July 2023
Luxembourg grants UK solicitors practice rights
English and Welsh solicitors are now eligible to register and practice UK and public international law in Luxembourg. On 29 June, the Luxembourg parliament passed a bill, implementing article 194 of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), turning it into law.
Read more
April 2023
SRA approves fee increase for the SQE
Starting from September 2023, the SQE1 fee will rise from £1,622 to £1,798, and the SQE2 fee will increase from £2,493 to £2,766 (an 11% overall increase). This adjustment is in response to inflation.
March 2023
January SQE1 results published
On 14 March 2023, the SRA released the results for the January 2023 SQE1 sitting. There were 3031 candidates who sat both parts of SQE1 (FLK1 and FLK2), with an overall pass rate of 54 per cent.
February 2023
Results for the October SQE2
The results for the Oct'22 SQE2 have been released. According to the SRA, 646 candidates have sat the exam, with an overall pass rate of 71%. The pass mark was 62% for all three sittings.
December 2022
Booking for the April 2023 SQE2 is open
The booking window for the April 2023 SQE2 assessment is now open and closes at 5pm on 23 March 2023. The first day of this assessment window is 25 April 2023.
October 2022
July SQE1 results released
The results for the July 2022 SQE1 sitting have been published. There were 1,829 candidates who completed both parts of SQE1 (FLK1 and FLK2), with an overall pass rate of 53 per cent.
August 2022
Results for the April SQE2
The results for the first ever sitting of the SQE2 assessment, taken in April 2022 by more than 700 candidates, were released on 25 August 2022. Overall, 77% of candidates who sat the exam passed.
April 2022
Admission date extended for QLTS
If QLTS candidates who have passed the MCT want to sit the SQE2 instead of the OSCE, they will have until 31 March 2024 (inclusive) to pass and apply for admission.
March 2022
Booking for the July 2022 SQE1 is open
The booking window for the July 2022 SQE1 assessment is now open and closes at 5pm on Thursday 16 June 2022. Candidates can book to take the assessment through their candidate account.
February 2022
Booking for SQE2 is open
The SQE2 booking window for the April 2022 SQE2 assessment is open. To be able to book, candidates must complete the registration and pre-booking process, which are steps 1 and 2 in their candidate account.
January 2022
First SQE1 results are out
According to the SRA, 1,090 candidates participated in the November SQE1, with 1,073 candidates sitting both FLK1 and FLK2. Overall, 53% of candidates passed both assessments, with 67% passing FLK1 and 54% passing FLK2.
November 2021
First SQE1 assessment
The first ever SQE assessments took place last week. 1090 candidates attempted the SQE assessments, across more than 100 test centres in 26 countries. Candidates will get their results on or before 24 January 2022.
October 2021
Bookings for April 2022 SQE2 and July 2022 SQE1
Bookings for the April 2022 SQE2 sitting will open at 10am on 25 January 2022. Bookings for the next sitting of SQE1 which is due in July 2022 will open later in 2022.
September 2021
OUP introducing ‘SQE Prep & Practise’
The 'SQE Prep & Practise' resource will be publicly released on 20 September 2021.
July 2021
Candidate registration is open
Candidates who intend to take the SQE can now register, create and activate their accounts. Before they can book and sit assessments, they will also need to complete the pre-booking steps. Bookings for the first SQE1 in November will open later in July. For more details, please click here.
June 2021
LPC graduates exempt from SQE1
If you have the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and wish to qualify as a solicitor through the SQE, you can apply to SRA to recognise the combination of two years’ qualifying work experience and successfully passing SQE2 as equivalent to the period of recognised training. You would not have to sit SQE1. To learn more about SQE exemptions - follow the link.
May 2021
SQE assessment website launched
On 11 May 2021, the SRA announced that the website for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination is now available. It explains what the SQE is and everything you need to consider when getting through this qualification. Candidates will be able to register and book their assessments through this website.
April 2021
Application for SQE assessment exemption
Qualified domestic and overseas lawyers will be able to apply for the agreed exemptions based on their home legal professional qualification, new exemptions for their home legal professional qualification or additional exemptions.
January 2021
SQE2 webinar
On 18 January 2021, the SRA held the webinar in which the SQE2 assessment alongside the sample questions that have been recently published were a point of discussion.
December 2020
SQE conference 2020
On 15 December 2020, the SRA organized the annual SQE conference to provide the latest information on the SQE and its introduction in 2021.
November 2020
OUP developing an online study tool
OUP has been developing the digital ‘SQE Prep & Practise’ (1200 questions in 2 collections) - SQE1 tailored materials, including an online bank of multiple-choice questions.
October 2020
LSB’s approval of the SQE
On 27 October 2020, the LSB granted full approval of alterations to the SQE regulatory arrangements.
June 2020
SQE final design unveiled
After analysing all the findings obtained from 9 years of consultations and 2 years of pilot assessments, the SRA finalised the design of the SQE on 8 June 2020.
December 2019
SQE2 pilot
The SQE2 pilot was carried out in December 2019 in 2 London-based locations for the oral mocks, and in 29 Pearson Virtual University Enterprises in England and Wales for the written tests.
The 4-day assessment was completed by 167 candidates – who in addition to the practical legal skills test, were offered 120 multiple-choice questions.
March 2019
SQE1 pilot
On 20-22 March 2019, the SRA held the SQE1 pilot assessments. Conducted over the period of 3 days, the pilot was undertaken by 316 participants. Most locations for the assessment were in the UK (44), with the other two situated in Singapore (1) and France (1).
The pilot included a multiple-choice test and legal research and writing assessments. The findings showed that some aspects of the SQE1 structure and content require further discussions and explorations.