SQE Update – September 2020
This bulletin covers your questions on the SQE, the Legal Services Board decision due in autumn and the resources we have available to help education providers, employers and aspiring solicitors prepare for the SQE.
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Get your questions answered on the SQE
Are you looking for answers or guidance about the SQE assessment content or administration? You can send your questions to our dedicated mailbox. Where appropriate, we will look to publish the answers to the most relevant or commonly asked questions on our website.
This month we’ve published a series of new questions and answers, including ‘When can candidates book an assessment?’. Take a look at the answer
Legal Services Board decision due in autumn
Our final SQE application has now been submitted to the Legal Services Board and a decision is expected in the autumn. While we await this, we are continuing our work to help people prepare for implementation, including preparing for publication in autumn the SQE’s reasonable adjustments policy, a schedule of what information will be available when, and SQE2 sample questions.
Five key resources to help you prepare for the SQE
We have picked out five key resources to help different individuals and groups prepare for the SQE.
Five resources for education providers
- Final design of SQE
- Information on the final assessment design and how it will work in practice, formed by expert input, independent review and two pilot exercises involving more than 480 candidates
- SQE assessment specifications
- Detailed information for both SQE1 and 2 on what each assessment will test, areas of law covered and the format of each assessment
- SQE1 sample questions
- 90 sample questions to help education providers plan SQE training and prepare for the assessment
- Transitional arrangements
- Information relating to students and graduates who, by 1 September 2021, will already be on their way to becoming a solicitor
- SQE videos on our YouTube channel
- All our previous SQE webinars and related videos. These include the SQE final design and what the assessment will test, as well as a looking at the benefits and risks to equality, diversity and inclusion that the new SQE assessment may bring
Five resources for employers
- Qualifying work experience guidance
- Guidance to help employers understand what qualifying work experience is, and how it is gained and confirmed
- Qualifying work experience training record
- Useful template to help aspiring solicitors record their experience and how they meet the competencies needed to be a solicitor
- SQE assessment specifications
- Detailed information for both SQE1 and 2 on what each assessment will test, areas of law covered and the format of each assessment
- Statement of solicitor competence
- The competencies needed to be a practicing solicitor and what candidates must develop some or all of as during their qualifying work experience
- Final design of SQE
- Information on the final assessment design and how it will work in practice, formed by expert input, independent review and two pilot exercises involving more than 480 candidates
Five resources for students and aspiring solicitors
- Career in Law
- A Facebook page providing information to aspiring solicitors about qualifying as a solicitor in the future
- SQE assessment sittings and timings
- Dates for 2021 and 2022, as well as the timescales for exam results
- LPC vs SQE decision tree
- Things to consider when deciding whether it’s better to take the LPC now or wait for the SQE
- Qualifying work experience guidance and training record
- Guidance to help aspiring solicitors understand what qualifying work experience is, and how it is gained and confirmed. Plus a template to help record their experience
- Transitional arrangements
- Information relating to students and graduates who, by 1 September 2021, will already be on their way to becoming a solicitor
Latest SQE visuals
To help people easily get to grips with the main elements of the SQE, we have created infographics to help explain more about what becoming a solicitor will look like after 1 September 2021. These include what becoming a solicitor will involve, what the assessment covers, how qualifying work experience works and more on sitting the SQE. Take a look below.
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Updated SQE Briefing now available
We have recently updated our SQE Briefing, which offers detailed information on the SQE from its early inception back in 2013, right through to where we currently are. You can read this either English or Welsh.
Get involved
SQE final design: what the SQE tests? (Webinar, YouTube)
When: Available now
What: What does the final SQE design look like? This webinar explains at a high level what each assessment will test, the areas of law covered and the different formats the assessments will take. It is aimed at people who are new to the SQE.
Who: Julie Brannan, Director of Education and Training Watch now
Transitional arrangements for students, graduates and trainees (Webinar, YouTube)
When: 12.30 on 29 September 2020
What: Explaining what the SQE’s introduction means for someone already on their way to becoming a solicitor by 1 September 2021. Find out who can qualify under our current route and who will have to take the SQE.
Who: Julie Brannan, Director of Education and Training Book now
Other ways to get involved
Join our LinkedIn reference group. It will help you keep up to date with the latest SQE developments and opportunities to get involved in our surveys and events.
If you are thinking about taking the SQE, or know someone who is, please follow Career in Law for the latest information aimed at aspiring solicitors.
If you have any questions, or want more information on how you can get involved, contact us.
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