Applying for an SQE2 exemption

Please check if your qualification has already been assessed for an SQE2 exemption. This will give you specific information on what evidence you will need to supply.

If your qualification is not on our list, please contact us for more information.

If you are ready to apply, please find out how to submit your application.

Check your qualification in our jurisdiction finder

Please check if your qualification has already been assessed for an SQE2 exemption. This will give you specific information on what evidence you will need to supply.

When you apply, you will then be asked to provide as part of your application:

• evidence that your skills meet the solicitor statement of competence at level three of our Threshold Statement (day one solicitor):
  • this evidence must come from work you have done as part of your qualification as a lawyer.
  • for the technical legal practice skill requirement, you must provide evidence of undertaking effective spoken and written advocacy. This must have been conducted before a court or in relation to litigation.

Supporting evidence, such as references, work samples or other relevant documentation

• For each area, you must submit evidence demonstrating what you have personally done. This includes:
  • professional legal assessments – for example, components of your legal qualification or any additional assessments or certifications you have completed
  • relevant work samples, appropriately redacted, such as attendance notes, client correspondence or similar documents
  • detailed references from your supervisor(s) confirming and corroborating all the work experience you have described.

If the evidence is not written in English, you must provide an official English translation.

• You can demonstrate your experience by:
  
  • explaining the scenario
  • explaining the steps taken by you and advice given to the client (your involvement) with reference to each legislation/case law and the skills you demonstrated; and
  • explaining the outcome.

References

Detailed supervisor references confirming all relevant experience, tasks and competence and must: 

• be provided for each period of experience claimed
• be written for the purposes of this application and be dated within the last three months
• be submitted on letterheaded paper. If this is not possible, provide an explanation why not.

Referees must:

• confirm the dates they supervised you and total hours worked per week
• have supervised you directly and make it clear what the supervision arrangements were
• provide a summary of your role and description of the standard of your work which includes:
  • you have been employed in your capacity as a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction.
• give us information on their qualification if they are legally qualified. If they are regulated by us, they need to give us their SRA number. If they are not, we will need one of the following:
  • a copy of their certificate of good standing
  • their admissions certificate
  • a letter from a law society/bar confirming they are qualified in their jurisdiction.
  • have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before confirming your experience and stating that they have done so in their reference.

If you are ready to apply, please find out how to submit your application. 

• You do not complete all relevant sections.
• You have not provided work samples or your references do not corroborate your work samples.
• You have duplicated information – you must provide specific evidence for each area.  
• You have used AI to provide explanations that are not individual to you.
• You expect the SRA to assess partial equivalence – you must meet the full SQE2 content requirements.
• Where applicable:
  • you rely on an academic qualification without post-qualification work experience where this has applied in practice
  • your experience is pre‑qualification (as this is automatically below the threshold level) and/or was not part of your mandatory qualification requirements.

Stage 1

• Your application will be reviewed by us.
• We will ask you for any missing information or more evidence where necessary. If it cannot be provided, the application will be rejected.

Stage 2

• Your application will be assessed by us.
• Where applicable, it may also be assessed by an external assessor.

Stage 3

• You will have a decision within 180 days of us receiving your fully completed application.
• If required, you can ask for review of our decision if an application is refused (28 day deadline).

Fee

 The application fee is £265 for one or both SQE exemptions.

• Before applying:
  • If you choose to apply, you will need to create a mySRA account
  • You can then add your jurisdictions - you do this in the 'My profile' section under 'Jurisdiction'. Please click 'add jurisdiction', select your professional title, and add the date you qualified.
• Complete the application
  • Once logged into mySRA, select 'Start new applications' on the homepage. The application is called 'Apply for qualified lawyer exemption from the SQE assessments'.
  • Once started, you will find your draft application in 'My profile' under 'Applications and documents'.
  • You must give us certified translations for any documents not in English. These cannot be AI‑generated or self‑certified translations.
• What to expect after submission
  • You will have a decision within 180 days of us receiving your fully completed application.
  • You cannot apply for another exemption under the same application once submitted. For example, if you apply for SQE2, you cannot use the same application and fee to then apply for SQE1 later.

If you are applying for an SQE2 exemption and are ready to sit SQE1, you can do this while awaiting a decision. Any results from the SQE1 will not affect the decision. Find out how to register.