On 16 November 2025, our senior tutoring solicitors Oliver Gray and Olga Pogrebennyk delivered an intensive SQE Live Revision Class covering some of the most challenging Business Law, Taxation and Professional Conduct topics tested in SQE1 and SQE2. And here is the reference to all the SQE live events from the Academy.
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These SQE live classes are an essential part of our SQE1 and SQE2 training strategy. Their purpose is simple but powerful:
- to answer student questions in real time
- to update and refine our recorded SQE lectures
- to cover the latest law updates ahead of the SQE1 and SQE2 sitting in January 2026
- and most importantly, to develop exam technique through guided practice, including complex SQE-style MCQs
During this session, we focused on complex taxation issues for directors and shareholders, professional conduct rules, reserved legal activities, client accounts reform, and typical pitfalls revealed by our SQE live MCQ practice. These are exactly the areas where students often lose marks in both assessments.
Our attendees included LLM SQE students from BPP, University of Law, international SQE candidates from France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Ukraine, UAE as well as UK based CILEX and LPC graduates. Across all groups, one theme is clear: aspiring solicitors need focus on exam technique, law updates, and practical SQE exam training.
This is why our SQE live classes exist – especially for those engaged in SQE budget prep or SQE1 self-prep, SQE2 self preparation, SQE1 study group learning and SQE live tuition. They give structure, support and practical experience you simply cannot gain in isolation.
SQE Revision: Business Tax & Directors’ Income – Complex Areas
Oliver Gray opened the session by breaking down the taxation of employees and directors — a notoriously tricky area in SQE1 FLK1 and SQE2 Business Law. We explored:
- what counts as earnings for directors
- how HMRC interprets benefits in kind
- the rules on director loans
- when a loan becomes taxable
- the minimum threshold for interest-free loans
- reliefs available for qualifying loans used for partnerships or trading companies
SQE Revision and Update: UK Income Tax Allowances & Deductions 2025/26
We then moved into detailed income tax distinctions, all highly examinable in SQE1 FLK1:
- Personal Allowance = £12,570
- Tapering after £100,000
- Blind Person’s Allowance = £3,070
- Marriage Allowance transfer = up to £1,260
- £1,000 property allowance
- £1,000 trade allowance
- Different reliefs
These points frequently appear in SQE1 MCQs and require memorisation through practice. Please double check the current rates. Note in the SQE exam you will be provided with the tax rates. You are not expected to memorize specific tax rate figures, only understand the law and how to apply the provided rates and allowances.
SQE Revision: Benefits in Kind & Complex Director Scenarios
We covered:
- when company accommodation is tax-free
- how HMRC defines employee earnings broadly
- if private medical insurance and similar benefits are taxable
- when tax position on a share buyback
- how the “benefit of a kind” rules operate
Realistic examples were used to construct SQE exam-style MCQs, helping students to anchor abstract rules into real scenarios.
SQE Revision: Professional Conduct: Clients, Conflicts & Publicity
We explored several applied scenarios, including:
- loan requests designed to circumvent shareholder approval
- settling personal injury claims without medical evidence (always wrong — risk of negligence)
- cold calling and “ambulance chasing” (strictly prohibited)
- referrals to unauthorised third parties
- practice publicity and social media ethics
- client complaints and internal procedures
These topics are vital for SQE2 Interview, SQE2 CMA, SQE2 Advocacy, and SQE1 Ethics.
SQE Law Update: Mazour v Charles Russell Speechlys
One of the most important discussions in the lecture was the case Mazour and Others v Charles Russell Speechlys, where the High Court ruled that a claim form signed by a litigation partner without a practising certificate was invalid because he was unauthorised to conduct reserved legal activities.
The implications are huge:
- any court document issued by an unauthorised person may be invalid
- CILEX practitioners and paralegals cannot conduct reserved legal activities unless fully SRA-authorised
- long-standing industry practice was effectively overturned
This topic is highly relevant for the SQE exam and our SQE tuition.
SQE Law Update: SRA Proposals – Removal of Client Accounts
We then analysed potential SRA reforms to Solicitors’ Accounts Rules, including the possibility of removing client accounts altogether. Why? Because client accounts pose ongoing risks:
- missing client funds
- misuse of funds
- law firms earning interest (approx. £27 million between 2022–2023, as mentioned by Oliver Gray)
We discussed alternative models:
- third-party managed accounts
- centralised SRA-controlled systems
None of the existing options are ideal, but the consultation remains active — and the topic is relevant for SQE1 Legal Services and SQE2 Professional Conduct.
SQE2 Law Update: Professional Correspondence “Dear Sirs” Is Out
The lecture also covered changes in professional correspondence:
- Avoid “Dear Sirs”
- Use “Dear Ms Smith” or “Dear Mr Jones”
- If writing to a role: “Managing Partner”, “Finance Director”
- End with “Yours sincerely” if you know the name
- End with “Yours faithfully” if you do not
Simple, but often tested in SQE2 writing tasks.
QE Exam Technique: Working Through MCQs Together
The most distinctive part of our SQE live classes is the exam-technique segment.
We do not merely teach the law — we apply it live.
In this session, we solved SQE1 MCQs on:
- loss of office payments
- director loan taxation
- relocation benefits
- partnership capital contributions
- tax thresholds
- corporate decision-making
- conflicts of interest
This method helps students:
- memorise difficult concepts
- eliminate wrong options
- understand examiner logic
- avoid distractor traps
It is not simply learning – it is training.
Why Our SQE Live Classes Are Unique
At the Academy of Smart Lawyers, we integrate:
- smart Synopsis Notes
- collaborative lectures
- hundreds of realistic SQE MCQs
- exam-focused teaching
- interactive Q&A
- law updates in every subject
- SQE live tuition
- SQE study groups
- community support for SQE international candidates
All SQE live classes are delivered by at least two lecturers, both tutoring solicitors coming directly from legal practice – not retired academics or outdated textbook tutors. Each session includes at least one lecturer who specialises in the subject area being taught, ensuring depth, accuracy, and insight based on real-world legal work.
Most importantly, these classes help students avoid preparing in isolation and give them access to a structured, exam-focused learning environment grounded in real practice.
SQE2 Preparation for CILEX & LPC Candidates
Many CILEX and LPC graduates join our SQE2 programme after realising a hard truth: neither qualification prepares candidates for the SQE exam format. LPC training focuses on coursework, open-book assessments, drafting and essays, while CILEX training emphasises practice skills within a regulated environment – but neither pathway teaches the exam-specific techniques required for SQE1 or SQE2.
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination is different: SQE1 is a high-pressure MCQ exam, and SQE2 is an OSCE-style assessment where 50% of the marks come from skills such as client interviewing, advocacy, legal writing, drafting, research and case & matter analysis. Most LPC and CILEX graduates have never practised these skills under timed, examiner-style conditions, which is why they statistically underperform in SQE2, often failing due to exam technique rather than lack of legal knowledge.
At the Academy of Smart Lawyers, we address this gap directly. We include all the required law for free, so CILEX and LPC candidates never pay twice for black-letter law. Our course provides complimentary access to Smart Synopsis Notes, legal refreshers and SQE-style MCQs. For candidates who want a structured pathway, you may read more about our dedicated support for LPC graduates. We developed a special LPC SQE2 package. We offer the same support model for CILEX candidates, including SQE tuition.
What truly transforms results is our SQE2 live tuition, designed to fill the exact gaps left by LPC and CILEX training. Every class focuses on exam-specific skills: realistic mock stations with examiner-style feedback, error-analysis, structured templates, law updates and technique-based teaching. We teach candidates how to approach each task strategically, score high on the SQE2 mark scheme and avoid avoidable mistakes. Our training includes live Q&A, complex scenario breakdowns, structured methods for each skill, sample model answers, peer-led study groups and dedicated support for international candidates, including special SQE1 study groups. These classes are equally vital for SQE1 self-prep and SQE1 budget-prep students, who benefit from guided exposure to exam-style application long before SQE2 preparation begins.
Above all, our SQE2 live classes ensure that candidates do not prepare in isolation. They provide a community, academic structure, law & notes, professional insight and realistic practice – everything LPC and CILEX graduates consistently report as missing from their previous training.
Special SQE1 Preparation for Foreign & International Candidates
For foreign-qualified lawyers and international candidates aiming for the solicitor qualification in England & Wales, our SQE1 preparation package is designed specifically with you in mind. If you trained abroad, you already bring valuable legal experience — but the structure of the SQE is very different. Standard law-school or domestic courses often lack the right focus for SQE1 self-preparation or SQE1 study-group dynamics, where it is easy to lose momentum and find yourself falling behind the group.
SQE1 self-prep, SQE1 budget prep, SQE live classes and study-group support must be tailored to candidates who are working across jurisdictions, may not have a UK legal background, and often juggle study with employment. Find full details about SQE1 preparation for foreigners.
VIP SQE Tuition for Senior Professionals
We also offer a VIP SQE tuition programme designed for high-level professionals who require absolute flexibility and privacy – including law-firm partners, senior associates, in-house counsel, general counsel, and executives in multinational companies.
This premium service provides:
- a fully tailored private SQE course delivered through our SUPERexam platform
- a personalised 1-to-1 study plan built around your schedule
- unlimited one-to-one sessions with specialist tutors in each SQE subject
- targeted training in exam technique, MCQs and SQE2 skills, adapted to your professional background
Our VIP clients value discretion, efficiency, and precision — and this programme is built to deliver exactly that – SQE Tuition for VIP.
For more information or to arrange a private consultation, please contact us or book a call 📞
