Lé: SQE is a robust and fair assessment
There is now “clear evidence” that solicitor apprenticeships are facilitating social mobility, analysis by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has shown.
It comes as the regulator launches a one-off fund of £360,000 to pay the costs of aspiring solicitors from disadvantages backgrounds sitting the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), using money paid by SQE provider Kaplan in contractual penalties.
The SRA published a slew of reports this week for the third annual review of the SQE, which showed how take-up has accelerated, with 14,600 candidates on the SQE in the year to July 2024, compared to 8,000 in the previous year.
The SQE was introduced in September 2021 with transitional arrangements for those going down the legal practice course (LPC) route – SQE1 tests candidates’ legal knowledge, and SQE2 their application of that knowledge as well as their skills.
To qualify, would-be solicitors need to pass the SQE and complete at least two years of qualifying work experience; the majority do all or some of this before sitting the SQE.
Almost 3,500 people have enrolled as a solicitor apprentice since 2021 and 378 former apprentices had qualified as a solicitor as of February 2025.
Approaching 5% of assessments taken in 2023/24 were by apprentices. As in previous years, they performed better than other candidates in SQE2 in particular.
The SRA said additional analysis of the data showed that, when compared with the whole cohort taking the SQE, a higher proportion of apprentices came from working class backgrounds, a much higher proportion of apprentices attended state schools, and a higher proportion of apprentices said that neither of their parents attended university.
“The solicitor apprenticeship is, therefore, providing a route to qualification for young people who might otherwise consider access to the profession beyond their reach. This is clear evidence that it is facilitating social mobility.”
Only organisations that support aspiring solicitors from disadvantages backgrounds are able to apply for some of the SQE Access and Reinvestment Fund, rather than individual candidates.
The SRA said applicants had to demonstrate “how their schemes support committed, self-funding aspiring solicitors who face significant barriers to qualify as a solicitor, such as a disability, a background in a cared for setting, or family estrangement”.
Most of the penalties paid by Kaplan over the past three and a half years were down to isolated delays to assessment start times in specific assessment centres, although last year’s major results error – which meant 175 candidates who thought they had failed actually passed – would also have contributed.
The contract with Kaplan provides for an annual increase in the SQE fees to reflect inflation and so they are going up 2.3% in 2025/2026 to £1,934 for SQE1 and £2,974 for SQE2. The SRA said around 190 candidates would benefit from the fund.
The pass rates for candidates taking SQE1 were 56% for January 2024 and 44% for July 2024 – although a little higher for first-time candidates – while the overall pass rates for the five SQE2 sittings for which results were released during the period was 76%.
However, the latter masked significant differences between candidates who had passed SQE1 (83%) and transitional candidates – most of whom had done the LPC – who were not required to pass SQE1 (43%).
The SRA explained: “The SQE assesses a candidate’s competence to practise as a solicitor, whereas the LPC assessed a candidate’s readiness to undertake a period of recognised training, ie to work as a trainee.”
The reports showed too that trends seen in previous years have continued, such as candidates with higher university degree classifications and younger candidates doing better. Men performed better than women in SQE1, with the position reversed for SQE2.
Candidates who have declared a disability and candidates who have a reasonable adjustment performed at least as well as those without one.
The differential outcomes by ethnicity – first seen on the LPC and also in other professions’ courses – continue in the SQE; the SRA has been working hard to understand and address this.
Written assessments were sat in 37 countries, although the SQE2 oral assessments can only be taken in England and Wales.
The independent SQE reviewer said in his report that the results error was rectified in as efficient a manner as possible and lessons were learned.
Ricardo Lé added: “The SQE is a high-stakes, complex and multi-faceted assessment. I have been assured, through my observations during the year, that it’s a robust and fair assessment. I have seen evidence of best practice and a strong commitment to continual improvement.”
The SRA also revealed that it has commissioned IFF, a social and market research agency, to conduct the first independent evaluation of aspects of the SQE.
This will assess whether the SQE is on track to achieve its objectives of providing greater assurance of consistent standards at the point of admission and encouraging the development of new and diverse pathways to qualification.
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