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SQE assessments: what to expect

Find out what the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) SQE1 and SQE2 assessments cover and how these are run.

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What do the assessments cover?

To see the infographic about this topic, please refer to the live page.

SQE1

The SQE1 assessment specification sets out the overview of the SQE1 assessments and what they cover.

The SQE1 consists of two functioning legal knowledge (FLK) assessments, of 180 multiple-choice questions.

Candidates must apply their knowledge of the law, the fundamental legal principles and rules, to demonstrate the competences required to the level of a newly qualified solicitor of England and Wales.

Questions may draw on any combination of the subject areas below which a solicitor might encounter in practice.

The two multiple-choice assessments cover:

business law and practice; dispute resolution; contract; tort; legal system of England and Wales; constitutional and administrative law and EU law and legal services
property practice; wills and the administration of estates; solicitors' accounts; land law; trusts; criminal law and practice

Ethics and professional conduct will be examined pervasively across the two assessments.

Candidates are expected to demonstrate their ability to act honestly and with integrity, and in accordance with the SRA Standards and Regulations regarding the purpose, scope and content of the SRA principles and the code of conduct.

Principles of taxation will be examined only in the context of business law and practice, property law and practice and wills and the administration of estates.

SQE2

The SQE2 assessment specification sets out the overview and detail of the requirements for the SQE2 assessment.

The SQE2 assessment is divided into two parts, although there is one pass mark for the assessment as a whole:

SQE2 oral – four oral legal skills assessments which will take place over two half days, covering:
- interview and attendance note/legal analysis
- advocacy
SQE2 written – 12 written legal skills assessments which will take place over three half days, covering:
- case and matter analysis
- legal research
- legal writing
- legal drafting

The interviewing exercises ('stations') will be marked by the assessor playing the role of the client and will be marked on skills only.

All other stations will be marked by a solicitor who will assess candidates on both skills and application of law.

Candidates must demonstrate that they can apply fundamental legal principles in the skills-based situations in a way that addresses the client’s needs and concerns, thus demonstrating that they meet the standard of competency of a day one solicitor.

This does not include detail that a day-one solicitor would be expected to look up, unless it has been provided as part of the assessment materials.

How the assessments are run

Assessment provider

The SRA has appointed Kaplan as the sole assessment provider for the SQE.

Kaplan is only offering the assessments and will not be able to offer training for the assessments.

Kaplan has partnered with Pearson VUE test centres, to provide assessment centres for written and computer-based assessments.

There are a smaller number of centres for oral skills assessments.

There's a network of assessment centres in England and Wales, as well as internationally, for both SQE1 and the written assessments of SQE2.

Initially, the oral assessments for SQE2 will be available in England and Wales in a more limited capacity, but this will be reviewed periodically.

Timings

There are two sittings of the SQE1 per year and three-four sittings of the SQE2 per year. The SRA will continue to review the number of sittings as demand increases.

Find out when you can take the SQE

Check dates for upcoming assessments

Order of assessments

A candidate must pass SQE1 in its entirety before they can take SQE2.

Confidentiality agreement

Every candidate sitting a SQE assessment will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

This does not impact a candidate’s ability to feed back on the assessment arrangements or other matters which may have caused issues for them.

Candidates are asked to confirm that:

I have read, understood and agree to abide by the provisions of the confidentiality policy
I will not remove any materials from the test centre
I acknowledge the content of this assessment is confidential, and
I will not disclose or discuss any of its content to any other party

I understand that candidates are not permitted to leave any sessions of the assessment until allowed to do so by the Test Centre Administrator and must remain seated, in silence, until this point.

Yes, I accept the terms of the confidentiality agreement.

Results

Results will be sent to candidates, and anonymised data will be given to organisations so they can put individual results into context.

The SRA has indicated that SQE1 results will be published six weeks after the assessment is completed, and SQE2 results are expected 14 weeks after the assessment is completed.

Appeals

You can appeal the results of your assessment if you fail.

You must do so in writing via the appeals form in your candidate account.

The grounds for a first stage appeal include mitigating circumstances, an unreasonable or irregular decision by the assessment board or disputing the assessment board’s finding of malpractice or improper conduct.

If your first stage appeal fails you can make a final appeal on the grounds that the decision of the first appeal panel, or the manner in which that decision was reached involved material irregularity and/or was manifestly unreasonable and/or irrational.