What is the SQE?
Who is the SQE for?
Costs and fees
Case studies
Dates and locations
Assessment information
The assessment day
Results and resits
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The SQE is a single, rigorous assessment for anyone wishing to be admitted as a solicitor of England and Wales.
You will need to pass SQE1 during your apprenticeship. You will then be eligible to sit SQE2 which is your synoptic end-point assessment (EPA).
You do not have to pay for your EPA - all costs and fees must be covered by your employer or your training provider.
Information for training providers and employers includes details about entering into a contract with us, and booking and paying for apprentices.
You need to register for an SQE account. Your employer or training provider will need to let us know that you’re an apprentice and we will make sure that you’re set up with an apprentice account.
Learn more: Registering for an SQE account
You will need to take both SQE1 and SQE2. SQE1 is the first part of your professional assessment. SQE2 will be your EPA. You must pass SQE1 and have met all of the minimum requirements of your apprenticeship (including your gateway review) before you can attempt SQE2.
Please refer to the summary guidance documents for solicitor apprentices which summarise some key information about SQE1 and SQE2 (the end-point assessment).
Learn more: Assessment information
In most cases your training provider should book your assessment on your behalf, as they may want to nominate assessment dates and locations.
Once we have received payment from your employer, you may get a pre-paid voucher which you can use on the website to book your assessment. If there are a few apprentices from the same training provider, then we may set up a bulk booking. But you will be notified by your employer or training provider of this prior to booking online.
Remember, as you are an apprentice, you do not need to pay for the assessment yourself.
Learn more: Booking assessments
Your results will be issued to you directly via your SQE account. We will email you to let you know they’re available, and we will also send a summary to your training provider.
When you pass SQE2 you complete the EPA for the Solicitor Apprenticeship Standard and pass the SQE. When you pass the EPA we will apply on your behalf to the ESFA for a certificate confirming you have completed your apprenticeship, if you have given us your consent to do so. The certificate will then be sent directly to you.
Please note that, in order to be admitted as a solicitor by the SRA, you would need to satisfy all of the relevant admissions criteria, including the SRA’s character and suitability assessment.
To enable your apprentice(s) to sit the SQE training providers will need to enter into an EPA contract. Please contact our Candidate Services team to request a contract. We will send you the EPA contract. You must complete it, sign it and send it back to our Candidate Services team before you or your apprentice(s) can be booked on to an assessment.
Once your apprentice has registered for an SQE account, training providers will need to notify the SQE Apprenticeship Manager of their apprentice’s candidate number as soon as possible. This is so they can be registered as an apprentice by us for the purposes of the SQE. Please contact our Candidate Services Team to request the document to record this.
Please do this as soon as possible, and even if the apprentice is only just starting their apprenticeship. This will help us understand better when apprentices plan to take the SQE assessments and solicitor apprentice candidate journey patterns. It will also help us with our capacity planning which will lead to a better candidate experience for apprentices.
Training providers and employers may use a credit or debit card to pay for prepaid vouchers. You can also pay by invoice, in which case you will need to do a credit application. Our Candidate Services team will support you through this process.
You can purchase vouchers to distribute to your apprentices so they can book their own assessments, or you can book on their behalf.
Learn more: Payment methods
Once an apprentice is ready to enter gateway, a review between the employer, training provider and the apprentice will need to take place. During this review, you will agree if the apprentice has achieved the minimum requirements of the apprenticeship set out in the apprenticeship standard, and is ready to take the end -point assessment, which is SQE2.
The employer, training provider, and apprentice will need to complete the Solicitor Gateway Declaration and return it to us. Once this is recorded by the Apprenticeship Manager the apprentice will be able to sit SQE2.
Learn more: Apprenticeship gateway information on gov.uk website
Create your personal SQE account and book your assessments.
Find out what happens after passing the SQE and admission to the roll of solicitors.