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SRA still unable to confirm timeline for revealing SQE provider pass rates

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By Legal Cheek on

17

Crucial comparison data was due by the end of 2023

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Nearly a year after committing to publish SQE pass rates by provider, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has told Legal Cheek that it still cannot confirm when this information will be released.

The regulator previously committed to publishing candidate performance data, including pass rates by training provider, from “late 2023”.

The aim of publishing these statistics is to help aspiring solicitors make more informed choices when selecting a preparation provider, a need that has become even more pressing with the recent drop in SQE1 pass rates to a record low of 44%.

However, in December of last year, we revealed that the SRA would not meet this self-imposed deadline, citing a lack of “sufficient data”.

The SQE Hub: Your ultimate resource for all things SQE

Fast forward nearly a year, and the SRA has told us it remains committed to publishing the data but can’t specify when this will happen.

A spokesperson for the SRA said:

“We are analysing the data we currently have and intend to publish that in a report soon. We also remain committed to publishing data linking SQE candidate outcomes with how they prepared for their assessments. We are working with a third party to explore how we can develop an interactive tool to enable the data to be searched in a way that will be helpful for candidates.”

The ongoing delay is likely to frustrate both law schools and aspiring solicitors, especially since publishing this data was one of the regulator’s key selling points in transitioning away from the Legal Practice Course.

Several law schools have already started sharing breakdowns of their pass rates, though these figures depend on students voluntarily reporting their results to the institution. Meanwhile, other providers have opted not to disclose their candidates’ success rates.

17 Comments

SQE Student

I studied with one of the large providers (which I’ll leave unnamed to avoid removal of this comment). Over half of my class failed SQE1, and while I was fortunate enough to pass, the results for SQE2 were equally concerning — about half of my class also failed that exam, including myself. This brings the overall pass rate for first-time candidates in my class down to around 30%. It’s disheartening to see such low success rates, especially when these providers are supposed to prepare us for the assessments. The lack of transparency around pass rates adds to the uncertainty for aspiring solicitors.

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(32)(1)

Single click

Imagine how you might have performed without using a provider.

The provider has probably improved your performance and that of your group more than if you had not done whatever course. But it would be helpful to see the numbers.

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(7)(18)

SQE Student

I agree with your point. My provider definitely helped with SQE1, but they were useless with SQE2. It’s frustrating to see that many of us are struggling despite the investment we made in our education. What’s even more disheartening is that the providers seem to be more focused on profit than genuinely supporting us. Everyone who failed has reached out for help with resitting, but we’ve all been ignored. It feels like we’re left to fend for ourselves, and that lack of support only adds to the stress of this already challenging process. Transparency on pass rates and better support from these providers is essential for future candidates.

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(8)(1)

Qwerty

Agree.

SQE2 training from many training provider isn’t at an acceptable level for what candidates are paying in fees.

Several providers materials provide examples of a 3 outcome rather than a 5. This leaves candidates without any room for mistakes on the day.

From my enquiries of candidates across various providers, there doesn’t seem to be examples of high quality responses available anywhere.

This seems to be in the name of DEI and allowing candidates to bring their own personality and background to the profession. However, without high quality examples social mobility is reduced for a profession that can be elitist.

They are undermining their own candidates access to the industry.

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(0)(0)

Students want templates?

Students who have gone through UK education seem to want template answers, models from which they can copy and use in assessments. Whilst this is understandable given how they have been trained in the past, this is not a good mindset for SQE2.

What SQE2 tests is a skill. Students should therefore focus on learning and displaying that skill rather than fixating on searching for examples of a perfect 5 answer. The SRA set the questions, and they don’t provide any. Any providers you use won’t be setting the questions you sit so their perfect 5 answers don’t matter either. You need to show you can demonstrate that skill to the appropriate level.

There won’t be a perfect 5 answer for the work on your training contract. You need to use your legal training to provide that answer and make it good enough to get over the threshold, whether that is the SQE or good enough for the client. Students might not be comfortable not having a template to rely on for these skills, but that is what it is going to be like.

Clearly this is unlikely to be a popular opinion with many students, but it is maybe something to think on for those about to sit.

bee pee peeved

On the one hand I’m not expecting high pass rates from providers who are often just as in the dark as the candidates to be honest

On the other , if you’re an educational institution with private equity backing and contracts with leading firms – you shouldn’t have family law specialists teaching Business Law and Practice or staff availability issues in the mock assessment periods

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(28)(4)

Wait till you practice..

Wait till you get into private practice and you’re a trainee in corporate asked by the partner to deliver a training session to clients on commercial contracts or a junior lawyer in banking told to cover an update to clients on property litigation.. you’re in the comfortable position of being trained by someone else now.

Wait till the tables are turned. And when those clients start mumbling about your background, and how your training session sucks, and how the original presenter should have been available because it’s the client’s busy season, and how your city firm makes millions from them but can’t even find the right type of lawyer.. just take a moment.

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(7)(31)

Anon

A bit of a dull comparison really. You mention being a trainee – your supervisor won’t be from a different department…

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(20)(4)

Wait till you practice..

Dull, maybe.

But your comment sounds very naive..

Just because you’ve a supervisor in one department, doesn’t mean you will be working exclusively for them, or that you can’t be asked to carry out work for other teams. There’s a lot of learning ahead of you..

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(3)(7)

Anon

I’m not actually a student and I have yet to see a trainee deliver training to a client….

A more salient comparison would’ve been joining a team such as corporate and receiving corporate department training from a disputes lawyer.

The points you make paint a picture of a Mickey Mouse firm rather than standard practice. Spare me your career agonising

Just double click

Why don’t they just publish the data they have in a simple table.

No time wasting fancy graphics.

No misleading explanations.

No OTT interactive tools to “help” users understand.

Just put in the numbers. It’s not rocket science.

Key data first. Then you can spend the next 4 years wasting money making it look fancy. Probably with some overly expensive AI paid for by solicitors fees.

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(36)(0)

self reporting

SRA might not have published but providers are making claims about their own numbers. Google it.

UoL say 78% passed the SQE1 in January 2024.
BPP say 79% passed the SQE1 in January 2024.
National pass rate was supposedly 59%.

Barbri – could not find data on January 2024 sitting but they say 60% passed SQE1 in July 2024 where the national pass rate was 44% as reported here.

Looks like the provider students are doing better than the average maybe?

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(14)(0)

Questioning

I think your conclusion is likely to be right but I still wonder whether those numbers may be inflated since they’re self-reported, first by students to their providers, and then by providers to be published. There’s too many ways for a few fails to “drop out” of the picture for me to be certain these are true.

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(12)(0)

Student Reporting

The providers self-reporting average pass rates of 70%+ are seriously skewing the statistics. These numbers are typically based on students who voluntarily report their results, which is likely only those who passed. There’s no acknowledgment of the extremely high dropout rates either. From my own first-hand experience with one of the big course providers, and hearing similar stories from friends using other providers, the actual pass rate is probably closer to 60%. In our cohort, over half either failed SQE1 or SQE2. The course providers seem clueless, still teaching as if it’s the LPC, when the SQE exams are significantly harder and require a different approach.

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(8)(0)

Plona

Do you think it makes sense that all providers’ rates are 20%- 40% higher than the overall rate? They are advertising incorrect numbers. Don’t believe everything they say. Ask your friends and search for reviews of real people on LinkedIn. Otherwise, this is just fake news

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(2)(2)

Lpoollaw

I had the same thoughts about my provider, they were excellent for SQE1 but I felt as though they left us to our own devices for SQE2 and I am still waiting wait bated breath for my sqe2 results after feeling as though I basically self studied for it despite the course

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(0)(0)

Stats major

The SRA doesn’t have a verified list of who studied with which training provider.

The candidates often book their own exam sessions and, at best, self report their provider (I can’t remember the system). But as it is overwhelming self paced, they could access multiple providers and resources. It’s also possible to sign up and start a course with one provider, not be able to book a exam session for that cohort, so do something else as a refresher before a later exam.

Recently a training provider told me that they had a 100% pass rate. However, their data collection is to offer candidates a small financial reward for their transcripts. The opt out bias for those who have failed makes incredibly unreliable and invalid from a statistical perspective.

I genuinely think no one has a data collection system that collects this data in a way that would stand up in court.

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(2)(0)

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