SQE Law Tutors for SQE 1 and SQE 2

Our world class SQE tutors prepare candidates for SQE1 and SQE2 through one to one tuition, in London and online. Our tutors are carefully selected from across the legal profession and include established solicitors, barristers and academics, as well as professional tutors who passed both SQE1 and SQE2 in the top quintile themselves. They know exactly what the assessments demand and how to get you there.

Every candidate is carefully paired with a tutor who suits their needs. Your tutor identifies your strengths and weaknesses, builds a study plan around your exam date and teaches the exam technique that the single best answer questions of SQE1 and the practical skills assessments of SQE2 require. Whether you come from a common law or civil law background, we tailor our SQE Prep courses to your legal knowledge, work experience and background. Read more on our blog about how one to one tutoring leads to SQE success and how our SQE Prep courses prepare candidates.

How we help you pass the SQE

About the SQE

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is the centralised assessment that all aspiring solicitors in England and Wales must pass. It is set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). To qualify as a solicitor, you must:

• hold a degree in any subject, or an equivalent qualification or experience such as a solicitor apprenticeship;
• pass SQE1 and then SQE2 (you cannot sit SQE2 until you have passed SQE1);
• complete two years of full time (or equivalent) qualifying work experience (QWE); and
• meet the SRA’s character and suitability requirements.

You do not need a law degree. Many non law graduates take a conversion course such as the PGDL or an SQE preparation course to build their legal knowledge, but this is not a formal requirement. You have up to three attempts at each of SQE1 and SQE2 within a six year period.

SQE1

SQE1 tests your Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) through two computer based exams of single best answer multiple choice questions, FLK1 and FLK2, each taken on a separate day. SQE1 is held twice a year, in January and July.

Changes from January 2027: the SRA has announced that, from the January 2027 sitting, each FLK exam will have 170 questions instead of 180 (340 in total instead of 360). Each exam will still be split into two sessions of 2 hours 33 minutes, now with 85 questions per session, and each session will cover a defined group of subjects. The subjects tested and the proportion of questions on each subject are not changing. The changes apply to first sitters and re-sitters.

Ethics and Professional Conduct is pervasive, so it can be tested in any session and any subject. Taxation is also examined within the relevant subjects. From September 2026, the SRA’s updated assessment specification refines several FLK topics, including trusts, wills and probate, property practice, criminal litigation and inheritance tax, and confirms that the tax rates, reliefs and thresholds candidates need will be provided in the exam. Our tutors teach to the current specification.

SQE2

SQE2 assesses the practical legal skills of a newly qualified solicitor. It is made up of 16 assessments with one overall pass mark: 4 oral assessments taken over two half days, and 12 written assessments taken over three half days. SQE2 runs four times a year, in January, April, July and October.

• Oral assessments: two advocacy assessments (Dispute Resolution and Criminal Litigation) and two client interviews, each followed by a written attendance note and legal analysis (Property Practice and Wills and the Administration of Estates).
• Written assessments: case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing and legal drafting, across five practice areas: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Criminal Litigation, Property Practice, and Wills and the Administration of Estates.

Candidates are marked on their legal skills and on their application of the law. From 1 September 2026, Ethics and Professional Conduct is marked as a separate law criterion wherever an assessment raises an ethical issue, so spotting and dealing with ethical points now counts in its own right. Money laundering may also be examined in Property Practice as well as Business Law and Practice, and some assessments include a tax attachment from which candidates must select the relevant information.

Qualifying work experience

As well as passing SQE1 and SQE2, you must complete two years of full time (or equivalent) qualifying work experience. QWE can be completed before, during or after the SQE, with up to four different organisations, including law firms, in house legal teams and law clinics. It must give you the opportunity to develop some or all of the competences in the SRA’s Statement of Solicitor Competence, and it must be confirmed by a solicitor or the organisation’s compliance officer for legal practice. Training contracts count as QWE, and we also help candidates secure them through our training contract and vacation scheme application support.

SQE fees

For the 2026/27 academic year, the SRA’s fee is £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2 (for SQE2 sittings from October 2026). Fees are reviewed each year, so please check the SRA’s SQE website for current fees and assessment dates.

Frequently asked questions

Get in touch with our SQE consultants today to discuss your ambitions and how our global team can help you qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. Request a quote or message us on WhatsApp.