Inns of Court School of Law

The Inns of Court School of Law, often abbreviated to ICSL, is a professional legal training institution based in London in Gray's Inn. Up until 1999 the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar Vocational Course, the obligatory professional training for would-be barristers in England and Wales, before they commence pupillage.

The ICSL was originally founded by the Council for Legal Education, which was responsible for unifying the education for barristers in 1852, but now the school is part of, and administered by, the City Law School, City University, London. From July 2008 the name Inns of Court School of Law will be dropped and The City Law School brand will be used instead.

The School now also teaches the Legal Practice Course for would-be solicitors. In 2007 it received the highest grading from the Law Society for its provision. The School also provides a range of Continuing Professional Development courses, including an Master of Laws (LLM) programme.

As might perhaps be expected from the institution which had a monopoly on half of the legal training in a large jurisdiction for nearly a century and a half, the alumni of the ICSL includes many judges, Queen's Counsel, and distinguished academics. Others who went on to achieve the highest distinction include four British Prime Ministers - Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Clement Attlee and Herbert Asquith - Mahatma Gandhi, M A Jinnah (first Governor General of Pakistan), and Jawaharlal Nehru (first Prime Minister of India).