The Nigerian Law School has issued a notice to students of the 2024/2025 Academic Session whose results in the December 2025 Bar Final Examinations were withheld, announcing a structured make-up programme covering externship placements, portfolio defence, and dinner requirements that must be completed before their results can be released.
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The notice, signed by the Secretary to the Council and Director of Administration, provides affected students with specific dates, application procedures, and documentation requirements, with the earliest deadline being April 27, 2026, when applications must be submitted and the court externship programme simultaneously begins.
The announcement comes days after the Law School released the main December 2025 Bar Final results, which showed 212 First Class graduates, over 1,000 outright failures, 314 conditional passes, and 210 absent candidates out of 7,602 registered students. The withheld results represent an additional category of students whose examination performance may have been satisfactory but whose results cannot be released because they failed to complete mandatory non-examination requirements during the academic session.
The Law School’s notice identifies two categories of deficiencies that led to results being withheld.
The first category involves students who were absent from or failed the Portfolio Assessment. The Portfolio Assessment is a component of the Law School’s practical training programme that evaluates students’ performance during their externship placements, which are mandatory periods of supervised practical experience in courts and law offices. Students who did not complete the externship, did not submit their portfolios, or whose portfolios were assessed as unsatisfactory fall into this category.
The second category involves students with deficiencies in the Dinner terms. The Nigerian Law School requires students to attend a prescribed number of formal dinners during the academic session as part of the professional socialisation process. These dinners, modelled on the dining requirements of the Inns of Court in England, are considered part of the professional training that qualifies students for call to the Nigerian Bar. Students who did not attend the required number of dinners have their results withheld until the deficiency is remedied.
In both cases, the students may have passed the Bar Final Examination itself but cannot receive their results or be called to the Bar until the outstanding requirements are satisfied.
The Law School has announced the following schedule for students to clear their deficiencies.
For externship defaulters, the make-up programme is divided into two phases. The Court Externship runs from April 27 to May 15, 2026, a period of approximately three weeks during which students will be placed in courts to gain the practical courtroom experience they missed during the regular academic session. The Law Office Externship follows immediately, running from May 18 to June 5, 2026, providing approximately three weeks of supervised experience in law offices and chambers.
The Portfolio Defence, where students present and defend their externship portfolios before assessors, is scheduled for June 9, 2026, giving students four days after the conclusion of the law office externship to prepare their portfolios for assessment.
For dinner defaulters, make-up dinner dates have been scheduled for May 12 to 14, 2026, a three-day window during which students can attend the formal dinners they missed and fulfil their dining requirements.
Law School Announces Make-Up Programme For Dec. 2025 Bar Finals Externship & Dinner DefaultersThe Law School has specified a detailed application process that all affected students must follow.
Applications must be submitted on or before April 27, 2026, to the dedicated email address externshipdefaulters@nigerianlawschool.edu.ng. This deadline is particularly tight as it coincides with the first day of the court externship programme, meaning students must apply and be ready to commence the programme simultaneously.
Each application must contain the student’s full name, Law School application number, the location preferred for the externship, the campus of choice for the portfolio defence, and the campus for the make-up dinner.
The following documents must be attached to the application: passport photographs, a copy of the result printout from the December 2025 Bar Finals, a copy of the Law School identity card, and for dinner defaulters specifically, a Remita Retrieval Reference receipt for payment of N20,000.
The N20,000 fee applies only to students who defaulted on the dinner requirement. The notice does not specify a separate fee for externship defaulters, though students should confirm this directly with the Law School.
For the affected students, the make-up programme represents their pathway to clearing the deficiencies that stand between them and their Bar Final results, and ultimately between them and being called to the Nigerian Bar.
However, the programme imposes significant time and logistical demands. Students must be available for approximately six weeks of externship placements from late April through early June, attend dinner sessions in mid-May, and present for portfolio defence on June 9. Those who are employed, have relocated from Abuja, or face financial constraints will need to make arrangements to be present for the entire period.
The requirement to specify a location for the externship and a campus for the defence suggests the Law School may offer placements at courts and law offices in different locations, providing some flexibility for students who may not be based in Abuja.
The Nigerian Law School’s dinner requirement has historically been one of the most discussed aspects of the institution’s programme. Modelled on the English tradition where barristers-in-training must dine a prescribed number of times at their Inn of Court before being called to the Bar, the requirement is intended to expose students to the professional culture, etiquette, and social norms of the legal profession.
Students who miss dinners during the regular session, whether due to illness, financial constraints, logistical challenges, or other reasons, have their results withheld until they make up the required number. The N20,000 fee for dinner defaulters covers the cost of the make-up dinner sessions.
While the dinner tradition has supporters who view it as an important component of professional formation, critics have questioned whether it should carry the same weight as academic and practical assessments, particularly when failure to attend dinners, rather than failure in examinations, prevents otherwise qualified students from being called to the Bar.
The withheld results notice adds another layer to the complex picture emerging from the December 2025 Bar Finals.
The main results, approved by the Council of Legal Education at its second quarter meeting presided over by Chairman Chief Emeka Ngige SAN OFR, showed a cohort where approximately 79 per cent of candidates who sat the examination passed in some category, 14 per cent failed outright, and 4.1 per cent received conditional passes eligible for the May resit examination.
The students with withheld results represent a further category whose academic fate remains uncertain, not because of examination performance but because of procedural and practical requirements that must be satisfied before their results are released.
For these students, the next six weeks, from late April through early June, will determine whether they can clear their deficiencies and join their colleagues at the next Call to Bar ceremony or whether further delays await.
Key Dates For Affected Students
April 27, 2026: Application deadline and commencement of court externship.
April 27 to May 15, 2026: Court externship programme.
May 12 to 14, 2026: Make-up dinner dates for dinner defaulters.
May 18 to June 5, 2026: Law office externship programme.
June 9, 2026: Portfolio defence.
All applications should be sent to externshipdefaulters@nigerianlawschool.edu.ng with the required documentation before the April 27 deadline.
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