Note: Originally published on 15 April, and updated with further information for candidates.

The results for the January 2024 SQE1 assessments have been reissued by Kaplan to correct an error. As a consequence, 175 candidates, who were originally told that they had failed either FLK1 and / or FLK2 (the two parts of SQE1) have, in fact, passed those assessments.

The error does not affect the overall pass/fail outcome for the other 6,451 candidates who took an assessment. However, some candidates will have seen a change in their scores and/or a change in the quintile to which they have been allocated. Quintiles rank candidates into five groups, with the top 20% of candidates sitting in the top quintile and so on.

All 6,626 candidates who took SQE1 in January have been contacted by Kaplan and all results from this sitting have been reissued to candidates.

The incorrect results, which candidates received on 14 March, arose because Kaplan did not round scores at the point in the results process that was set out in the SQE’s published policy.

The way the results were presented was new for January’s SQE1 – rather than results being shown as a percentage mark, candidates were given a standardised score out of 500. The mistake was made when implementing this change. It was unique to the January 2024 results – no previous SQE assessments are affected. It was discovered by Kaplan through general checks conducted during the appeals period.

Zoe Robinson, Managing Director of Kaplan SQE, said:

"We are committed to putting this right for candidates, and sincerely regret and apologise for the impact this has had for those affected. A goodwill payment of £250 is being offered to those candidates who were incorrectly told they had failed an assessment in recognition of the upset caused by this matter. In addition, we recognise that individual candidates who received the incorrect outcome may have been impacted by this in different ways. We would encourage candidates in this group, who have incurred losses as a direct result of this error, to contact our Candidate Services Team to outline your circumstances and each will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. We have set up a dedicated email address for this purpose - SQE1Jan24@kaplan.co.uk

Paul Philip, Chief Executive at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who oversee the SQE and qualification route for solicitors, said:

"We are really disappointed by this error and apologise to the candidates who have been affected. Our immediate priority has been making sure the error has been put right as swiftly as possible, and the impact on candidates is recognised and addressed.

“We will be doing a full review with Kaplan of how the error occurred, and redoubling efforts on assurance, so we can reduce the risk of an error happening again.”

As part of our commitment to support candidates who have had their January SQE1 results re- issued, we are publishing on our SEQ1 January 2024 results page answers to some of the most commonly asked questions from candidates.