Key dates, locations and rules

Rules

1. Entering the Bar Mock Trial Competition

• To enter the Bar Mock Trial Competition, you must first register for a Young Citizens account, complete the online application form, and pay the full entry fee (see point 3).
• By entering the competition, the ‘lead teacher’ assumes responsibility for preparing the team, disseminating the relevant resources, ensuring that their team attends the heat on the relevant day of the competition on time and making sure that the team is fully supervised during the day. This responsibility may be shared with an additional ‘support teacher’ in your school.
• The relevant teachers must remain communicative and inform Young Citizens in writing if circumstances in their school have changed that may impact their team’s participation in the competition. Non-communication may result in you losing your place in the competition.

2. Entry requirements: your team

• The competition is open to students aged 15 to 18 from non-fee-paying schools and education providers in the British Isles (years 10 – 13 in England and Wales, years 11 – 14 in Northern Ireland and S4 – S6 in Scotland).
• Teams are between 10 – 15 students (16 in Scotland) and each school can enter a maximum of one team.
• Your team needs to be prepared to compete on a Saturday during heat weekends. Some online heats may take place on weekdays.

3. Entry fee

• The standard entry fee of £250 entitles you to competition preparation material, video resources, ongoing support from the Young Citizens Mock Trials team, cases and an allocation to a regional heat. Where possible, this will also include provision of a barrister mentor.
• For £310 (£250 competition fees plus £80 for the resources), the Bar Mock Trial PLUS membership includes unlimited access for 12 months to more than twenty-five lessons, which tackle a number of SMSC, Citizenship and PSHE themes using the topic of the law, as well as the benefits listed above.
• The entry fee must be received within 30 days of your invoice or final date of payment for your school to be allocated a place in the competition, be considered for a barrister mentor and receive the case materials.
• Please note, invoices will be due (according to the organisation-wide agreed payment terms) within 30 days of the invoice date OR by the final payment deadline above, depending on which comes first.
• Schools who have not paid by the last payment date may not be able to participate.

4. Allocation

• Allocations will not be processed until both your application form and entry fee have been received.
• Each year of the competition we receive more applications than we have places available. Priority will be given to applications in the following order:

1. 1. new schools which have applied before the deadline, or schools which we consider will help to meet our goals of increasing social mobility and social inclusion through the programme;
   2. reserve schools which were not placed in the previous year and have applied before the deadline;
   3. schools that participated in the competition in the previous year and have applied before the deadline;
   4. schools that have applied after the deadline; and
   5. schools that have previously failed to attend heats with little/no notice.

• Any virtual heats will take place in January. Most heats will take place on a Saturday. You will be notified if this is not the case.

5. Waiting list 

• We aim to provide all teams with a place in the competition but if a heat is oversubscribed, we may allocate you a reserve place on the waiting list.
• Reserve teams should prepare for the competition, however will only be allocated a place at the heat if another school withdraws. You will be notified via email if your reserve team is later allocated a place in the competition.
• All reserve schools will be given the option to participate in an online heat.

6. Withdrawals

• You must actively inform, via email, a member of the Young Citizens team of your intention to withdraw.
• The deadline for refunded withdrawals is Wednesday 1st October. Withdrawals on or before this date will receive a full refund minus a £40 administration fee. Withdrawals after this date will not be refunded.
• Withdrawals after the deadline cause considerable logistical problems for us and may affect our ability to place you in the competition in future years.

7. Venues

• We are committed to delivering a mock trial experience for everyone who is allocated a place next year in some form at the locations listed. We will be using the following approach when deciding venues for next year:

1. 1. Courts – We are currently checking in with courts nationally to see if they are able to accommodate us for next cycle. If they confirm we are able to use the court building, this will be the venue we use.
   2. Alternative Venues – If courts are unable to host us, we will try and secure alternative venues in the local area such as halls, universities etc.
   3. Online Competition – If both the above options are not possible, we will host the competition online using a platform such as Zoom.

• Please note: this may mean that the structure of the heats differs slightly depending on location.

8. Preparation: resources

• Guides for each student role, and a Schools’ Guide to prepare for trial will have been released on application. These resources are amended on an annual basis so please make sure to read them even if your school has participated before.
• Once you have been successful with your application and been allocated a place at a regional heat, you will receive two specially written criminal cases. You must prepare both defence and prosecution for both cases.

9. Preparation: roles in your team

• Each team should consist of four barristers/advocates, four witnesses, one clerk, one usher/macer and five jury members (six in Scotland).
• Each student role is provided with specific guidelines on how to prepare for their role.
• Your team will present a clerk when prosecuting a case and an usher/macer when defending.
• If you are unable to make up a team of 15, you can compete with as few as 8 students if you double up on certain roles. Please see FAQs as to how this works.

10. Preparation: additional support

• We offer video resources demonstrating key advocacy skills to help assist your team during preparation.
• Where possible, we aim to provide schools new to the competition with a mentor (either a legal professional or law student) to help with preparations. These are volunteers who give up their time to support teams to understand court etiquette and the art of advocacy. They will not go through the case itself or help with building arguments. Please note that provision of a mentor is not guaranteed and is subject to availability.
• We send out regular school newsletters once applications have closed. These outline the preparation stage you need to focus on with your team at each stage and will highlight any additional support/resources available.
• We will host online teacher support sessions from September until regional heats commence; content will be customised to include key information relevant to that stage of the Bar Mock Trial competition.
• The Mock Trials team at Young Citizens is available throughout the process with phone or email assistance to provide support throughout the competition cycle.

11. Expenses

• We are unable to provide support for travel to, or accommodation for, the regional heats or National Final.
• Please ensure that you have considered the cost implications of participating in the competition before applying.

12. Heat day: what happens?

• At the regional heat, teams will argue two cases across three rounds. In Rounds 1 and 3, you will use Case 1 and have the opportunity to argue both on behalf of the prosecution and the defence. In Round 2, all teams will argue either on behalf of the prosecution or the defence of Case 2. Where possible, you will find out which side you are presenting in each round by the Wednesday before your regional heat.
• NOTE: Schools should still prepare the prosecution and defence of both cases because the draw is subject to change.
• The winning team will be selected on points after the three rounds; a Q&A session will take place after the trials, allowing students to benefit from additional time with and feedback from judges.

13. Judging

• Each participating student (apart from those on the jury) is given a score out of ten for their performance by a judge. There is also a team score out of ten for each round.
• The scoring is based on criteria such as clarity, quality of arguments, accuracy, non-reliance on notes and timekeeping.
• Judges’ decisions are always final and cannot be appealed.
• The verdict of the trial (guilty or not guilty) is decided by the jury, but has no relevance to the scoring and therefore progression in the competition.

14. Overall scoring

• Total team scores are decided by the cumulative point difference over three rounds. For example, if a team wins Round One by 4 points, loses Round Two by 1 point and then wins Round Three by 2 Points, they will have a total of +5 points as well as 2 trial wins.
• The team with the most trial wins and/or the highest point difference over Rounds 1, 2 and 3 will progress on to the National Final.

Need further help?

See our frequently asked questions page for quick answers to common questions. If you have any questions about our Mock Trial Competitions, email us at or call us on 020 7566 4141.

Please see terms and conditions for further details.