Qualified lawyers

Updated 4 March 2024

This information is for international/overseas lawyers and some UK lawyers (Cost Lawyer, Licensed Conveyancer, Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Attorney).

This page tells you what you will need to do before applying for admission. You'll also find a personalised SQE checklist within mySRA (in 'My profile') that tracks your progress to admission and highlights next steps.

UK lawyers and Republic of Ireland solicitors

Please take a look at these pathways if you are one of the following:

Create a mySRA account and add your jurisdictions

Create a mySRA account and tell us you are a qualified lawyer.
You do this in the 'My profile' section under 'Jurisdiction'. Please click 'add jurisdiction', select your professional title, and add the date you qualified. This automatically tells us you do not need to have qualifying work experience.

Validate your degree

Your degree must be a UK degree or equivalent level 6 qualification and can be in any subject.
You can also apply for equivalence to a degree using other qualifications and/or relevant work experience

Find out how we check and validate your degree or apply for an equivalence

Pass the SQE assessments and retrieve your results

You can apply for an SQE exemption for your legal qualification, as well as exemptions based on your individual qualifications and experience*
You will need to create an account on the SQE assessment website to book your exams and get your results
You’ll then need to retrieve your SQE results so we can confirm you have either passed (or are exempt from) all the assessments. You should only do this after you have passed all your required assessments. Log into mySRA and in ‘Start a new application’, you’ll find the form to retrieve your results.

Create your SQE assessment account or go to mySRA

Checking your character and suitability and applying for admission

We check your suitability as part of your admission application. However, you can also get it checked early if you have any areas of concern
Before you apply for admission, you must do your screening and have your results
When applying for admission, you will choose ‘Solicitors Qualifying Examination route’ on the form
You will be asked to upload a copy of a certificate of good standing from all jurisdictions where you hold a legal professional qualification and have been admitted. The certificate(s) must be less than three months old (we recommend that the date of issue is no longer than two months on the date you make your application) and confirm:
- your date of admission
- that you are in good standing
- that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
- that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
- that you are currently entitled to practise.

Take a look at what we check or find out how to apply for screening

Find out how to apply for admission, see Admission forms and fees.

*If you are exempt from SQE2 you may need to demonstrate your English or Welsh language competence. This will be checked after you are admitted as a solicitor and apply for your first practising certificate.

Applying for a practising certificate

Once you have chosen your admission date, you can apply for a practising certificate. Find out how to apply.