The Solicitors Qualifying Examination: Get the Know-How
By Lucy Pattison (Lecturer in Law, University of Exeter and Solicitor (non-practising))
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (‘SQE’) is the route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales, where you started your degree after September 2021. Prior to that date you needed to complete the Legal Practice Course.
Below is a diagram setting out an overview of the two routes to qualification:
As the SQE route is the most applicable to you, let’s look at that route in more detail….
Any Degree: a qualifying law degree is not required to qualify as a solicitor, and neither do you need to complete a conversion course, converting a non-law degree into a law degree. A degree in any subject allows you to do the SQE.
SQE1
The SQE1 assessment tests your functioning legal knowledge to the standard of a newly qualified solicitor over two 180 single best answer, closed book, multiple-choice tests. For each question there are five possible answers. As it is single best answer, there may be more than one answer that is technically correct, so you are looking for the best answer out of the choices.
The tests are taken over two separate days. There are 90 questions in the first session and 90 questions in the second session in one day. This is one exam, known as FLK1. The same format is repeated for the second test on a different day, usually the following week, and is known as FLK2. You need to pass both FLK1 and FLK2 to proceed onto SQE2. It is possible to pass one FLK and not the other. You have three attempts over a six-year period to pass them.
The subjects that are assessed are:
FLK 1
Business Law and Practice (with tax)
Dispute Resolution
Contract Law
Tort
Legal System of England and Wales, Sources of Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law
Legal services
Ethics and Professional Conduct pervade over all subjects
FLK 2
Property Practice (with tax and solicitors accounts)
Land Law
Wills and Administration of Estates (with tax and solicitors accounts)
Trusts
Criminal Liability
Criminal Law and Practice
Ethics and Professional Conduct pervade over all subjects
There is no need to know the names of cases or statutes, unless a principle, rule or process is known by that name. You are also not required to know any changes made to the law in the 4 months before your assessment.
SQE1 is currently assessed in January and July each year at Pearson Vue tests centres, nationally and internationally.
SQE2
The SQE2 assessment tests practical legal skills and knowledge. There are sixteen assessments taken over 5 days, in both oral and written skills. The assessment lengths vary, and you are given preparation time for the oral assessments. The assessments are all closed book, but you are given any materials that a day one solicitor would need to look up, save for the legal research assessment. All assessments must be passed to pass SQE2. You have three attempts to pass SQE 2 in a six-year period.
SQE 2 is currently assessed in January, April, July and October each year. The written assessments can be taken in Pearson Vue test centres nationally and internationally, but the oral assessments can only be taken at venues in four UK cities.
The Pass Mark for SQE1 and SQE2
There is no set pass mark for either assessment, as the pass mark varies each time to ensure a fair and consistent standard for all assessments. To pass SQE 1 you must achieve 300 out of 500. How many questions that must be answered correctly to achieve 300 will vary. You will be told how many questions you got correct and your scaled score out of 500. In addition, you will also be told which quintile out of five you are ranked in for that sitting.
For each SQE2 assessment you will be marked on your performance in one of six grades ranging from poor performance to superior performance. A score is given to you for each assessment, with an overall score for all assessments. Like SQE1, the pass mark varies to ensure candidates are being tested fairly across the assessments and the pass mark is 300 out of 500. Again, you will be given your quintile placing, your scaled score and your score as a percentage.
For more information visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (‘SRA’) website: SQE1 Assessment Specification and SQE2 Assessment Specification
Costs
The exam fees for SQE1 in October 2025 are £967 for each assessment, or £1,934 for both. The assessment fee for SQE2 in October 2025 is £2,974.
Many students undertake courses to prepare them for SQE1 and SQE2. These range from online courses focussing just on the SQE assessments, to courses that award an additional qualification, such as a Postgraduate Certificate or Master’s. If the course is part of a Master’s, then postgraduate loans are available to fund the course. Various providers also offer a range of scholarships.
In October 2025 for SQE1, course fees can range from approximately £2,200 to £5,800, and for SQE2, course fees can range from approximately £2,700 to £4,850; there may be courses available outside of this range of figures, as not all courses have been considered for this article. Master’s course fees can be higher than this, as you are paying for a complete Master’s course, not just the SQE preparatory courses.
Qualifying Work Experience
As well as passing the SQE assessments, you also need two years full time (or equivalent) qualifying work experience. To be qualifying you must be providing legal services, so you are developing the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s prescribed competencies for solicitors. As a minimum you need to demonstrate two competencies.
Qualifying work experience can be formal, such as working as a paralegal or obtaining a training contract. It can also be less formal, such as volunteering in a legal advice clinic, for a charity or undertaking a work placement as part of your degree. They key as to whether it qualifies will be you providing legal services in that work. Your work experience needs to be signed off by a solicitor in the organisation where you are undertaking the work, another nominated solicitor, or a compliance officer for legal practice.
The experience must be completed at a maximum of four organisations, and they can be in England and Wales, or in another jurisdiction.
For more information on qualifying work experience visit the SRA’s website: SRA | Qualifying work experience | Solicitors Regulation Authority
The SRA’s website is the best place to get the most up to date information on the SQE if you are considering this route to qualification.
