It is important to refer to these notes to complete form RSP1. Click Quick links to content above to navigate to the relevant section. To return to the top of the page, use your browser's Back button; if you have a recent browser, click the arrow icon on the right of the screen.
Purpose of form
This is the prescribed form for a solicitor or registered European lawyer (REL) to apply for initial authorisation to practise as a recognised sole practitioner in England and Wales (as required by rule 20.03 of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007) under the SRA Practising Regulations 2009. Note that you will be asked to return your practising certificate to us if your application is granted, so that we can endorse your approval on the certificate.
If you are already a recognised sole practitioner (for example, you were passported into recognised sole practitioner status in July 2009) you should not need to apply for a fresh approval on this form. If your firm is to become a partnership, an LLP or a company, you will need to apply for recognised body status on form RB1, RB2 or RB3. For advice, contact us.
Overseas
If you intend to practise only from an office or offices outside England and Wales, you do not need (and are not eligible) to become a registered sole practitioner. If you are an REL, this relates to you only in Scotland and Northern Ireland as you are not subject to rule 12 outside the UK.
RFLs
If you are a registered foreign lawyer, your registration does not entitle you to practise as an SRA-regulated sole practitioner, whether in England and Wales or elsewhere.
All references (unless otherwise stated) mean the following:
The FAQs provide helpful background information and may assist when completing RSP1.
How to use the form
Please answer all questions and complete all the relevant boxes. You may find it helpful to refer to the glossary.
If you make an error during completion of the form please put a line through any deletions. Do not use liquid paper.
If you are providing any additional information in separate sheets or documents, please provide a list of the enclosures and mark each document clearly with the section of the form to which it relates.
The declaration must be signed and dated before submitting the form.
Please note that we will not be able to process your application until we have a completed application. This means one that:
- includes the completed form and appropriate fee;
- provides sufficient information to show compliance with the requirements of regulation 4.2(a) of the Practising Regulations i.e. that
- the firm will practise from an office in England and Wales
- the firm has appropriate indemnity insurance cover
- you are qualified to supervise
- a firm name has been adopted for recognition; and
- provides any additional information that the SRA requests in connection with the matters in regulations 4.2 and 4.3 of the Practising Regulations (we may request this after you submit your application form to us).
You can contact us at
operations@sra.org.uk
0870 606 2555
Operations
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Ipsley Court
Berrington Close
Redditch
Worcestershire
B98 0TD
or DX 19114, Redditch
Frequently asked questions
Who to include on the form?
As well as your own details, please also include all prospective employees (including locums) who are solicitors, RELs and/or RFLs so that we can ensure that our records are accurate and up to date.
What about salaried partners, associate partners and others held out as partners?
Anyone described as a salaried partner or associate partner, or otherwise held out as a partner, in a firm will be a partner of that firm (see rule 24 of the Code). If you wish to have such partners, you cannot practise as a recognised sole practitioner and should apply for recognition of your firm as a partnership on form RB1.
Do locums and consultants need to apply for approval?
You will not need to apply if you work only as an "employee" – defined in rule 24 of the Code. Subject to the conditions in rule 24, employees can include a solicitor or REL working under a contract for services.
How do we know who the "qualifying" insurers are?
Please refer to the qualifying insurers list.
Section 1 – Applicant details
Please provide your full name as shown in SRA records.
SRA number – every solicitor and REL has a unique individual SRA ID number which should be included on the RSP1.
Your SRA ID number can be found on your admission certificate – or you can find it by visiting lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law. If you cannot find your number, the SRA contact centre will be able to help you.
PC or REL registration – Authorisation to practise as a recognised sole practitioner can only be granted to a solicitor who holds a current practising certificate ("PC") or a European lawyer who is registered on the register of European lawyers. If you do not hold a PC and are not a REL, you will need to submit the appropriate application with or before submitting your RSP1 (form RF3 for a PC or form RF6 to apply to become a REL).
Address for application correspondence – please say where you would like us to write to you during the application process. After approval is granted we will send correspondence to you at your main practising address (see Sections 4 and 5 below).
Name of previous/current firm and date left previous firm (if applicable) – please provide details of your former or current firm and the specific date you left or plan to leave (if applicable) so that we can update our records accurately.
Qualified to supervise – to comply with rule 5.02 of the Code, you must be qualified to supervise to become a recognised sole practitioner (5.02(1)(a)).
Rule 5.02(2) "To be 'qualified to supervise' under this paragraph a person:
- (a)
must have completed the training specified from time to time by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for this purpose; and
- (b)
must have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years; and must be able to demonstrate this if asked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority."
RELs and solicitors without 36 months of PCs—if you have been registered as an REL for less than 36 months please provide evidence that you have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years. This may be, for example, by providing certified copies of your practising certificates (if appropriate) from your home jurisdiction or a letter from your home regulator confirming the position. This would also apply to a solicitor who has not held sufficient practising certificates but, for example, has practised as an overseas lawyer in the last ten years.
Waivers – please note that we will not proceed with your application for recognition if you cannot comply with rule 5.02. If you are not qualified to supervise (and a waiver has not been granted), we will treat this form as an application for a waiver of rule 5.02. If so, you will be contacted separately about this matter and asked for further information. Please also note that a waiver application takes approximately two months to consider.
Management training – we do not ask you to provide evidence with this application that you have completed the training required under rule 5.02(2)(a) (presently 12 hours of management skills training), but this may be requested separately.
Section 2 – Firm name
Name under which your firm is to be registered
We must have one name that is the registered name of the firm for the SRA's register of holders of practising certificates or the register of European lawyers.
Practising Regulation 4.2 states that the SRA may grant initial authorisation subject to compliance with certain conditions, including that the applicant
"4.2.(a)(iii) has adopted a name under which his or her firm is to be recognised, and which complies with rule 7 of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct."
Please provide the full name of the firm. This may not be the only name under which the firm will trade, but is the name that you regard as the principal name of the firm.
This name will appear on the SRA's public register and you must show it, together with your firm's SRA ID number, on your website and emails as well as on your letterhead (rule 7.07 of the Code).
Name under which the firm will trade
We ask this so that we can identify any part of the firm about which we are asked. Firms may want to practise under more than one style and clients and the SRA must be able to identify a firm, however it is described.
Please provide details (on a separate sheet if necessary) of all trading names of your firm if different from the registered name of the firm. Please note that if you adopt any new practising style(s) between your initial authorisation and renewal, or between renewals of your authorisation, you must let us know, as all practising styles must be shown in our registers (Practising Regulations 10.2(g) and 11.2(h)).
Please note that if you practise under a style other than the registered name of your firm, you must include the firm's registered name (and SRA ID number) on your letterhead, website and emails.
Please state in your covering letter if the firm will hold client money under any trading name other than your registered name.
Section 3 – Preferred practice commencement date
Please let us know the date you would like your firm to start providing legal services.
We are unable to grant approval to practise as a recognised sole practitioner until a completed application has been received (see "How to use the form" above) – please consider this when giving your proposed practice commencement date. If you do not allow sufficient time for us to process your application, or your application is not fully in order, your actual approval date may be different from the proposed commencement date you specify. Please submit the application at least four weeks prior to your preferred commencement date – within this period we will be able to determine the application or notify you that additional information will be needed for us to do so.
Temporary Emergency Recognition – the SRA can grant temporary emergency recognition (TER) where an application arises because of an unanticipated change in the composition of a partnership, for example the unexpected death of a partner (see Practising Regulations 4.5 and 4.6). If you need TER and have not yet applied – for advice and for the appropriate application form, contact us.
You must not start practising as a sole practitioner until approval has been granted by us.
Section 4 – Head or main office details
Please give the main office address, which we will record as the main contact address for the firm. Although we ask for an email address for the firm in this section, later in the application you will be asked to give details of contacts for specific purposes – these are to facilitate communications between us and will generally be our first points of contact.
Main practising address (where you will be based) – if you will not be based at the head office, you can give details of your main practising address in Section 5. If you will be based at more than one office, please give details of the other office(s) in Section 5.
Section 5 – Other offices
Please photocopy this section of the RSP1 if you are providing details of more than four offices.
We need to have details of all offices of your firm, including overseas offices, so that we know where the practice is located. Please provide the addresses and contact details of all branch offices and any other places of business from which your firm will practise. This might be, for example, a consulting room of which you will have exclusive use although no members of the firm will be based there.
Although we ask for an email address for each office, the main contacts requested in Section 8 will generally be our first points of contact.
If you do not intend to have any branch offices please leave this section blank.
If you need to photocopy this section, please submit any additional pages with your list of enclosures (see the notes to Section 15).
Office where you will be based – if you will be based mainly at an office other than the firm's head office, please indicate your main practising address in this section. If you will be based at more than one office, please give details here.
Section 6 – Accountant's reports section
We ask for the information in this section so that we know whether you expect to hold client money. Some firms, for example those dealing only with publicly funded work can sometimes function without holding client money. The section also helps us to know whether, and when, we should expect to receive accountant's reports from you.
The Solicitors' Accounts Rules (SAR) require that if a sole practitioner or his or her employee (including a consultant) holds or receives client money, or operates a client's own account (e.g. as an attorney) during your accounting period, the firm must submit an accountant's report.
Client money is money held or received for a client or as a trustee, and all other money which is not office money (only money which belongs to the firm will be office money).
Your accounting period must normally cover twelve months and will need to begin on the date when client money is first held or received (or a client's own account is first operated). Accountant's reports will need to be submitted annually and within six months of the end of your accounting period (unless instructed otherwise by the SRA). See rule 36 of the SAR.
Any employee (or consultant) who holds client money, or operates a client's own account, will need to be included in the report.
Section 7 – Authorisation to take trainee solicitors
Firms wishing to take on trainee solicitors must be authorised to do so.
Training principal – please say whether you wish to take on trainee solicitors and, if so, confirm who would be the training principal (see Regulation 19 of the Training Regulations 1990 for the notification requirement in respect of a training principal).
Application to take trainees – once your firm has been registered, we will send an application form TC4 (to apply for authorisation to take trainee solicitors) to the training contact that you name in Section 8 of the RSP1 form.
If you do not wish to take on trainees immediately but may do so in future, please contact us when you wish to do so, and we will send you the up to date form TC4.
Section 8 – Main contacts
The SRA contacts firms at various times throughout the year. To help us ensure effective communication channels we ask for the details of the most appropriate contacts in a number of areas. If the appropriate person will be someone other than you, please provide details. If you intend to delegate the day to day dealing with these matters, but cannot provide the details at the moment, please write "to follow" and let us have more detail as soon as possible after your firm has been registered.
Firm contact – the most appropriate person for us to contact about issues relating to the firm as a whole, such as any regulatory or compliance issues relating to the firm, as well as, for example, canvassing information about or views from the firm.
If this contact person is not the sole practitioner, he or she would need to be of sufficient seniority and responsibility to be the first point of contact for compliance issues that could arise relating to the firm.
Designated complaints handler – you must ensure that you tell your clients who to contact if they want to make a complaint (see rule 2.05 of the Code). Although you will have ultimate responsibility for handling complaints, please give the name of the most convenient contact if other people in the firm will deal with complaints.
Money laundering nominated officer – please name your money laundering nominated officer (also known as a Money Laundering Reporting Officer) as required by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. Most firms are required to have a nominated officer but not all (see the Law Society's practice note Anti-money laundering practice note – 22 February 2008).
If you are not required to have a money laundering nominated officer please write N/A.
Please note that if you will not be the nominated person, he or she should be of sufficient seniority and in a position of sufficient responsibility to enable him or her to have access to all of the firm's client files and business information. Firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will need to obtain its approval to the appointment of the nominated officer, as this is a controlled function under the FSA's rules.
Accountant's report contact – occasionally the SRA contacts firms about their accountant's reports. Please name the most appropriate person with sufficient responsibility for this purpose.
Practising certificate renewal contact person – if you would like to renew all of your firm's solicitors' practising certificates and your REL/RFLs' registrations in one application form (RF1), please name the most appropriate person for us to contact if we have any queries relating to your RF1 form.
If you would like to renew on individual application forms please write N/A. If you choose this option, please ensure that all solicitors, RELs and RFLs in the firm are aware of the need to submit individual applications.
Financial Services Authority (FSA) compliance officer – please enter the name of the person nominated as the FSA compliance officer for your firm. The compliance officer is the individual within the management structure of the firm who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Solicitors' Financial Services (Scope) Rules 2001 and the Solicitors' Financial Services (Conduct of Business) Rules 2001. The compliance officer need not be the sole principal or a solicitor, but ought to be someone with sufficient seniority within the management structure.
You may deal with a variety of insurance contracts such as life policies, after-the-event legal expenses policies, unoccupied property insurance, restrictive covenant and defective title indemnity policies. As the FSA regulates most contracts of insurance, you will need to consider whether you can carry out insurance mediation activities.
Insurance mediation is the term used to describe the financial services activities which arise in respect of insurance contracts. You will be carrying out an insurance mediation activity if you
- deal as an agent in contracts of insurance;
- arrange, or make arrangements with a view to a person entering into, a contract of insurance;
- assist in the administration and performance of a contract of insurance;
- advise on the merits of buying or selling a contract of insurance; or
- agree to carry out any of the above.
Firms working from within the designated professional body (DPB) regime, which will be the vast majority of firms, will be able to carry out insurance mediation activities provided they can satisfy the basic conditions in the Solicitors' Financial Services (Scope) Rules 2001.
All firms carrying out insurance mediation activities (whether they are regulated by the FSA or not), must be included in the FSA Register and appoint a compliance officer. Firms which are not authorised by the FSA will appear in the part of the register known as the Exempt Professional Firms (EPF) register. We will ensure that firms regulated by us, under the DPB regime, will comply with this requirement if they advise us that they are carrying on insurance mediation, and provide us with details of the firm's compliance officer.
By providing the name of your firm's compliance officer you are confirming that the firm carries out insurance mediation activities.
Training contact – please provide the name of the individual to whom all correspondence about trainee solicitors should be sent.
Section 9 – Indemnity insurance
The Solicitors' Indemnity Insurance Rules apply to all recognised sole practitioners.
Insurance cover – you are required to submit details of your qualifying insurer's name, the policy number and period of cover. See the list of qualifying insurers. Please ensure the details provided are not those of an insurance broker.
Period of cover – if the policy has not yet commenced, for period of cover please confirm that cover will run from "commencement of practice to [enter expiry date of cover]".
More than one insurer – if your indemnity insurance cover will be provided by more than one qualifying insurer, please provide details of the additional policy(ies) in the additional information box on the form. In respect of each policy, please give the name of the insurer, the policy number and the period of cover.
Exemptions – if you are an REL and you have insurance under your home professional rules and have been granted exemption/partial exemption under appendix 3.1/3.2 of the Solicitors' Indemnity Insurance Rules in respect of your proposed practice, please provide the details requested of the exemption and of the insurance cover.
Assigned Risks Pool – until 1 October 2010 if you have not been able to obtain indemnity insurance with a qualifying insurer you will be required to insure through the Assigned Risks Pool (ARP). If you are insured through the ARP you must show "Assigned Risks Pool" as your insurer, and provide the ARP policy number and the date on which the cover commenced. If your indemnity insurance cover will be through the ARP, please provide details in your covering letter of the reasons you have not been able to obtain cover with a qualifying insurer.
From 1 October 2010 the ARP will not provide cover to new firms (in this context new firms includes any firm arising from a split of an existing firm where that firm does not retain the existing recognition and indemnity insurance cover of the firm that has split).
Visit www.sra.org.uk/ARPform to find out how to apply.
Evidence of cover – you do not need to send in evidence of the indemnity cover unless the SRA requests it.
The SRA will not grant approval for your firm if you do not have indemnity insurance (or an offer of such cover) for your firm under the Minimum Terms and Conditions appended to the Solicitors' Indemnity Insurance Rules.
Section 10 – Solicitor/REL/RFL employees
Please photocopy this section of the RSP1 if you are providing details of more than three solicitor, REL and/or RFL employees. Please note that you should include details of any locum staff that will be with the firm.
This helps us to keep our records up to date and accurate. If you expect to have solicitor, REL and/or RFL employees but cannot provide these details at the moment, please write "to follow" and let us have the details as soon as possible after your firm has been registered.
Status – employees of a recognised sole practitioner can only be recorded as one of the following for the purposes of SRA records: associate, assistant, employee, consultant or professional support lawyer.
Salaried partners, associate partners and others held out as partners – please refer to "Who to include on the form?" in frequently asked questions above.
Main practising address (where the individual will be based) – please provide the firm's address where the individual will work. If the individual will work from a number of offices please provide the address of the office where the individual would like their correspondence sent.
Previous/current firm – please provide details of each individual's former or current SRA regulated firm and the specific dates they left or are expected to leave (if applicable) so that we can update our records accurately.
Section 11 – Other information
In this section we are seeking information to help us understand more fully the ways in which firms actually practise, and therefore develop a profile of the profession and potential regulatory risk factors. Our aim is to develop a system of risk-assessment so we are better able to target our resources and pre-empt regulatory difficulties in the interests of the public and the profession.
We are trying to gather information about professional independence and areas of influence that might affect firms. We need this to help us establish that firms are complying with the law and are not subject to any improper control. Although firms can now have broader ownership and control, the Legal Services Act 2007 and the Code still require majority ownership and control (75%) by lawyers, and control only by the owners and managers of a firm. You may find it helpful to refer to our guidance on independence, ABSs and "jumping the gun" which can be found on our website.
We hope that the information will also help us to develop our understanding of professional independence, and how this can best be applied in the new regulatory framework to alternative business structures.
This will be a continuing project to improve our regulatory effectiveness, so we will ask for updates of the information provided at each annual renewal of recognition.
If relevant, this information can be taken into account in assessing applications for initial authorisation. Under Practising Regulation 4.2(b) the SRA may refuse an application if it reasonably considers that it would be against the public interest to grant recognition. However, we will be unlikely to exercise discretion to refuse an application based only on the information provided in this section, but it may lead us to contact you and make further enquiries to help us with the decision.
Associations – Introductions and referrals
Rule 9 of the Code sets out the requirements concerning referrals of business.
Please tell us if you have any arrangements with third parties (other than with lawyers) for introducing clients to your firm now or in the future, even if there is no "financial arrangement".
If you have answered "yes", please give us the following details in respect of each introducer, on a separate sheet:
- the name of the organisation or individual with whom you have/will have an arrangement for introducing work;
- the date of commencement of the agreement, if known;
- the area(s) of work involved (e.g. conveyancing, personal injury);
- the percentage of your firm's total estimated fee income that you expect to arise in your first year of trading from your arrangements with each introducer;
- the total sum or details of any other consideration (e.g. provision of services or secondment of staff to the introducer, or an agreement to purchase services or products from the introducer where the purchase is a condition of referrals being made to you) which you think you are likely to pay to each introducer under the arrangement(s) in your first year of trading.
See guidance on referrals.
Associations – Sharing fees
Rule 8 of the Code sets out the types of fee-sharing arrangements that firms can have.
Please tell us whether you have, or expect to have, any arrangements with any individuals or organisations outside of your firm (other than lawyers or their firms) to share its fees with another party, or to receive a share of the fees of another party, now or in future.
If you have answered "yes" to either question, using a separate sheet, please give us the following details in respect of each third party:
- the name of the organisation or individual with whom you have an agreement;
- the date of commencement of the agreement, if known;
- brief details of the nature of the arrangement;
- the area(s) of work involved, if an arrangement relates to a particular area (e.g. conveyancing, personal injury);
- the percentage of your firm's total estimated fee income that you expect to pay and receive under such arrangements in your first year of trading;
- the sum or details of any other consideration (e.g. provision of services or secondment of staff to the introducer, or an agreement to purchase services or products from the introducer where the purchase is a condition of referrals being made to you) which you think you are likely to pay to, or receive from, each individual or organisation with whom you have such an arrangement in your first year of trading.
Involvement/influence
Please provide details of any contractual or other type of relationship that you have that might affect, or might be perceived to affect, the integrity or independence of your firm. This type of situation is likely to be unusual, but might arise, for example, where
- an individual's role in the firm could include being a representative in any way of a non-lawyer body which he or she is involved in
- the role or involvement of an employee in the running of the firm amounts to some element of control over it
- finance agreements or loans to your firm have particular strings attached
- certain contractual conditions in agreements with referrers of business or funders effectively pass control of your firm to an outside body
- granting options to purchase your interest in your firm is for nominal value
- you form a relationship or enter arrangements that put any outsider in de facto control of any aspect of your firm.
If you have answered "yes", please provide details on a separate sheet of the relevant circumstances.
Other roles
This question is not aimed at trying to identify, for example, where principals work on a part-time basis or are involved in "out of work" activities such as coaching the local football team. What we want to identify is whether there are certain types of situation where firms' effectiveness, or even compliance, might be affected by principals' other activities. This may be as a result of time spent away from the firm, or the nature of another role might in some way interfere with your responsibilities to the firm and clients.
If you have answered "yes", please provide details on a separate sheet with a brief summary of the relevant role(s) held outside of the firm. Again, this type of situation may well be unusual, but might arise, for example, where
- a sole practitioner plays a major role in another firm or is, for some other reason, frequently absent from the firm
- a sole practitioner is a member of or owns a non-legal business, the business demands of which might affect the firm
- a significant number of non-executive directorships that are not related to the work of the firm are held by a sole practitioner, or where the nature of such positions, may compromise the principal's role or work in the firm.
We do not intend to capture here information, for example, about trusteeships if these roles are undertaken as part of the normal activities of a principal as representative of the firm and do not clash with the interests or needs of the firm.
Section 12 – Character and suitability
Practising regulation 3.1 – You must declare whether you have been subject to or affected by any of the matters listed in Regulation 3 of the Practising Regulations.
Period of declaration – for solicitors this declaration should cover the period since the issue of your last practising certificate (or since admission if you have not held a PC). For RELs it will be the period since you were registered, or your last renewal, in the register of European lawyers.
Spent convictions – Please note that convictions which are 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 must be disclosed by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2008.
Honesty, integrity or respect for law – You need to provide details as to whether you have ever been involved in "other conduct" which calls these matters into question. We expect you to interpret this question broadly. You must provide information about matters which are not the subject of another question on the form, but are or may be relevant to the consideration of your character and suitability—for example:
- a caution,
- a warning,
- an Anti-Social Behaviour Order,
- a charge/conviction relating to an offence which is not indictable
- an investigation or any disciplinary action by a professional/regulatory body since you were last issued with a practising certificate/registration.
You will need to provide all documentation relating to such matter(s).
Section 13 – Declaration of compliance
Knowingly or recklessly giving the SRA information which is false or misleading in a material particular, or failure to inform the SRA of materially significant information of which you are aware, may lead to disciplinary action by the SRA or revocation of your approval to practise as a sole practitioner.
The SRA reserves the right to carry out or to request you to carry out fresh checks in relation to your compliance with the SRA's rules and relevant legal requirements.
Signing the form – the form must be signed by the solicitor or REL who is applying for approval to practise as a sole practitioner. After signing, please also date the declaration.
Determination of application – the Practising Regulations allow us to grant or refuse an application (regulation 4.2(a) and (b)). We can also attach conditions to your practising certificate or registration as an REL which we consider appropriate in the public interest (regulation 6), for example preventing you undertaking certain activities. Please note that you will be asked to return your practising certificate to us if your application is granted, so that we can endorse your approval on the certificate.
The regulations also permit us to revoke approval to practise as a sole practitioner in appropriate circumstances (regulation 9.2(b)).
Appeals – under Practising Regulation 7, you can appeal against a decision of the SRA to reject the application for approval or to impose a condition. Note that there are time limits.
Notes to Section 13 declarations
- 1)
The form must be signed by the sole principal applying for approval.
- 2)
If you wish to describe anyone as a salaried partner or associate partner, or otherwise hold anyone out as a partner in your firm, they will be regarded as a partner of the firm (see rule 24 of the Code). If you wish to have such partners, you cannot practise as a recognised sole practitioner and should apply for recognition of your firm as a partnership on form RB1.
Section 14 – Fees
The fee for the RSP1 application for approval to practise as a recognised sole practitioner will be dependant on the date that approval is granted as the fee will be apportioned as shown in the table below. Your approval must be renewed annually on 1 November.
| Recognition start date between: |
Fee |
| 1 July 2010 and 31 October 2010 |
£30 |
| 1 November 2010 and 28 February 2011 |
£90 |
| 1 March 2011 and 30 June 2011 |
£60 |
| 1 July 2011 and 31 October 2011 |
£30 |
For example:
- If your approval is granted on 1 July 2010, the fee will be £30. The approval will be in place until 31 October 2010 when it will be due for renewal along with your practising certificate on 1 November 2010.
- If your approval is granted on 1 November 2010, the fee will be £90. The approval will be in place until 31 October 2011 when it will be due for renewal along with your practising certificate on 1 November 2011.
How to pay – please refer to our information sheet Ways to pay.
Your application will not be accepted without the correct fee.
Section 15 – Returning the form
Please provide a list of any additional documents that you are sending, including additional pages, other supporting documents and information, and any other forms (e.g. form RF3 to apply for a PC or form RF6 to apply to become a REL). Please mark each document clearly with the section of the form to which it relates.
Please send the form, appropriate fee and all documents to the SRA's postal or DX address given in Section 15 of the form.
Section 16 – Application checklist
Please refer to the checklist to ensure that you have completed the form and provided the information we need, so that we can deal with your application as quickly as possible.
Glossary of terms
Legal Services Act glossary of terms
Please use www.sra.org.uk/rsp1 to link to this page.