The Law Development Centre (LDC) has announced that it will not admit new students for the Bar Course in 2025, citing ongoing infrastructural and staffing constraints. The next intake for the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice will resume in January 2026.
In a statement released on August 4, 2025, LDC clarified that the suspension is due to its continued accommodation of a double intake from the 2024/2025 academic year—a one-time measure introduced to manage an unprecedented rise in student numbers. That cohort is scheduled to complete their studies in December 2025.
“The current intake was done in two batches to manage numbers, but due to human resource and infrastructural constraints, another admission before December is not possible,” LDC stated.
To address longstanding challenges in legal education access and decentralisation, the Cabinet has approved the repeal of the Law Development Centre Act (Cap. 251). This reform paves the way for the creation of a National Legal Examinations Centre, a body that will oversee standardised training and examination for the Bar Course across accredited institutions and law schools nationwide.
The proposed legal framework aims to broaden access to legal training while maintaining rigorous national standards. Under the new system, the National Legal Examinations Centre will administer a unified national exam required to earn the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
In a move to regulate admission volumes without compromising quality, LDC has also announced that a pre-entry examination will be required for those seeking admission in 2026. Detailed guidelines, including exam dates and eligibility requirements, will be published by September 1, 2025, through national newspapers and LDC’s official social media channels.
The announcement has significant implications for recent law graduates who had been awaiting clarification on when the next Bar Course intake would open. With this guidance, aspiring advocates now have a clear timeline for preparing both for the pre-entry examination and subsequent enrollment.
The reforms mark a pivotal moment for Uganda’s legal education system, as they promise to resolve long-standing concerns over overcrowding and the centralisation of Bar Course training while introducing a more accessible and standardised national model.
