How to Apply

Important update: From September 2025, all Call to the Bar applications must be submitted exclusively via GIOS. Applications sent by email will no longer be accepted.

Apply for Call to the Bar

• Your Application for Call

  Your Application for Call

  • A completed online Petition for Call to the Bar
  • A certified copy of your final undergraduate degree certificate
  • A certified copy of your final GDL certificate (if applicable)
  • A passport-style photograph of yourself:

  • Taken within the last 2 months
  • Against a plain white background
  • Free from filters or editing

• Certifying documents

  Certifying documents

  All certified copies must include:

  • An official stamp or seal (e.g., from a university or professional body), and
  • A signed statement from the certifier confirming the document is a true likeness of the original.

  Some Post Offices offer document certification services. For further details, please visit the post office website.

• What to Expect After Submission

  What to Expect After Submission

  Once submitted, please allow up to two weeks for confirmation of receipt and a review of your application.  Applications are reviewed strictly in the order they are received. We appreciate your patience during this process. You will then be given deadlines to provide outstanding documentation and to complete compliance steps. You will be invited to pay once your compliance checks are complete. We advise you to not make any travel arrangements until your place is confirmed.

• Callee Costs

  Callee Costs

  Once you have completed all compliance requirements, you will be invited to pay your Call fees through your GIOS (Gray’s Inn Online System) account.

  Call Cost: £115

• Guest Costs

  Guest Costs

  Item	Cost
  Adults (aged 12+)	£35
  Children (aged 5–11)	£15
  Children (under 5)	Free

  For an in-person Call ceremony with two guests, the standard costs are as follows:

  Item	Cost
  Call fee	£115
  Guest 1 (optional)	£35
  Guest 2 (optional)	£35
  Total	£185

  Please note: These costs are valid from 1 January 2025 and may be subject to change.

• Call in Absentia

  Call in Absentia

  Permission to be Called in absentia is granted only in exceptional circumstances.

  To request Call in absentia:

  1. Complete the Call application form via GIOS.
  2. Include on your application form a written request outlining:
     • Your desire to be Called in absentia
     • The reason(s) you are unable to attend the ceremony in person

  Please note that all absentia requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and approval is not guaranteed.