Guidance on Ethics and Professional Conduct changes for SQE2 after 1 September 2026

Jun 30, 2026

We have published a dedicated webpage with further information on the changes that have been made to the assessment criteria in the SQE2 assessment specification that apply from 1 September 2026. The changes are to reflect the creation of a separate SQE2 Law criterion for Ethics and Professional Conduct. The guidance includes examples of how the updated candidate account results page will look, with the creation of this new criterion.

Candidates will see a mark under this criterion in their results page where Ethics and Professional Conduct issues are assessed in an SQE2 assessment station. This will not involve any change to the format of the SQE2 assessments or the way in which it is marked.

The changes to the assessment specifications (which will replace the existing ones after the July SQE1 and SQE2 assessments) can be found in the SQE changes (September 2026) page.

The changes only apply for candidates sitting SQE2 after 1 September 2026. Therefore candidates who took the April/May SQE2 or will take the July SQE2 will continue to see the current version of the results (i.e. they will not see the new breakdown). The existing format of SQE2 results and guidance will therefore still apply to those cohorts.

Learn more: Ethics and Professional Conduct changes in SQE2

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