What is the SQE?
Who is the SQE for?
Costs and fees
Dates and locations
Assessment information
The assessment day
Results and resits
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England and Wales is a single legal jurisdiction, comprising two nations and two official languages. We support access to legal services in both official languages and we have committed to offering the SQE in Welsh by September 2024.
If you would like to take the SQE in Welsh, please note, there is no cost difference between the English and Welsh versions of the assessments.
If you change your mind about sitting the assessment in Welsh, you can cancel your booking and rebook to take the assessment in English, as long as you do so before the booking deadline, subject to our terms and conditions and availability. Please note that there is no guarantee you will be able to rebook the same seat or location.
It is not possible to change your choice of language after the booking deadline.
Learn more: Costs and fees
General information regarding the SQE can be found via other pages on the SRA SQE website.
A Welsh version of this web page is being constructed and will be available in the coming weeks.
Candidates who intend to take an SQE assessment in Welsh must give advance notice confirming their intention to do so by completing the advance notice form (see below).
If no candidates have given advance notice by the prescribed deadline, the relevant SQE assessment will not be made available in Welsh. Candidates would still be able to take the assessment in English provided the booking is made before the booking deadline.
The advance notice deadline will be approximately one month before the opening of the relevant booking window.
The advance notice requirement will not apply to the July 2024 SQE2 assessment. It will apply for the first time to the October 2024 SQE2 assessment.
1. SQE2 October 2024: 4pm on 10th June 2024
2. SQE1 January 2025: 4pm on 2nd September 2024
The deadlines for subsequent assessments will be added in due course.
Advance Notice Form – SQE in Welsh
The first SQE1 assessment in Welsh will take place in January 2025.
The SQE1 assessment (taken over two days), may be sat at any Pearson Vue test centre that is available when booking.
As set out above, candidates intending to take the SQE1 assessment in Welsh must give advance notice confirming their intention to do so.
Any candidate giving advance notice to take the assessment in Welsh will be contacted by the Kaplan SQE team for arrangements to be made to book onto the assessment.
Learn more: Dates and locations
The SQE2 assessments (both the oral and written assessments) may now be taken in Welsh.
Candidates are able to take the SQE2 assessment in Welsh as follows:
The number of SQE2 assessments offered in Welsh each year will be kept under review.
The written assessments (taken over three days) may be taken at any Pearson Vue test centre that is available when booking.
The oral assessments may only be taken in Welsh in one oral sitting per assessment window at the test centre in Cardiff. The dates for this sitting will be available when the booking window opens.
Candidates will be able to choose if they want to take the written assessments in one language and the oral assessments in the other (i.e. taking the written assessments in English and the oral assessments in Welsh, or vice versa).
As set out above, candidates intending to take the SQE2 assessment in Welsh must give advance notice confirming their intention to do so. When giving advance notice, candidates will be asked if they intend to take one or both of the written and oral assessments in Welsh.
Any candidate who gives advance notice to take the assessment in Welsh will be contacted by the Kaplan SQE team for arrangements to be made to book onto the assessment.
If you choose to take the SQE1 assessment in Welsh, the following elements of the assessment will be presented in Welsh:
In all other respects, the SQE1 assessment (and exam conditions) will be identical to the English version. Please note that all SQE administrators (e.g. invigilators) at the test centres will communicate with you in English.
Learn more: SQE1 assessment day
If you choose to take the SQE2 assessment in Welsh, the following elements of the assessment will be presented in Welsh:
In respect of the oral assessments (i.e. the Client Interview and the Advocacy assessments) the SQE2 examiners will communicate with you in Welsh.
In all other respects, the SQE2 assessment (and exam conditions) will be identical to the English version of the assessment. Please note that all SQE administrators (e.g. invigilators, marshals, chief marshals) at the test centres will communicate with you in English.
Learn more: SQE2 assessment day
The SQE1 assessment specification will be made available in Welsh (alongside the English version) shortly.
Learn more: SQE1 assessment specification
The SQE2 assessment specification will be made available in Welsh (alongside the English version) shortly.
Learn more: SQE2 assessment specification
Any Welsh words or phrases within the SQE1 or SQE2 assessments that Kaplan Welsh translators consider to be particularly difficult, specialist or technical for candidates will be provided in brackets in English next to the Welsh term or phrase.
You can review the SQE1 and SQE2 sample questions to gain a better understanding of how the questions will be presented.
Learn more: SQE1 sample questions
Learn more: SQE2 sample questions
In addition, a glossary of the translated terms that Kaplan Welsh translators consider to be difficult, specialist or technical will be provided in the assessment to candidates taking the SQE2 assessment in Welsh. The SQE2 Sample Questions provide examples of the glossaries.
Please note that you will not be provided with a Welsh dictionary if you take the SQE1 or SQE2 assessments in Welsh; nor will you be provided with the English version of the assessment.
A glossary will not be provided for candidates taking the SQE1 assessment in Welsh as this is something candidates did not find helpful when taking the SQE1 Welsh Pilot.
Candidates are able to experience a demonstration of the SQE1 exam in Welsh on the Pearson Vue system, including sample questions and a realistic user interface.
Candidates wishing to take the SQE in Welsh are expected to have a good command of spoken and written Welsh.
It is for a candidate to decide whether they have appropriate language proficiency.
To help with this, the SQE1 and SQE2 sample questions are designed to give you an indication of what to expect before sitting the SQE in Welsh.
Please note that if you choose to take either the written, oral or both elements of the SQE2 in Welsh, you will be expected to provide your answers in Welsh, unless you are advised – on rare occasions (see below) - to provide your answers in English.
However, if you are having difficulty answering in Welsh, you will not be penalised if you answer or respond in English.
Key SQE policies can be read in Welsh alongside their English equivalent on the SRA SQE website:
Learn more: Policies
Please note that all SQE administrators (e.g. invigilators, marshals, chief marshals) at the test centres will communicate with you in English.
The Pearson VUE portal in which you will sit the SQE1 and SQE2 written exams will be in Welsh. This includes the on-screen explanatory tutorial provided to candidates before taking the assessment, the Fit to Sit declaration and the Candidate Confidentiality and Assessment Regulations Agreement provided to candidates before taking the assessment.
Your results will be provided to you in English but you may request that you receive your results in Welsh. You will be asked if you would like to receive your results in Welsh when giving advance notice of your intention to sit the assessment in Welsh.
The SQE exam and assessment materials are translated by Kaplan Welsh translators, who are members of the Association of Welsh Translators and Interpreters.
As well as being proofread for accuracy and correctness (internally or by a well-established translation company), a panel of solicitors who practise in the Welsh language also advise on translation.
Kaplan also engages with Canolfan Bedwyr (Bangor University's Centre for Welsh Language Services, Research and Technology) whose experts in legal terminology and Welsh language matters conduct research and confirm, or make suggestions as to, the relevant term to be used. Kaplan also engages with other relevant stakeholders in order to reflect the legal language used in practice.
Dictionaries and guidance material used in the translation process include:
The SQE1 Assessment Specification will be made available in Welsh (alongside the English version) shortly.
The SQE1 sample questions are available in both English and Welsh. There is also additional guidance in relation to the purpose of the sample questions.
Reviewing the sample questions will enable candidates to gain an understanding of what the translated questions will look like, how the terminology is dealt with and help candidates make an informed decision whether to take SQE1 in Welsh.
Candidates are able to experience a demonstration of the exam in Welsh on the Pearson VUE system, including sample questions and a realistic user interface.
The SQE2 sample questions are available in both English and Welsh. There is also some additional guidance in relation to the purpose of the sample questions.
Reviewing the sample questions will enable candidates to gain an understanding of what the translated questions and associated glossaries will look like, how the terminology is dealt with and help candidates make an informed decision whether to take SQE2 in Welsh.
The SQE2 examiners for the oral assessments are bilingual.
Please note that in respect of the oral assessments (i.e. the Client Interview and the Advocacy assessments) the SQE2 examiners will communicate with you in Welsh.
If you choose to sit the SQE2 oral assessments in Welsh, your instructions at the test venue will be available in both Welsh and English, for example the Fit to Sit declaration and the Candidate Confidentiality and Assessment Regulations Agreement.
The SQE2 oral and written assessments comprise a mock email from a partner or senior solicitor to the candidate (the ‘Candidate Email’) and may, but will not necessarily be accompanied by documents. For example, extracts of legislation or witness statements.
The Candidate Email (and any accompanying documents), will normally be translated from English into Welsh to reflect, as far as possible, what a newly-qualified solicitor would commonly encounter in practice. Where a document would not be read in Welsh in real life, for example, because there is no official Welsh translation, the document will not be translated into Welsh and will only be provided in English to candidates.
Examples of documents that will not be translated from English into Welsh include UK legislation, case law, or any documents subject to copyright.
Although all candidates taking the SQE2 assessments in Welsh are expected to answer or respond in Welsh, occasionally, you may be advised to provide your answer in English. This may occur, for example, to reflect what would happen in practice, or to mitigate any potential unfairness to candidates. For example, if the task requires candidates to read materials that are mainly provided in English, to avoid being put at a disadvantage, candidates may be advised that they can provide their answers in English (but can still provide their answers in Welsh if preferred).
The Candidate Email will clarify which documents are provided in English only, and whether candidates are advised that they can provide their answer in English.
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Find out what happens after passing the SQE and admission to the roll of solicitors.