specific question: which one should I try to become? The two roles are genuinely different in ways that matter for career decisions, but they are also frequently misunderstood, partly because of how the profession portrays itself and partly because of how courtroom dramas have shaped public perception. This guide covers what each role actually involves, how the qualification routes work, what the careers look like in practice, and the considerations that actually help you decide.
What solicitors do
A solicitor is a lawyer who advises clients directly. Most solicitors work in private practice at law firms, advising businesses or individuals on a wide range of legal matters. Others work in-house at companies, in government, or at public sector organisations.
The day-to-day work depends heavily on the practice area. A corporate solicitor at a large commercial firm spends most of their time advising on transactions: acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings. A real estate solicitor works on property transactions. An employment solicitor advises on disputes, redundancies, and contracts. A family law solicitor handles divorce, financial settlements, and child arrangements. The common thread across all of these is that solicitors are primarily advisers: they manage client relationships, draft documents, analyse legal issues, and steer clients through complex processes.
Solicitors do appear in court, but less frequently than most people assume, and it depends significantly on the practice area. A commercial litigator at a large firm may attend court hearings and manage High Court proceedings. A conveyancing solicitor almost never does. Many solicitors build entire careers without regular courtroom appearances. Where advocacy is required, solicitors either do it themselves (they have rights of audience in lower courts, and higher courts with additional qualification) or instruct a barrister.
The client relationship is central to a solicitor's role in a way that it typically is not for a barrister. Solicitors build ongoing relationships with clients, manage matters across extended time periods, and act as the primary point of contact for legal advice. This is one of the most significant practical differences between the two professions.
What barristers do
A barrister is a specialist advocate and legal advisor who is typically instructed by solicitors rather than by clients directly. The traditional model is that a client goes to a solicitor, the solicitor handles the ongoing matter and client relationship, and when specialist advocacy or advice is needed, the solicitor instructs a barrister.
The core of barrister work is advocacy: presenting arguments in court, tribunals, and other formal proceedings. A criminal barrister might spend their week prosecuting or defending in Crown Court. A commercial barrister might appear in the Commercial Court or Court of Appeal, or before an arbitration panel. A planning barrister might represent developers or objectors at planning inquiries. Alongside advocacy, barristers provide written opinions on complex legal questions and advise on the merits and strategy of cases.
The independent bar is the traditional structure: most barristers are self-employed and operate from chambers, which are essentially shared administrative hubs rather than firms. Chambers provide clerking services (who manage diary, fees, and instruction allocation), support staff, and shared rooms, but barristers within chambers are not employees of each other. They are independent practitioners sharing facilities. This structure means that a barrister's income and workload depend significantly on the instructions they receive and the strength of their individual reputation.
In-house barristers do exist, working within the legal teams of companies or public bodies, but the independent bar remains the dominant model and the one most people are referring to when they talk about becoming a barrister.
How the professions interact
The distinction between the two professions has blurred considerably over the last two decades. Solicitors now have rights of audience in most courts following additional qualification. Barristers can in some circumstances accept instructions directly from clients without a solicitor intermediary, under the Direct Access scheme. Both professions have expanded their scope.
Despite this, the practical division of labour remains fairly consistent in practice. Solicitors handle the bulk of client-facing advisory work and case management. Barristers handle specialist advocacy and complex legal opinions. A major commercial litigation matter at a large firm will typically involve a team of solicitors managing the case and instructing specialist barristers for hearings, with counsel working alongside the solicitor team throughout.
This interaction matters for career decisions because it shapes what each profession actually involves. Choosing a career as a barrister and expecting regular client relationship management is likely to lead to disappointment. Choosing a career as a solicitor and expecting the kind of high-stakes oral advocacy associated with the bar is also likely to disappoint unless you practice in litigation. The question is which combination of skills and daily activities suits you.
The qualification routes
The paths to qualifying as a solicitor and barrister diverged significantly with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination in 2021. They now look quite different.
Qualifying as a solicitor
Since September 2021, the route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales is through the SQE framework. Candidates must pass SQE1 (two multiple-choice assessments covering Functioning Legal Knowledge across all major practice areas) and SQE2 (six skills assessments covering legal research, writing, drafting, advocacy, interviewing, and case analysis). They must also complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience, which can be accumulated across up to four organisations and includes a wide range of legal work including paralegal roles and pro bono.
Most candidates at large commercial firms take the SQE through a law school (Barbri, BARBRI, University of Law, BPP, or others) funded by their training contract firm, alongside a period of paid work experience that constitutes their QWE. For a full explanation of how this works, see our SQE guide.
Law degree or non-law degree both work as entry points, with non-law graduates typically completing a pre-SQE preparation programme rather than the old GDL conversion. Most large commercial firms fund this preparation and pay a maintenance grant during the study period.
Qualifying as a barrister
The route to the bar runs through the Bar Training Route. After a qualifying law degree (or a non-law degree plus the Graduate Diploma in Law), candidates complete the Bar Practice Course (BPC), formerly called the BPTC, at one of the approved providers. The BPC is a one-year full-time course (or part-time equivalent) focused on the skills of advocacy, legal research, drafting, and professional ethics.
After completing the BPC, candidates must be called to the bar by one of the four Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, or Middle Temple) and complete at least 12 qualifying sessions (educational and social events) with their Inn. Call to the bar happens before pupillage.
Pupillage is the vocational training period: one year of supervised practice in chambers, divided into a non-practising six months (where the pupil observes their supervisor's work and completes training exercises) and a practising six months (where the pupil can appear in court). Pupillage is extremely competitive. The number of pupillages available across all chambers is significantly smaller than the number of candidates who complete the BPC each year, and securing pupillage at a reputable set in a competitive area can take multiple application cycles.
The key structural difference
The solicitor route, while competitive at large commercial firms, involves a training contract or QWE position that provides both training and income. Pupillage at the bar, by contrast, is typically funded at a minimum level set by the Bar Standards Board (£12,418 per annum in London and £10,151 outside London as of 2024) with some chambers paying significantly more and others paying the minimum. The period between completing the BPC and securing pupillage can be lengthy and financially demanding, with no guarantee of success.
What the careers look like day to day
The practical differences between the two careers are better understood through what a typical week involves rather than through abstract role descriptions.
A first or second-year solicitor at a large commercial firm will typically spend most of their week on due diligence tasks, drafting documents, reviewing contracts, attending client calls, and assisting on transactions or matters under the supervision of a more senior lawyer. The work is predominantly written and advisory, conducted mostly in the office or remotely, and involves close collaboration with the client team. Hours are often long, particularly on active deals, but the work is varied and the career progression to senior associate and partner involves increasing client responsibility and business development.
A junior barrister in the first years of tenancy (the period after pupillage when a barrister has been accepted as a permanent member of chambers) will spend much of their week in court or preparing for court: reading briefs, writing skeleton arguments, preparing cross-examination, and attending hearings. Criminal barristers often work across multiple courts in a single week. Civil and commercial barristers may have longer preparation periods between hearings on complex matters. The work is more independent and performance-driven than a solicitor's career: a barrister's reputation is built appearance by appearance, and the quality of advocacy directly affects the instructions received.
Earnings: what each profession actually pays
Earnings in both professions vary enormously depending on the tier of the market and the practice area.
For solicitors, the salary progression is well-documented and relatively predictable at large commercial firms. Trainees at Magic Circle firms currently earn between £56,000 and £61,000. Newly qualified solicitors at the same firms earn £150,000. US firms in London pay trainees £60,000 to £70,000 and NQ solicitors £170,000 to £180,000. At smaller regional firms, trainee salaries start around £28,000 and NQ salaries range from £35,000 to £50,000 depending on location and firm type.
For barristers, the range is wider and less predictable. Junior criminal legal aid barristers can earn very little in the early years: legal aid rates are set by government and have been criticised by the bar for decades as unsustainably low. Commercial barristers at established London sets can earn very significant sums once they build a strong practice, with QCs (now King's Counsel) at the top commercial bar earning several million pounds per year. The variance is extreme and the early career income at the bar, particularly in publicly funded work, is substantially lower than the solicitor route at comparable firms.
For a full breakdown of solicitor salaries from trainee to partner across every tier of the market, see our law firm salaries guide.
How to decide which route suits you
The question of whether to pursue a career as a barrister or solicitor is not primarily about prestige. Both professions offer interesting, demanding careers with significant scope for specialisation and progression. The decision is better made on the basis of what the work actually involves and what kind of professional you want to become.
A few genuine questions are more useful than the general comparison:
Do you want to be in court regularly, or do you prefer advisory and transactional work? Courtroom advocacy is central to the barrister's role and relatively peripheral to most solicitor practices outside litigation. If the prospect of oral argument, cross-examination, and hearings is genuinely exciting to you, the bar is worth seriously considering. If the advisory, drafting, and client management dimensions of legal work are what appeal, the solicitor route fits better.
How do you feel about financial uncertainty in the early career? The solicitor route at a commercial firm offers a clearly structured salary progression. The bar offers greater potential upside over a career but a more uncertain path in the early years, particularly in criminal and publicly funded practice. This is not a reason to avoid the bar but it is a real consideration, particularly for candidates without significant financial support during a potentially extended pre-pupillage period.
Do you want ongoing client relationships, or do you prefer working across different cases without long-term client ties? Solicitors build sustained relationships with clients that can last years or decades. Barristers are typically instructed for specific matters and then move on. Some people find the solicitor's model of deep client relationship more rewarding; others prefer the variety and independence of the barrister's approach.
Are you prepared for the competitiveness of the pupillage market? The BPC is expensive (typically £18,000 to £19,000 for the course), and a significant proportion of people who complete it do not secure pupillage at their desired chambers, or do not secure it at all. The solicitor route involves competitive applications but the training contract, once secured, is a confirmed route to qualification. The bar route involves an additional high-stakes competitive stage after completing the vocational training.
What does your academic record look like, and is a first or upper second genuinely achievable? Both professions are competitive at the top end. Top commercial chambers typically expect a first or strong upper second and strong advocacy performance. Top commercial law firms have similar academic expectations. Neither is the "easier" route academically. The difference is in what the career involves once you are there.
Can you switch between the two?
Yes, and it happens more than most candidates realise. Solicitors who develop an interest in advocacy can qualify as solicitor-advocates with rights of audience in higher courts. Some solicitors retrain as barristers. Some barristers move into in-house roles or join solicitor firms in advisory positions. The two professions are less rigidly separate than they were, and a career that starts in one can evolve toward the other.
This is worth knowing when making the initial decision, because the choice does not have to be permanent. What it does involve is committing to a specific qualification route that shapes the early career. If you are genuinely uncertain, the solicitor route offers slightly more flexibility in the early years: training contracts are funded, the qualification is structured, and the skills developed (drafting, client management, legal analysis) are broadly transferable. The bar involves a more specific bet on advocacy as a career.
Ready to take the next step?
If you are leaning toward the solicitor route and want to understand how to approach training contract and vacation scheme applications, our training contracts hub and vacation schemes hub cover everything from what the process involves to how to position your application competitively.
The Future Trainee Academy covers the full solicitor application process from a recruiter who has interviewed over 10,000 candidates, including written applications, psychometric tests, and assessment centres. Free to access.
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Law Careers
Barrister vs Solicitor: What Is the Difference and Which Career Is Right for You?
A complete guide to the differences between barristers and solicitors, what each career involves day to day, how to qualify for each, and how to decide which route suits you.
EO Careers Team
If you are exploring routes into the legal profession, our Law Careers hub covers practice areas, qualification routes, salaries, and the skills that matter in applications.
Most people asking "what is the difference between a barrister and a solicitor?" are really asking a more specific question: which one should I try to become? The two roles are genuinely different in ways that matter for career decisions, but they are also frequently misunderstood, partly because of how the profession portrays itself and partly because of how courtroom dramas have shaped public perception. This guide covers what each role actually involves, how the qualification routes work, what the careers look like in practice, and the considerations that actually help you decide.
What solicitors do
A solicitor is a lawyer who advises clients directly. Most solicitors work in private practice at law firms, advising businesses or individuals on a wide range of legal matters. Others work in-house at companies, in government, or at public sector organisations.
The day-to-day work depends heavily on the practice area. A corporate solicitor at a large commercial firm spends most of their time advising on transactions: acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings. A real estate solicitor works on property transactions. An employment solicitor advises on disputes, redundancies, and contracts. A family law solicitor handles divorce, financial settlements, and child arrangements. The common thread across all of these is that solicitors are primarily advisers: they manage client relationships, draft documents, analyse legal issues, and steer clients through complex processes.
Solicitors do appear in court, but less frequently than most people assume, and it depends significantly on the practice area. A commercial litigator at a large firm may attend court hearings and manage High Court proceedings. A conveyancing solicitor almost never does. Many solicitors build entire careers without regular courtroom appearances. Where advocacy is required, solicitors either do it themselves (they have rights of audience in lower courts, and higher courts with additional qualification) or instruct a barrister.
The client relationship is central to a solicitor's role in a way that it typically is not for a barrister. Solicitors build ongoing relationships with clients, manage matters across extended time periods, and act as the primary point of contact for legal advice. This is one of the most significant practical differences between the two professions.
What barristers do
A barrister is a specialist advocate and legal advisor who is typically instructed by solicitors rather than by clients directly. The traditional model is that a client goes to a solicitor, the solicitor handles the ongoing matter and client relationship, and when specialist advocacy or advice is needed, the solicitor instructs a barrister.
The core of barrister work is advocacy: presenting arguments in court, tribunals, and other formal proceedings. A criminal barrister might spend their week prosecuting or defending in Crown Court. A commercial barrister might appear in the Commercial Court or Court of Appeal, or before an arbitration panel. A planning barrister might represent developers or objectors at planning inquiries. Alongside advocacy, barristers provide written opinions on complex legal questions and advise on the merits and strategy of cases.
The independent bar is the traditional structure: most barristers are self-employed and operate from chambers, which are essentially shared administrative hubs rather than firms. Chambers provide clerking services (who manage diary, fees, and instruction allocation), support staff, and shared rooms, but barristers within chambers are not employees of each other. They are independent practitioners sharing facilities. This structure means that a barrister's income and workload depend significantly on the instructions they receive and the strength of their individual reputation.
In-house barristers do exist, working within the legal teams of companies or public bodies, but the independent bar remains the dominant model and the one most people are referring to when they talk about becoming a barrister.
How the professions interact
The distinction between the two professions has blurred considerably over the last two decades. Solicitors now have rights of audience in most courts following additional qualification. Barristers can in some circumstances accept instructions directly from clients without a solicitor intermediary, under the Direct Access scheme. Both professions have expanded their scope.
Despite this, the practical division of labour remains fairly consistent in practice. Solicitors handle the bulk of client-facing advisory work and case management. Barristers handle specialist advocacy and complex legal opinions. A major commercial litigation matter at a large firm will typically involve a team of solicitors managing the case and instructing specialist barristers for hearings, with counsel working alongside the solicitor team throughout.
This interaction matters for career decisions because it shapes what each profession actually involves. Choosing a career as a barrister and expecting regular client relationship management is likely to lead to disappointment. Choosing a career as a solicitor and expecting the kind of high-stakes oral advocacy associated with the bar is also likely to disappoint unless you practice in litigation. The question is which combination of skills and daily activities suits you.
The qualification routes
The paths to qualifying as a solicitor and barrister diverged significantly with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination in 2021. They now look quite different.
Qualifying as a solicitor
Since September 2021, the route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales is through the SQE framework. Candidates must pass SQE1 (two multiple-choice assessments covering Functioning Legal Knowledge across all major practice areas) and SQE2 (six skills assessments covering legal research, writing, drafting, advocacy, interviewing, and case analysis). They must also complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience, which can be accumulated across up to four organisations and includes a wide range of legal work including paralegal roles and pro bono.
Most candidates at large commercial firms take the SQE through a law school (Barbri, BARBRI, University of Law, BPP, or others) funded by their training contract firm, alongside a period of paid work experience that constitutes their QWE. For a full explanation of how this works, see our SQE guide.
Law degree or non-law degree both work as entry points, with non-law graduates typically completing a pre-SQE preparation programme rather than the old GDL conversion. Most large commercial firms fund this preparation and pay a maintenance grant during the study period.
Qualifying as a barrister
The route to the bar runs through the Bar Training Route. After a qualifying law degree (or a non-law degree plus the Graduate Diploma in Law), candidates complete the Bar Practice Course (BPC), formerly called the BPTC, at one of the approved providers. The BPC is a one-year full-time course (or part-time equivalent) focused on the skills of advocacy, legal research, drafting, and professional ethics.
After completing the BPC, candidates must be called to the bar by one of the four Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, or Middle Temple) and complete at least 12 qualifying sessions (educational and social events) with their Inn. Call to the bar happens before pupillage.
Pupillage is the vocational training period: one year of supervised practice in chambers, divided into a non-practising six months (where the pupil observes their supervisor's work and completes training exercises) and a practising six months (where the pupil can appear in court). Pupillage is extremely competitive. The number of pupillages available across all chambers is significantly smaller than the number of candidates who complete the BPC each year, and securing pupillage at a reputable set in a competitive area can take multiple application cycles.
The key structural difference
The solicitor route, while competitive at large commercial firms, involves a training contract or QWE position that provides both training and income. Pupillage at the bar, by contrast, is typically funded at a minimum level set by the Bar Standards Board (£12,418 per annum in London and £10,151 outside London as of 2024) with some chambers paying significantly more and others paying the minimum. The period between completing the BPC and securing pupillage can be lengthy and financially demanding, with no guarantee of success.
What the careers look like day to day
The practical differences between the two careers are better understood through what a typical week involves rather than through abstract role descriptions.
A first or second-year solicitor at a large commercial firm will typically spend most of their week on due diligence tasks, drafting documents, reviewing contracts, attending client calls, and assisting on transactions or matters under the supervision of a more senior lawyer. The work is predominantly written and advisory, conducted mostly in the office or remotely, and involves close collaboration with the client team. Hours are often long, particularly on active deals, but the work is varied and the career progression to senior associate and partner involves increasing client responsibility and business development.
A junior barrister in the first years of tenancy (the period after pupillage when a barrister has been accepted as a permanent member of chambers) will spend much of their week in court or preparing for court: reading briefs, writing skeleton arguments, preparing cross-examination, and attending hearings. Criminal barristers often work across multiple courts in a single week. Civil and commercial barristers may have longer preparation periods between hearings on complex matters. The work is more independent and performance-driven than a solicitor's career: a barrister's reputation is built appearance by appearance, and the quality of advocacy directly affects the instructions received.
Earnings: what each profession actually pays
Earnings in both professions vary enormously depending on the tier of the market and the practice area.
For solicitors, the salary progression is well-documented and relatively predictable at large commercial firms. Trainees at Magic Circle firms currently earn between £56,000 and £61,000. Newly qualified solicitors at the same firms earn £150,000. US firms in London pay trainees £60,000 to £70,000 and NQ solicitors £170,000 to £180,000. At smaller regional firms, trainee salaries start around £28,000 and NQ salaries range from £35,000 to £50,000 depending on location and firm type.
For barristers, the range is wider and less predictable. Junior criminal legal aid barristers can earn very little in the early years: legal aid rates are set by government and have been criticised by the bar for decades as unsustainably low. Commercial barristers at established London sets can earn very significant sums once they build a strong practice, with QCs (now King's Counsel) at the top commercial bar earning several million pounds per year. The variance is extreme and the early career income at the bar, particularly in publicly funded work, is substantially lower than the solicitor route at comparable firms.
For a full breakdown of solicitor salaries from trainee to partner across every tier of the market, see our law firm salaries guide.
How to decide which route suits you
The question of whether to pursue a career as a barrister or solicitor is not primarily about prestige. Both professions offer interesting, demanding careers with significant scope for specialisation and progression. The decision is better made on the basis of what the work actually involves and what kind of professional you want to become.
A few genuine questions are more useful than the general comparison:
Do you want to be in court regularly, or do you prefer advisory and transactional work? Courtroom advocacy is central to the barrister's role and relatively peripheral to most solicitor practices outside litigation. If the prospect of oral argument, cross-examination, and hearings is genuinely exciting to you, the bar is worth seriously considering. If the advisory, drafting, and client management dimensions of legal work are what appeal, the solicitor route fits better.
How do you feel about financial uncertainty in the early career? The solicitor route at a commercial firm offers a clearly structured salary progression. The bar offers greater potential upside over a career but a more uncertain path in the early years, particularly in criminal and publicly funded practice. This is not a reason to avoid the bar but it is a real consideration, particularly for candidates without significant financial support during a potentially extended pre-pupillage period.
Do you want ongoing client relationships, or do you prefer working across different cases without long-term client ties? Solicitors build sustained relationships with clients that can last years or decades. Barristers are typically instructed for specific matters and then move on. Some people find the solicitor's model of deep client relationship more rewarding; others prefer the variety and independence of the barrister's approach.
Are you prepared for the competitiveness of the pupillage market? The BPC is expensive (typically £18,000 to £19,000 for the course), and a significant proportion of people who complete it do not secure pupillage at their desired chambers, or do not secure it at all. The solicitor route involves competitive applications but the training contract, once secured, is a confirmed route to qualification. The bar route involves an additional high-stakes competitive stage after completing the vocational training.
What does your academic record look like, and is a first or upper second genuinely achievable? Both professions are competitive at the top end. Top commercial chambers typically expect a first or strong upper second and strong advocacy performance. Top commercial law firms have similar academic expectations. Neither is the "easier" route academically. The difference is in what the career involves once you are there.
Can you switch between the two?
Yes, and it happens more than most candidates realise. Solicitors who develop an interest in advocacy can qualify as solicitor-advocates with rights of audience in higher courts. Some solicitors retrain as barristers. Some barristers move into in-house roles or join solicitor firms in advisory positions. The two professions are less rigidly separate than they were, and a career that starts in one can evolve toward the other.
This is worth knowing when making the initial decision, because the choice does not have to be permanent. What it does involve is committing to a specific qualification route that shapes the early career. If you are genuinely uncertain, the solicitor route offers slightly more flexibility in the early years: training contracts are funded, the qualification is structured, and the skills developed (drafting, client management, legal analysis) are broadly transferable. The bar involves a more specific bet on advocacy as a career.
Ready to take the next step?
If you are leaning toward the solicitor route and want to understand how to approach training contract and vacation scheme applications, our training contracts hub and vacation schemes hub cover everything from what the process involves to how to position your application competitively.
The Future Trainee Academy covers the full solicitor application process from a recruiter who has interviewed over 10,000 candidates, including written applications, psychometric tests, and assessment centres. Free to access.
Law Careers
Barrister vs Solicitor: What Is the Difference and Which Career Is Right for You?
A complete guide to the differences between barristers and solicitors, what each career involves day to day, how to qualify for each, and how to decide which route suits you.
EO Careers Team
If you are exploring routes into the legal profession, our Law Careers hub covers practice areas, qualification routes, salaries, and the skills that matter in applications.
Most people asking "what is the difference between a barrister and a solicitor?" are really asking a more specific question: which one should I try to become? The two roles are genuinely different in ways that matter for career decisions, but they are also frequently misunderstood, partly because of how the profession portrays itself and partly because of how courtroom dramas have shaped public perception. This guide covers what each role actually involves, how the qualification routes work, what the careers look like in practice, and the considerations that actually help you decide.
What solicitors do
A solicitor is a lawyer who advises clients directly. Most solicitors work in private practice at law firms, advising businesses or individuals on a wide range of legal matters. Others work in-house at companies, in government, or at public sector organisations.
The day-to-day work depends heavily on the practice area. A corporate solicitor at a large commercial firm spends most of their time advising on transactions: acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings. A real estate solicitor works on property transactions. An employment solicitor advises on disputes, redundancies, and contracts. A family law solicitor handles divorce, financial settlements, and child arrangements. The common thread across all of these is that solicitors are primarily advisers: they manage client relationships, draft documents, analyse legal issues, and steer clients through complex processes.
Solicitors do appear in court, but less frequently than most people assume, and it depends significantly on the practice area. A commercial litigator at a large firm may attend court hearings and manage High Court proceedings. A conveyancing solicitor almost never does. Many solicitors build entire careers without regular courtroom appearances. Where advocacy is required, solicitors either do it themselves (they have rights of audience in lower courts, and higher courts with additional qualification) or instruct a barrister.
The client relationship is central to a solicitor's role in a way that it typically is not for a barrister. Solicitors build ongoing relationships with clients, manage matters across extended time periods, and act as the primary point of contact for legal advice. This is one of the most significant practical differences between the two professions.
What barristers do
A barrister is a specialist advocate and legal advisor who is typically instructed by solicitors rather than by clients directly. The traditional model is that a client goes to a solicitor, the solicitor handles the ongoing matter and client relationship, and when specialist advocacy or advice is needed, the solicitor instructs a barrister.
The core of barrister work is advocacy: presenting arguments in court, tribunals, and other formal proceedings. A criminal barrister might spend their week prosecuting or defending in Crown Court. A commercial barrister might appear in the Commercial Court or Court of Appeal, or before an arbitration panel. A planning barrister might represent developers or objectors at planning inquiries. Alongside advocacy, barristers provide written opinions on complex legal questions and advise on the merits and strategy of cases.
The independent bar is the traditional structure: most barristers are self-employed and operate from chambers, which are essentially shared administrative hubs rather than firms. Chambers provide clerking services (who manage diary, fees, and instruction allocation), support staff, and shared rooms, but barristers within chambers are not employees of each other. They are independent practitioners sharing facilities. This structure means that a barrister's income and workload depend significantly on the instructions they receive and the strength of their individual reputation.
In-house barristers do exist, working within the legal teams of companies or public bodies, but the independent bar remains the dominant model and the one most people are referring to when they talk about becoming a barrister.
How the professions interact
The distinction between the two professions has blurred considerably over the last two decades. Solicitors now have rights of audience in most courts following additional qualification. Barristers can in some circumstances accept instructions directly from clients without a solicitor intermediary, under the Direct Access scheme. Both professions have expanded their scope.
Despite this, the practical division of labour remains fairly consistent in practice. Solicitors handle the bulk of client-facing advisory work and case management. Barristers handle specialist advocacy and complex legal opinions. A major commercial litigation matter at a large firm will typically involve a team of solicitors managing the case and instructing specialist barristers for hearings, with counsel working alongside the solicitor team throughout.
This interaction matters for career decisions because it shapes what each profession actually involves. Choosing a career as a barrister and expecting regular client relationship management is likely to lead to disappointment. Choosing a career as a solicitor and expecting the kind of high-stakes oral advocacy associated with the bar is also likely to disappoint unless you practice in litigation. The question is which combination of skills and daily activities suits you.
The qualification routes
The paths to qualifying as a solicitor and barrister diverged significantly with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination in 2021. They now look quite different.
Qualifying as a solicitor
Since September 2021, the route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales is through the SQE framework. Candidates must pass SQE1 (two multiple-choice assessments covering Functioning Legal Knowledge across all major practice areas) and SQE2 (six skills assessments covering legal research, writing, drafting, advocacy, interviewing, and case analysis). They must also complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience, which can be accumulated across up to four organisations and includes a wide range of legal work including paralegal roles and pro bono.
Most candidates at large commercial firms take the SQE through a law school (Barbri, BARBRI, University of Law, BPP, or others) funded by their training contract firm, alongside a period of paid work experience that constitutes their QWE. For a full explanation of how this works, see our SQE guide.
Law degree or non-law degree both work as entry points, with non-law graduates typically completing a pre-SQE preparation programme rather than the old GDL conversion. Most large commercial firms fund this preparation and pay a maintenance grant during the study period.
Qualifying as a barrister
The route to the bar runs through the Bar Training Route. After a qualifying law degree (or a non-law degree plus the Graduate Diploma in Law), candidates complete the Bar Practice Course (BPC), formerly called the BPTC, at one of the approved providers. The BPC is a one-year full-time course (or part-time equivalent) focused on the skills of advocacy, legal research, drafting, and professional ethics.
After completing the BPC, candidates must be called to the bar by one of the four Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, or Middle Temple) and complete at least 12 qualifying sessions (educational and social events) with their Inn. Call to the bar happens before pupillage.
Pupillage is the vocational training period: one year of supervised practice in chambers, divided into a non-practising six months (where the pupil observes their supervisor's work and completes training exercises) and a practising six months (where the pupil can appear in court). Pupillage is extremely competitive. The number of pupillages available across all chambers is significantly smaller than the number of candidates who complete the BPC each year, and securing pupillage at a reputable set in a competitive area can take multiple application cycles.
The key structural difference
The solicitor route, while competitive at large commercial firms, involves a training contract or QWE position that provides both training and income. Pupillage at the bar, by contrast, is typically funded at a minimum level set by the Bar Standards Board (£12,418 per annum in London and £10,151 outside London as of 2024) with some chambers paying significantly more and others paying the minimum. The period between completing the BPC and securing pupillage can be lengthy and financially demanding, with no guarantee of success.
What the careers look like day to day
The practical differences between the two careers are better understood through what a typical week involves rather than through abstract role descriptions.
A first or second-year solicitor at a large commercial firm will typically spend most of their week on due diligence tasks, drafting documents, reviewing contracts, attending client calls, and assisting on transactions or matters under the supervision of a more senior lawyer. The work is predominantly written and advisory, conducted mostly in the office or remotely, and involves close collaboration with the client team. Hours are often long, particularly on active deals, but the work is varied and the career progression to senior associate and partner involves increasing client responsibility and business development.
A junior barrister in the first years of tenancy (the period after pupillage when a barrister has been accepted as a permanent member of chambers) will spend much of their week in court or preparing for court: reading briefs, writing skeleton arguments, preparing cross-examination, and attending hearings. Criminal barristers often work across multiple courts in a single week. Civil and commercial barristers may have longer preparation periods between hearings on complex matters. The work is more independent and performance-driven than a solicitor's career: a barrister's reputation is built appearance by appearance, and the quality of advocacy directly affects the instructions received.
Earnings: what each profession actually pays
Earnings in both professions vary enormously depending on the tier of the market and the practice area.
For solicitors, the salary progression is well-documented and relatively predictable at large commercial firms. Trainees at Magic Circle firms currently earn between £56,000 and £61,000. Newly qualified solicitors at the same firms earn £150,000. US firms in London pay trainees £60,000 to £70,000 and NQ solicitors £170,000 to £180,000. At smaller regional firms, trainee salaries start around £28,000 and NQ salaries range from £35,000 to £50,000 depending on location and firm type.
For barristers, the range is wider and less predictable. Junior criminal legal aid barristers can earn very little in the early years: legal aid rates are set by government and have been criticised by the bar for decades as unsustainably low. Commercial barristers at established London sets can earn very significant sums once they build a strong practice, with QCs (now King's Counsel) at the top commercial bar earning several million pounds per year. The variance is extreme and the early career income at the bar, particularly in publicly funded work, is substantially lower than the solicitor route at comparable firms.
For a full breakdown of solicitor salaries from trainee to partner across every tier of the market, see our law firm salaries guide.
How to decide which route suits you
The question of whether to pursue a career as a barrister or solicitor is not primarily about prestige. Both professions offer interesting, demanding careers with significant scope for specialisation and progression. The decision is better made on the basis of what the work actually involves and what kind of professional you want to become.
A few genuine questions are more useful than the general comparison:
Do you want to be in court regularly, or do you prefer advisory and transactional work? Courtroom advocacy is central to the barrister's role and relatively peripheral to most solicitor practices outside litigation. If the prospect of oral argument, cross-examination, and hearings is genuinely exciting to you, the bar is worth seriously considering. If the advisory, drafting, and client management dimensions of legal work are what appeal, the solicitor route fits better.
How do you feel about financial uncertainty in the early career? The solicitor route at a commercial firm offers a clearly structured salary progression. The bar offers greater potential upside over a career but a more uncertain path in the early years, particularly in criminal and publicly funded practice. This is not a reason to avoid the bar but it is a real consideration, particularly for candidates without significant financial support during a potentially extended pre-pupillage period.
Do you want ongoing client relationships, or do you prefer working across different cases without long-term client ties? Solicitors build sustained relationships with clients that can last years or decades. Barristers are typically instructed for specific matters and then move on. Some people find the solicitor's model of deep client relationship more rewarding; others prefer the variety and independence of the barrister's approach.
Are you prepared for the competitiveness of the pupillage market? The BPC is expensive (typically £18,000 to £19,000 for the course), and a significant proportion of people who complete it do not secure pupillage at their desired chambers, or do not secure it at all. The solicitor route involves competitive applications but the training contract, once secured, is a confirmed route to qualification. The bar route involves an additional high-stakes competitive stage after completing the vocational training.
What does your academic record look like, and is a first or upper second genuinely achievable? Both professions are competitive at the top end. Top commercial chambers typically expect a first or strong upper second and strong advocacy performance. Top commercial law firms have similar academic expectations. Neither is the "easier" route academically. The difference is in what the career involves once you are there.
Can you switch between the two?
Yes, and it happens more than most candidates realise. Solicitors who develop an interest in advocacy can qualify as solicitor-advocates with rights of audience in higher courts. Some solicitors retrain as barristers. Some barristers move into in-house roles or join solicitor firms in advisory positions. The two professions are less rigidly separate than they were, and a career that starts in one can evolve toward the other.
This is worth knowing when making the initial decision, because the choice does not have to be permanent. What it does involve is committing to a specific qualification route that shapes the early career. If you are genuinely uncertain, the solicitor route offers slightly more flexibility in the early years: training contracts are funded, the qualification is structured, and the skills developed (drafting, client management, legal analysis) are broadly transferable. The bar involves a more specific bet on advocacy as a career.
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