Spelling: Long-called for support for students
Aspiring solicitors who have been “hindered” in the SQE2 exam process until now will finally be able to use a new spellchecker in their written assessments next month.
For the last four years, reports by the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) independent reviewer of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) have called for a spellchecker to be added to the online assessment platform, to give candidates the same tools that any lawyer would have on their computer.
In his last two annual reports, in 2024 and 2025, Ricardo Le said it was clear that candidates needed more support with spelling in their written assessments. Dyslexic candidates were especially held back by not having access to a spellchecker.
His 2025 report, published in April [1], said: “The absence of a spell-checker function in the SQE2 written exams was highlighted by the previous independent reviewer and it was an area that I also commented on in 2024.
“Without a spell-checking function, the validity of the SQE2 exams is hindered as they do not accurately replicate the context in which a day one solicitor would operate.
“In my previous report, I recommended that urgency is placed on the development and rollout of the spell check function as an integral requirement of SQE2.”
The SRA said the new spellchecker would be trialled next month, when candidates sit their SQE2 written assessments at test centres across England and Wales. There are 12 written assessments in total.
Mr Le predicted that 2026 would see record numbers of people taking the exams.
The spellchecker has been designed to help candidates spot spelling mistakes, but it does not help with grammar, writing styles or content.
It has been added to the Pearson assessment platform, with instructions on how to use it, and candidates can access the tool now ahead of the exams.
Mr Le said the long-awaited introduction of the spellchecker would not just benefit candidates, but also the examiners who mark their work.
Until now, examiners have had to follow guidelines issued by the SRA to make sure that SQE2 candidates do not lose marks for spelling mistakes, as long as the mistakes do not diminish the “legal accuracy, clarity and/or certainty of the written text”.
The regulator also advises candidates to use “clear, precise, concise and acceptable language” when completing their written assessments.
This aims to keep the language simple, and to encourage aspiring lawyers to avoid complicated sentence structures and technical terms in emails and letters that may not be understood by clients.
However, Mr Le described this as “an adequate temporary stopgap” rather than a solution.
Mr Le said: “The only way to eliminate the risk of crediting candidates who cannot communicate at the appropriate competency level is through the provision of a spell-checking function.”
He said this will help create a system that is “consistent across markers.”
In the past, SQE candidates have criticised the lack of a spellchecker, given the time pressure people are under in exam conditions, and how easy it is to make a typing error.
With no way of checking spelling, some aspiring solicitors said the written assessments tested typing skills more than legal knowledge.
In comments online, the move has been met with both relief and anxiety.
Candidates about to sit the assessments said the spellchecker was “long overdue”, especially for people with dyslexia, but some feared its introduction could make examiners penalise spelling mistakes more harshly, now there was no excuse for errors.
Some qualified people questioned whether spelling should be expected of would-be solicitors without needing the help of a tool.