Judicial Outreach Mentoring Scheme

Please note

The scheme opened on 10 March 2025 and will close on 4 April 2025, or when all available spaces have been filled, whichever comes first. If you find you are unable to register for the current scheme because it has been closed, please keep checking back for any new information, or announcements.

Am I eligible?

The scheme is open to barristers, solicitors, Fellows of the Chartered Legal Executives and professionally qualified legal academics who are either:

Lawyers from an ethnic minority background
Lawyers who attended a (non-fee paying) state school
Lawyers who were the first generation in their family to attend university

Applicants must be seeking an appointment in the next two years (or at the next available opportunity).

What can I get out of the scheme?

As part of our new approach, we will aim to provide comprehensive support to participants, such as networking opportunities and regular check-ins throughout the 6-month duration of the scheme. Due to a shortage of judges in certain geographical locations, we will now offer the option for the mentoring to be conducted face to face, online, or a combination of both.

The purpose of this scheme will be to provide a safe environment for lawyers to:

Share issues inhibiting their application to judicial office (e.g. concerns of work/life balance, self-confidence, self-perception) and receive confidential advice, support and guidance from a mentor judge
Learn from someone with greater understanding of the judiciary
Establish what skills and experiences are needed to support their application to judicial office
Identify areas where further development and experience is required and consider how these may be acquired
Decide whether or not taking up judicial office is an option they want to pursue

Who would mentor me?

The scheme is being supported by salaried judges from the Courts and Tribunals who have volunteered their time to act as judicial mentors.

How do I apply?

You can apply to the Judicial Outreach Mentoring Scheme through the online application form. If you have previously applied to the Judicial Work Shadowing Scheme, your details will already be stored in the database and you will be able to access your account by resetting your password.

To reset your password, please click: ‘Forgotten your password’ and enter the email address that you previously used to register to the scheme. You will receive an email with a link to reset your password.

Once you are logged on, please update your Personal Details, Professional Background, Career History and Diversity Information within your Personal Profile. You can then click “My Mentor Applications” and then “Add new record”.

If you have not received an email from the system, please check your SPAM folders.

Please contact the Judicial Outreach Mentoring Scheme if you incur any problems with the application form: judicialoutreachmentoringscheme@judiciary.uk.

Once we have received your application, the Judicial Office will identify a mentor who matches your requirements as close as we possibly can because it won’t always be possible to meet all your preferences. The aim will be to match a mentor who currently holds, or who has held, the judicial role of interest and who is based within reasonable travelling distance. Previous participants of the scheme appreciated the varied experience that judges bring, which is why we think you will benefit from being mentored by any judge regardless of their current role. This also means that applicants won’t have to wait too long to be matched up.

Once a suitable match has been identified, you will be provided with the mentor’s contact details so that you can make the initial approach.

In the event that the Judicial Office is unable to identify a suitable mentor at the time of your application, you will be notified and invited to apply when the scheme opens again.

How can I find out more?

If you have any further questions about how the scheme operates, please email Judicial Outreach Mentoring Scheme

Judicial Mentoring Scheme – Videos

There are a number of videos on this page, which will give the viewers a better understanding of the relationship that exists between a mentor and a mentee. The Judicial Mentoring scheme helps build confidence for newly appointed judges. Judge Head-Rapson & Judge Hammond discuss how they first became involved in the Judicial Mentoring Scheme, […]