How to register for the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments.
How to verify your ID and what you need to provide.
What the survey is, and what it covers.
If you need help or assistance to sit your assessments.
If you are a qualified lawyer, you may be eligible for an exemption.
How to book the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments.
Find out how and when to book your SQE assessments.
Upcoming assessment dates, booking windows, and test centre locations.
Find out how you can take the SQE assessments in Welsh.
Everything you need to know about sitting the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments.
The assessment specification for both FLK1 and FLK2, including annexes and sample questions.
The specification for the written and oral assessments, including annexes and sample questions.
Useful advice and resources to help you prepare for the SQE assessments.
What to expect on the assessment days and how to claim mitigating circumstances.
How to get your results, how assessments are marked, how to resit an assessment, or make an appeal.
What to expect when you get your results, and how to resit any assessments.
If you believe your assessment result or a decision made by the Assessment Board is incorrect or unfair.
Read and download SQE reports.
Learn about what the SQE is, who it's for and how much it costs.
Find out what the SQE is and how it works.
Find out who's eligible to take the SQE, including exemptions.
Find out how much the SQE will cost and how you can pay for it.
Find out what candidates say about their experience of the SQE.
Due to inactivity, and for security reasons, you will be automatically logged out of your SQE account in 1 minute.
Press ’continue’ to stay logged in.
The monitoring and maximising diversity survey has been updated. Please return to the survey to reconfirm your answers and complete the new section at the end.
You must do this to remain eligible for the SQE. You will not be able to book your next assessment until you have updated your answers.
In response to candidate and other stakeholder feedback, we are making some changes to SQE1 from the January 2027 sitting onwards. These changes will apply to all candidates – both first sitters and re-sitters.
The changes are as follows:
The number of questions in each Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) assessment will reduce from 180 to 170.
As each FLK is divided into two sessions per day, candidates will now answer 85 questions per session, rather than 90 per session. Therefore, the total number of questions candidates answer in SQE1 overall will be 340, rather than 360.
Grouping. Questions in all subject areas will no longer be presented in both sessions of an FLK assessment. The questions in each FLK session will contain questions from the subject areas as shown in the table below:
Ethics and Professional Conduct will however continue to be tested across all subject areas and can therefore be tested in each session.
Randomisation. Within each session, questions will continue to be fully randomised between those subject areas (i.e. candidates will not have all of the questions on one subject area presented together before the questions on another subject area are presented). This means that candidates will not receive questions grouped by subject areas; instead, questions covering the session's different subject areas will appear in a mixed, random order throughout the sessions.
Reducing the number of questions
We have made changes having listened carefully to candidate and stakeholder feedback. In particular, some candidates have told us that the SQE1 assessment can feel rushed and pressurised in terms of the amount of time allowed to answer a question, and this can be exacerbated by the lack of some grouping of questions in the sessions.
The number of questions originally used in SQE1 assessments was carefully considered when developing the SQE. This recognised the need to sample all the subject areas in each FLK and have an assessment that was reliable. This means the assessment is consistently fair and accurate and a candidate’s score is a good and highly reproducible reflection of their ability.
We are reducing the number of questions in SQE1 now following a data review from all previous SQE1 assessment windows. Making this change now, rather than after only a small number of deliveries, allows us to review a sufficient amount of assessment data to provide confidence that reducing the number of questions will both improve the candidate experience and retain the accuracy of the assessment.
Grouping questions by session
For SQE1 assessments taken so far, all subject areas were assessed in both sessions of an FLK assessment. Some candidates have told us that this has made it more challenging than it would otherwise have been. Dividing the subject areas for each FLK between the two sessions will allow candidates to focus on fewer subjects in each session. Retaining randomisation of questions within each session will help to preserve assessment security requirements.
The changes will first apply for the January 2027 SQE1. These will apply to all candidates – both first sitters and re-sitters.
Time allowed. Candidates will still be allowed 2 hours 33 minutes per session.
Blueprint. The proportion of questions that can be asked in each subject area (i.e. the SQE1 assessment blueprint) remains unaffected.
Randomisation. Questions will continue to be randomised to help maintain the security of the assessment. Therefore the questions will continue to be presented to each candidate in a random order across the subject areas in each session.
Ethics and Professional Conduct. Questions in this area will continue to be pervasive – i.e. can be asked in any subject area and therefore any session of the assessment.
We have amended the relevant parts of the SRA SQE website to reflect the changes, including the SQE1 assessment specification.
Learn more: SQE1 Assessment Specification
Subscribe to receive email alerts letting you know when we publish the latest SQE news.
Create your personal SQE account and book your assessments.