Over 870 aspiring lawyers completed latest sitting
Results for the latest sittings of part two of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) have been released today, with the overall pass rate climbing to 73%.
This marks a 9% increase from the previous sitting, where the number of passing students was 64%
In order to pass, students were required to score above 61-62%, depending on whether they took part in the first or second sitting. Across the two sittings, both taking place in January and February this year, the pass rate for the 876 candidates varied between 71% and 75%.
For those taking their first shot at the exam the pass rate was higher at 76%.
As in the last round of results there are significant variations across the scores, with the highest scoring candidates clocking north of 90%, whilst some scored below 30%.
A student’s overall mark is an average of their performance across 16 stations — 12 written stations and four oral stations. These assess skills and applied legal knowledge.
To undertake SQE2 students must first pass SQE1, a test of their grasp of black letter law across two multiple-choice exams.
In April this year 175 students were incorrectly told they had failed their SQE1 exams after a marking error by exam administrator Kaplan. To make matters worse, Legal Cheek later revealed that some students impacted by the blunder had seen their training contract offers revoked.