SQE fees. The SRA has agreed an increase in the candidate fee for the SQE assessment. Across the two exams this means SQE1 will go up from £1,622 to £1,798 and SQE2 from £2,493 to £2,766 (overall increase of 11%). The fee rise will take effect from September 2023. It will therefore apply to anyone booking to take the SQE2 in October 2023 (booking opens for the October SQE2 at 10am (UK time) on 21 June 2023) and subsequent assessments.

This increase is due to inflation. The SRA has a rigorous annual monitoring process in place to review candidate fees with Kaplan. This is to make sure the SQE continues to offer good value for money and any increase in fees is justified.

Learn more: Costs and fees

SQE Annual Report. The report covers the first year of assessments in which there were three sittings - two for SQE1, which test candidates’ legal knowledge, and one for SQE2, testing both the application of legal knowledge and skills. It includes information such as assessment analyses, summary of candidates’ results, pass rates by demographic characteristics and candidate performance by practice areas. It also has a feedback and continuous improvement section (Table 20) which summarises some of the key areas brought to our attention for improvement, and what we are doing in response.

Learn more: SQE Reports and When you can take the SQE