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Latest SQE1 sitting sees 56% pass

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By Angus Simpson on

20

Up from a record low of 44%

Person passing online test
The report on the latest SQE1 sitting has been released, showing an overall pass rate of 56% — up slightly on last summer’s record low of 44%.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) reported that 6,718 candidates completed both parts of SQE1 in the January sitting this year.

The pass rate data

Of these, 5,908 were first-time candidates, achieving a slightly higher pass rate of 60%. Interestingly, qualified lawyers — presumably mostly those qualified in overseas jurisdictions — had a lower pass rate than those not yet qualified: 52% compared to 62%.

Pass rate data for qualified lawyers

In February, Legal Cheek reported a record high pass rate for SQE2, at 81%. Candidates must pass SQE1 to sit SQE2.

Earlier this week, the Legal Services Board announced it has given the SRA until Autumn to publish pass rate information from across the different SQE providers. This has come after a series of delays.

Last week, Legal Cheek highlighted one candidate’s experience after failing the challenging SQE where the top 20 firm which had sponsored her as an incoming trainee was seeking to clawback funding – on top of rescinding her training contract.

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20 Comments

anon

Passed both thankfully. What a horrendous exam lol. My cambridge exams felt easy in comparison!

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(23)(5)

anonanon

What did you study at Anglia Ruskin?

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(45)(24)

Revert

Just adding my countervailing perspective – I passed both FLK1 and FLK2 in first quintile, after studying for a total of about three weeks, and found that they were nothing compared to my Cambridge Law BA (Senior Status) exams.

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(16)(39)

anon

Each to their own. I also finished in Quintile 1 for both, but walked out the exam thinking I had almost certainly failed FLK2.

The sheer memory aspect of the SQE1, combined with a simple right/wrong approach which does not lend itself nicely to the legal profession which is all about nuance and argument, meant I found it trickier than Uni personally.

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(48)(1)

7 years' PQE

Having worked in the profession for over a decade now, the idea that you’re expected to to memorise everything like this is bonkers to me and not what we do in practice. Don’t get me wrong, I remember a lot of specific detail having worked in my field for so long. But you’d be mad to expect a solicitor to be able to just drop advice without reference to anything on the sheer volume of material needed under the SQE. So glad I qualified before this came in.

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(4)(0)

Archibald O'Pomposity

You are the poster child justifying the new exam format. Standards need to go up.

Gop Yah - Private S-Banter

Looks like the pass rate has normalised then.

What’s all the fuss about?

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(5)(26)

The Beak

The only stat that matters is the delta between the pass rate for those who have a TC in hand, and those self-funding (and – in time – what happens to the latter. This whole nonsense was – at least as I understood it – to improve access to the profession. If it turns that no-hopers are being duped into spending £££ on a qualification that they will either fail, or otherwise never see any value from professionally, then it should be shut down.

And the rapacious law schools should be ashamed.

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(15)(0)

DWF Trainee

We had this problem with the LPC for non-TC holders as well who self funded to be fair. The LPC wasn’t a cake walk, but with proper study it was quite formulaic. The number of people failing it (pretty spectacularly at times) always made me wonder if they were funnelled into studying it when they had no business in doing so.

Then again perhaps they were told it was super easy (and open book) so they didn’t study hard enough?

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(4)(0)

The other side

Exactly the same problem plagues the Barrister Training Course. Thousands do it who neither have a pupillage nor will ever get one.

Why? The providers sell the dream to anyone who has the money to pay.

It’s unethical.

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(4)(0)

Serious question

The pass rate is hard to comment on when there clearly is a lot of dross in every cohort. What is the pass rate among Oxbridge/UCL grads?

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(6)(8)

mixed bag

Obviously anecdotal, but out of my friendship group from Ox, 13 of us took it, 11 passed. 4 friends from UCL (tho all non-law) all passed

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(5)(2)

Interesting

An 88% rate indicates the problem is not the exam, but the lack of sensible gatekeeping requirements for those who want to take the examination.

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(5)(2)

PinPonPanPon

I did juris at ox and failed flk2 lol, the memory element killed me because my essays were always ‘concepts over concretes’ and I skipped all but the compulsory scenario questions on mods and FHS.

Just highlights the need to lock for next time and really target my revision.

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(8)(3)

RapAppPapPap

The problem questions sort out the wheat from the chaff.

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(4)(1)

Archibald O'Pomposity

Perhaps you should consider a career in accountancy instead.

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(0)(1)

Anon

How did UCL sneak in there lmao

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(2)(0)

Realist

Pass rate among those who have obtained city TC’s hovering around 95-100%. Anecdotally don’t know a single person on city consortium programme who failed this time round. Just noting it.

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(2)(4)

Josef

At my CCP firm, 4 failed both, 3 failed one of them. not sure what youre on about!!

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(0)(0)

Archibald O'Pomposity

Your firm probably has low standards and judging by your grammar, this must be the case.

Reply Report comment
(1)(2)

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