What is the SQE?
Your guide to understanding the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam
SQE at a glance
The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is an independent centralised assessment, introduced in September 2021, which every aspiring solicitor in England and Wales is required to undergo. It will eventually replace all current routes to solicitor qualification. We break down everything you need to know about this new path to becoming a solicitor.
Why was it introduced?
The main aim of the SQE is to ensure that all candidates meet the same single, high standard for admission into the profession. It also opens up the profession by providing flexibility during the qualification process for SQE candidates, ensuring more diversity and inclusion.
For more on this, you can read the Bridge Group report and the Hook Tangaza research findings, both of which were commissioned to assess the impact of the SQE on the legal profession and admission to it.
Traditional LPC route into qualification
Under the traditional route, to become a solicitor you were required to undergo the following steps:
Law degree
To qualify with a law degree, you must complete all of the following:
Bachelor of Laws (LLB) / Qualifying Law Degree (QLD)
A Qualifying Law Degree is an approved programme of law studies which includes the core seven foundational modules required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Most Bachelor of Laws programmes are QLDs, but it is worth checking this on the SRA website.
Duration: 2-4 academic years
Cost: £9,250 per year at UK institutions; varying amounts with foreign institutions
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
The LPC is the vocational stage of qualifying as a solicitor and is a requirement for qualifying under the traditional route.
Duration: 1 academic year full-time or 2 years part-time
Cost: £11,000 – £16,000
Training contract
A training contract (or, period of recognised training) is a graduate position that is compulsory to complete as part of qualifying via the traditional route. This is where a candidate demonstrates their competencies as a solicitor with a law firm. A training contract can only be offered to a select few candidates by their firms. Due to the small number of offers and high volume of applicants, many LPC graduates are unable to secure a training contract.
Duration: 2 years
Professional Skills Course (PSC)
The PSC is the final step before qualifying and is typically undertaken during the training contract.
This forms part of the training contract and is frequently funded by the law firm, although may require self-funding in some instances.
Non-Law Degree
To qualify with a non-law degree, you must complete all of the following:
Undergraduate degree in any subject
An undergraduate degree in any subject and from either a UK or non-UK university.
Duration: 2-4 academic years
Cost: Varies, depending on location and institution
Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)
The GDL is a conversion course for those who traditionally wished to qualify as solicitors and barristers following a non-law degree. It is also known as a Postgraduate Law Conversion course or Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice. It is currently a requirement for the LPC but is not a requirement for SQE. However, the course will remain for the purposes of the qualification of barristers.
Duration: One calendar year
Cost: Up to £12,000
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
The LPC is the vocational stage of qualifying as a solicitor and is a requirement for qualifying under the traditional route.
Duration: One academic year
Cost: £11,000 – £16,000
New SQE route into qualification
Under the new SQE route, to become a solicitor, you are required to undergo the following steps:
Undergraduate degree or equivalent
An undergraduate degree in any subject, or equivalent, obtained domestically or internationally.
Duration: 2-4 academic years
Cost: Varies
SQE1 exam
This consists of two Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) assessments. LPC graduates are exempt from the SQE1 exam. More on the exemption and the process of application for it here.
SQE2 exam
This is the stage of the practical legal skills assessment. A candidate must pass the SQE1 exam before proceeding with sitting the SQE2 exam, unless they are exempt.
Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)
Two years’ worth of qualifying work experience in up to four different organisations that can demonstrate solicitors’ skills. This can be paid or unpaid and needs to be signed off by a qualified solicitor or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP).
This can be undertaken before, during, or after the SQE assessments.
For more information on the QWE, please check the SRA website here.
Comparing LPC and SQE
If you are in the group of students who have already undertaken, or will undertake the Qualifying Law Degree, Common Professional Examination / Graduate Diploma in Law and/or the Legal Practice Course before 1 September 2021, then you can choose between the two routes until 2032. Every new graduate not yet on the traditional route now needs to take the SQE route.
Consider the differences between the two routes below:
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
Fees
- Between £11,000 - £16,000 depending on provider
- Paid directly to provider
- Include assessment fees
- 70% amount of students self-fund
Training Contract
- Must be secured to complete the process of qualification
- Two years with one firm, covering four seats of six months each
- There are a set limit of TCs available annually with firms, limiting candidate intake
Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)
Fees
- SQE1 Exam: £1,552
- SQE2 Exam: £2,422
- Exam fees paid directly to Kaplan, the exam provider.
- Preparation courses strongly recommended, payable to training provider.
Qualifying Work Experience
- Two years of legal work experience in up to four different organisations
- Can be paid or unpaid
- Can be undertaken before or after the SQE exams
- Need not be done consecutively
- Can be claimed retrospectively
- Not a requirement for foreign-qualified lawyers
- Must be signed off by a qualified solicitor or Compliance Office of Legal Practice (COLP)
The LPC is frequently referred to as the ‘tried and tested’ model, but the SQE is modelled on existing exams both from within this jurisdiction and abroad. It mirrors heavily the current Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) which is available for overseas lawyers to dual-qualify as solicitors in England and Wales. Most notably, there is a very similar method of legal qualification in the U.S. to SQE1, the Bar exams. The SQE also borrows elements of qualification from other professions, namely accountancy and medicine.
Would employers prefer the LPC or the SQE?
A large proportion of students will have no choice but to qualify under the new scheme as they will have to start the process after 1 September 2021. Employers will therefore inevitably have to transition to accepting candidates via the SQE, and given this would be their only avenue it will bear the same weight as the current route. It is worth also remembering that the purpose of the SQE was to ensure uniformity and equal weight given to all routes into the profession, provided the candidate is able to pass the requisite assessment at the completion of whatever training they undertake.
SQE for non-law graduates
If you have already undertaken the GDL and/or the LPC or would have accepted a place before 31st December 2021, then you have a choice between the two systems.
If you have a GDL, but not an LPC, and are wondering whether to apply for an LPC or go directly for the SQE, the question mainly revolves around costs and the overall timeline until admission. The LPC is costly and if not sponsored by a law firm, can result in the ‘LPC gamble’ with the risk of undertaking an expensive course of study with no guarantee of a training contract or means to qualification at the end.
If you are considering sitting the SQE, it is worth remembering that a GDL is not an SQE-specific preparation course. It will not equip you to pass the SQE unless it is specifically written with this exam in mind. Rather, the current GDL programmes equip students for the LPC as this is part of the current non-law student admission requirements.
If you have a GDL or QLD and an LPC, you are exempt from SQE1 and can proceed straight to the SQE2, after applying for an exemption from SQE1. This could significantly reduce your preparation and examination costs, and in terms of time, potentially fast-track the process to qualification.
Breakdown of the SQE exams
Both exams are administered by Kaplan. All examination fees, bookings and administration will be processed through Kaplan.
SQE1 Exam – Functional Legal Knowledge (FLK) assessment
Timings: January and July sittings every year. Get specific dates on the SRA website.
Format: Computer-based
Location: PearsonVUE centres (globally)
Exam fee from September 2023: £1,798
SQE2 Exam – Practical Legal Skills assessment
You need to pass SQE1 before proceeding to the SQE2 (unless you are exempt from SQE1).
Timings: January, April, July and October sittings from 2024. Get specific dates on the SRA website.
Format: Written and oral tasks
Location: For the oral skills: London, plus one other location in England, and one in Wales, to be confirmed. For the written skills PearsonVUE test centres (globally).
Exam fee from September 2023: £2,766
Marking
Day one (FLK1) and day two (FLK2) of the SQE1 are assessed separately and each subject in the SQE2 is assessed separately, however, the pass mark will be determined based on the overall grading for the whole of SQE1, and SQE2, respectively.
In SQE2, candidates are assessed 50% on skills and 50% on their functioning legal knowledge i.e. the material assessed in SQE1 (with the exception of interviewing which is purely assessed on skills). The pass mark is determined on a bell curve, in line with the overall performance of all candidates on the exam.
Attempts
Candidates must pass all of SQE within a six-year period and they have three attempts for each of the two stages.
If a candidate fails FLK1 and/or FLK2 (i.e. either part of SQE1) three times during the six-year period, they must wait until that six-year period expires before re-applying. Previous passes will not be carried forward. As an example, if a candidate sat SQE1 in November 2021, May 2022 and November 2022 and failed, they would have to wait until November 2027 before they could start again.
In the same way, if a candidate fails SQE2 three times during the six-year period, they must wait until that six-year period expires before re-applying and previous passes will not be carried forward.
For more on this, please see the SRA website here.
Everything you need to know about the SQE
Qualifying Work Experience
What is QWE?
Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) can be obtained either before, during or after the SQE assessments as part of the process of qualification. It is legal work experience of a two-year duration in up to four organisations that demonstrates any of the core competencies of a solicitor in practice. This experience need not be obtained consecutively; it can be accumulated over time. It can also be obtained retrospectively, so you can use the experience you have already accumulated towards your QWE. Finally, it can be paid or unpaid.
It is required to be confirmed by a qualified solicitor (within or outside of the organisation) or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP). It is important to note that this is simply evidence of completion of the requisite work duration; it is not signing off the competency of the skills demonstrated. Any QWE undertaken overseas must still be signed off by a solicitor or COLP. For more information on the specifics of confirming QWE off, please check the SRA website.
Examples of QWE can include:
- on placement during a law degree
- working in a law clinic
- at a voluntary or charitable organisation such Citizen Advice or a law centre
- working as a paralegal
- on a training contract
Overseas qualified lawyers looking to dual-qualify through the SQE are exempt from QWE.
Final steps to admission
Character & Suitability requirements
Once you have completed all stages of qualification, you are ready to apply to the SRA to be admitted to the roll of solicitors. To complete the process, you will need to meet the character and suitability requirements which confirm that you do not have any criminal convictions or any other similar concerns barring you from admission. You can find out more about this here.