Welcome to the first post in our miniseries to help you understand the route to qualification to become a solicitor in England and Wales. Our first post in this space will focus on explaining the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) and what it means to you.
The SQE is the new qualification route to becoming a solicitor in England and Wales. It will fully replace the Legal Practice Course by 2032.
- The examination consists of two assessments. SQE1 and SQE2.
- You no longer require a qualifying law degree to qualify as a solicitor. You can now enter the profession with a degree in any subject.
- You are no longer required to obtain a two-year training contract, instead, you must provide proof of two years qualifying work experience.
- You must meet the professional body’s character and suitability requirements.
The professional body has made these changes to provide wider access to the profession in recognition of social mobility.
It can be more cost-effective to enter the profession via this route, but you’ll likely need a preparation course to help you prepare for the SQE 1 and SQE 2 exams (we will cover this later in our series of posts). You can find a list of SQE providers on the Revise SQE website here.
Let’s look at the assessments you will face when sitting the SQE exams, starting with SQE 1.
- SQE 1 consists of 360 multiple choice single best answer style questions, testing your functioning legal knowledge (FLK). Do not panic, you do not sit 360 questions in one sitting, they are split into two papers. FLK 1 and FLK 2 which take place over two days. Each paper consists of 180 questions which are spread over two sittings. Ninety questions in the first sitting and the same in the second sitting. You can expect the same in FLK 2. (more detail to be provided in future series posts). Check out our SQE FAQs for more tips on how to approach SQE1.
- SQE 2 consists of sixteen assessments, twelve written assessments over 3 days, and 4 oral assessments over 2 days, focusing on five practice areas. (more detail to be provided in future series posts)
You will be required to pay for your SQE exams. Currently, the fees for these are as follows:
The total fee for SQE 1 and SQE 2 is £4,564.00. This fee will increase for assessments taken from September 2024 to a total of £4,790.00.
If you want to know more about the SQE, please watch out for our continued miniseries posts, alternatively, you can find more information directly from the professional body, using this link. What is the SQE | SQE | Solicitors Regulation Authority (sra.org.uk)