Pump Court Tax Chambers - True Picture

Pump Court Tax Chambers pupillage review 2025

The Chambers

There are three things you need to know about tax: it’s complex, everyone is going to have to deal with it at some point in their lives, and it’s “the best practice area,” according to one Pump Court pupil. It certainly might not get this reputation on a broader scale but, for those in the know, the practice is far more than just numbers. As this pupil interviewee continued, “There’s lots of pure tax which involves difficult legal interpretations and agreed facts, but sometimes it’s more of a peripheral part of the matter. I’ve done pieces about contract law, company law, insolvency, land, charities, EU and public law. You’d think going into a niche area would mean the work’s more restricted, but it’s counterintuitively more varied!” Case in point: Barbara Belgrano and Kevin Prosser KC represented Inmarsat in a matter concerning the capital allowances of launching satellites into space. David Yates KC was also involved in a landfill matter on behalf of Veolia, arguing that fluff (bags of soft material used to protect landfill sites) are not waste and should be exempted from the landfill tax charge.

“I’m a big believer in juniors testing everything…”

Now we’ve done our due diligence and introduced you to the world of tax, let us welcome you to Pump Court Tax Chambers. “We’re the largest specialist tax set in the country,” director of clerking Mark Rushton outlines. “And, when you break down our work, it’s probably around two thirds litigation, and one third advisory. Individually, some of our barristers exclusively do advisory work, while others are never out of court.” So, long story short, don’t let the word ‘specialist’ put you off if variety appeals – there’s still plenty of it here, and from day one. Rushton continues, “I’m a big believer in juniors testing everything so, in the early years from pupillage to around year two of tenancy, they need to be exposed to all the different things in chambers.” This might include anything from corporate and banking to trusts and private client, and instructions come from an equally broad pool. “Magic circle firms might come to us for the higher-end litigation, and we’re also instructed by boutique firms and accountants, big four or otherwise,” Rushton explains. “We also do public access work and work for the government, so there’s certainly a healthy client base.”

As you might expect from such a niche set, PCTC is recognised by Chambers UK Bar as top of the market across its headline areas: corporate tax, indirect tax and private client tax. The latter even picks up another shiny accolade from the Chambers High Net Worth guide. But, apart from holding onto this reputation, what else is in store for PCTC? First things first, Rushton predicts that the new government will have an effect on tax law, “as it always does, but it’s still too early to tell. What I can say is that it’s very busy at the moment, and I expect it to remain busy for the foreseeable.”

The Pupillage Experience

PCTC’s pupillage structure is quite unique, and doesn’t neatly fit into two halves like it may do at most other sets. While there are two broad distinctions – “the emphasis in the first part is on learning and teaching, while the second part focuses on assessment,” said a junior – seat patterns are more flexible. Pupils have a gentler introduction to life at the set with their first supervisor and sit with them for three months up until Christmas. This member of chambers then stays on as the pupil’s main supervisor to sign off on anything official throughout pupillage, but we heard that newbies might have anywhere from six to 13(!) supervisors over the year. After Christmas, pupils then have around four one-month seats, followed by multiple short, roughly two-week-long seats with very senior members of chambers in quick succession. Pupillage certainly gathers momentum in the nine months leading up to the tenancy decision, with a greater focus on “filling in the gaps” once it’s decided a pupil will be staying on, says pupillage committee member Sam Glover.

Exposure to so many supervisors certainly has plenty of benefits in the long run. As a pupil articulated, “I get to work with a lot of different people who I’ll hopefully work with as a junior in the future.” Supervisors naturally play a different role at different stages during pupillage, whether that’s teaching or assessment. Similarly, pupils also have a mentor throughout pupillage who cannot contribute to the tenancy decision, meaning they can offer pastoral support and answer any questions that might not be best directed towards a supervisor. With so many point people and at such a cosy set, this means that “most barristers here of 10 years’ call and above will be regularly involved in the process,” says Glover. What’s more, the pupillage committee also helps rookies keep track of what work they’ve seen so far. According to a junior, “the idea is that you’ll have a good grounding in just about every area of tax that chambers deals in by the end of pupillage.”

“They wanted to debate things with me and hear my ideas.”

It’s a bit tricky to define exactly what pupils get up to without listing every kind of work that’s done in chambers. As such, areas can include corporate cases, VAT, customs and private client work, on both the contentious and advisory sides. As you might expect, pupils have more of an input in their matters as they progress: “At the beginning, I was observing conferences and hearings, and just getting to know how things work while reading up on legislation. As I got better, I was making more of a contribution, and my work could more realistically be used as a starting point for my supervisors. They wanted to debate things with me and hear my ideas.” Live work makes up the majority of pupils’ workload, though a junior explained that “they might use historic work to fill in gaps when it makes more sense. There’s a healthy mix of both depending on what your supervisor happens to be working on.” This means that some typical tasks include reading up on issues, writing research notes, drafting skeleton arguments and opinions, and attending hearings and strategy discussions. Even though there’s no practising second six, this meant that one pupil still got to “see the cut and thrust of litigation. I even worked late a few times assisting the junior on a nine-day hearing – it was very exciting!”

Pupils have two opportunities to practise getting on their feet via assessed moots. Co-pupils moot against each other, though a junior tenant stressed that “it’s not competitive at all. You’re not competing to win the case, but trying to do as good a job as possible.” Members of chambers turn up to watch the moots, which one pupil recalled as similar to “being part of a sports team in a stadium and being watched by my own fans. It was a supportive atmosphere where I felt bolstered in spirit.” Glover explains that the moots themselves are “straightforward,” and a pupil added that “they test different skills. The second was more difficult in some ways as it was a substantive piece of tax law that involved quite a lot of research.” While there’s a formal, objective assessment system for these moots, insiders explained that they’re followed up by plenty of informal advice: “There’s a drinks reception after where everyone congratulated me and gave me feedback. It’s very collaborative.”

Feedback remains consistent throughout pupillage, with a mixture of formal discussions and more casual chats on submitted work. Pupils also have discussions with the head of the pupillage committee at regular intervals where they “collate feedback from various people you’ve spent time with and bring it back to you.” Overall, however, Glover explains that “feedback will be less formal at the beginning. You still get feedback on everything you do, but it’s freer discussion.” Work starts to be assessed at the four-month mark, before really kicking off in the final six. This means all work will be assessed and will contribute to the tenancy decision, so feedback here is “more formal, focusing on why work is good and where it could be improved. Ultimately, the first and second six sit in different boxes, and the first is all about setting you up for the second,” says Glover. So, regular feedback, progress monitoring and interaction with so many people across chambers all mean that pupils can typically have a good sense of where they’re at by the time the tenancy decision rolls around. All assessed written work and moots count towards this, and Glover emphasises that “it’s very transparent. You don’t have to get your name known to people beforehand because the people who are making the decision have already seen your work.”

“They programmed the doors so that our codes wouldn’t open them before 8.30am or after 6.30pm. We had to be out of chambers by then!”

Rushton reminds us that “the intellect is a given, but the culture is fantastic. There’s a real, genuine cohesion here. It’s a very friendly set with lots of people who are passionate about tax and want to instil that passion in others.” Indeed, more junior interviewees had also noticed that “they really like teaching here.” This meant that adjectives such as “academic” and “brainy” popped up a lot in our research, but we also heard this is balanced with a healthy social appetite. As Rushton details, “we’re not out partying every night, but we make sure that people have an occasion to chat when they’re in the office.” For our pupil interviewee, a shining aspect of the culture was the care for pupils, and the concerted effort to avoid unnecessary presenteeism: “They were worried about us feeling pressure to be seen working long hours, so they programmed the doors so that our codes wouldn’t open them before 8.30am or after 6.30pm. We had to be out of chambers by then!”

The Application Process

PCTC starts its application on the Gateway with the standard form and a problem question. “This year it was applying an extract from an authority to some different fact patterns. It’s not too in-depth,” Glover explains. Those who are successful at this stage make it to a first-round interview, where there is another problem to discuss after some typical CV questions, which are aimed to prompt “a bit of human interaction,” says Glover. “We want to get interviewees relaxed so that we can get a good idea of how they work through the problem. We won’t get a decent idea if they’re stressed or distracted.” The problem question here is usually about applying a piece of statute, and Glover advises that it “might involve all sorts of different law, but we want you to focus specifically on one extract.” He also suggests that, “If you’re asked a question of this versus that, a good way to do badly is responding with, ‘I can see arguments on both sides.’ Ultimately, the job isn’t about being sure where you can’t be sure, but it’s about being decisive.”

“We’re trying to find people who are going to be incredible tax barristers in ten years’ time.”

A piece of written work precedes the final interview stage, which focuses on candidates’ response to the question. So, while there are plenty of tests with a legal focus, Glover insists that “we’re certainly not testing tax knowledge. Most people don’t have any tax experience, so we’re trying to find people who are going to be incredible tax barristers in ten years’ time. That’s a difficult thing to do directly, which is why we spend so much of the interview process applying reasoning across fact patterns.” As a junior tenant highlights, qualities such as “a healthy level of intellectual curiosity and a real thoroughness” will go a long way here, while CVs become less relevant after the first interview. However, it would be remiss of us to not mention the resources on offer here; PCTC has webinars on its website with examples of mock interviews to give applicants a clearer idea of how the process works.