What Is the SQE? A Plain-English Guide to Qualifying as a Solicitor
If you have landed here, you are probably standing at the start of a long road and wondering what the SQE actually is. Take a breath. We will walk through it in plain English, with no jargon and no assumptions about what you already know.
The short version
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is the assessment everyone must now pass to become a solicitor in England and Wales. It replaced the old LPC route. To qualify you need four things:
- A degree (in any subject) or an equivalent qualification.
- A pass in SQE1, which tests your legal knowledge.
- A pass in SQE2, which tests your practical legal skills.
- Two years of qualifying work experience (QWE).
- To meet the SRA's character and suitability requirements.
You can do these in different orders, but most people sit SQE1 first, then SQE2, and gather their work experience alongside or after.
SQE1: testing what you know
SQE1 is the knowledge stage, and it is the part most candidates find hardest. It is made up of two papers:
- FLK1 (Functioning Legal Knowledge 1): Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Contract, Tort, the Legal System, Constitutional and Administrative Law, plus Legal Services.
- FLK2 (Functioning Legal Knowledge 2): Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, Trusts, Criminal Liability, and Criminal Practice.
Ethics and professional conduct are not a separate paper. They are tested throughout both, so you can never switch that part of your brain off.
Each paper contains 180 single best answer multiple choice questions, so 360 questions in total across the two. You sit them on a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre.
The single best answer format trips people up. Every option looks plausible. Your job is not to spot the one right answer among obvious wrong ones, it is to choose the most suitable answer for the situation. That is a different skill, and it is one you can train.
SQE2: testing what you can do
SQE2 is the skills stage. Instead of multiple choice, you are assessed across 16 stations that mirror real solicitor tasks:
- Oral assessments: advocacy and client interviewing.
- Written assessments: case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing, and legal drafting.
These are spread over several days. The oral stations, especially advocacy, cause the most nerves because you are performing in real time in front of an assessor. The good news is that SQE2 pass rates are consistently high, usually above 80 percent, because most people who reach it are already well prepared.
What it costs
Be ready for this part. As of the 2026 sittings, the SRA exam fees alone are roughly:
- SQE1: around £2,006
- SQE2: around £3,086
That is over £5,000 before you spend a penny on preparation. Add a traditional prep course and the total can climb past £20,000. This is the single biggest complaint candidates have, and it is exactly why affordable, well-built study tools matter so much.
Qualifying work experience
You need two years of full-time (or equivalent) legal work experience. The rules are more flexible than the old training contract. QWE can be gained at up to four different organisations, including law clinics, paralegal roles, and placements, as long as a solicitor confirms it.
So what is the real challenge?
The SQE is not impossible, but it is wide. The syllabus covers 13 subjects across more than 140 topics. The difficulty is rarely a single hard concept. It is the sheer breadth, the unclear boundaries of what might be examined, and the pressure of doing it all while many candidates work full time.
That is the whole reason this platform exists: to turn that overwhelming pile of material into a clear, ordered path you can actually follow. Start with one subject, get comfortable, and build from there.