Apply for an individual SQE assessment exemption
Updated 29 September 2023
What is an exemption?
When a qualified lawyer does not have to sit one or more of the SQE assessments.
To get an exemption your legal qualification and/or experience must be the same as the assessment content and standard, which is based on English and Welsh law.
Who can apply?
SQE assessments exemptions are only available to qualified lawyers. This is someone who has a legal professional qualification which allows them to practise in the UK or an international jurisdiction.
You need to have one or more of these practising rights:
- Criminal litigation (including advising clients at the police station)
- Civil litigation - referred to as dispute resolution on the form
- Property practice
- Wills and intestacy, probate administration and practice
- Business organisations rules and procedures
We will check that your qualification gives you the right to practise when you apply for admission as a solicitor. You will need to give us a certificate of good standing from your law society(s) or bar(s).
Please be aware that we cannot grant partial exemptions from any assessment.
Which exemption can you apply for?
Agreed exemption only
Please check that your legal qualification has an agreed exemption before applying. You must have already been admitted in a relevant jurisdiction to apply for this.
If you only wish to apply for an agreed exemption find out how to do this.
For solicitors qualified in Scotland go to how to apply for your exemption.
Agreed and additional exemptions
If your qualification has an agreed exemption, for example from SQE2, you may wish to apply for an SQE1 exemption as well. This will be based on your qualifications and/or work experience.
Please be aware that if you apply for an individual SQE1 exemption, alongside an agreed SQE2 one, it can take us 180 days to decide on your application as a whole. Decisions on only the agreed SQE2 exemption often take significantly less time.
Take a look at evidence you will need to show us.
New exemptions
These are the three exemptions you can apply for:
- SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) 1
- SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) 2
- SQE2
We will not grant exemptions from part of an assessment.
You must show how your qualifications and/or experience are based on a legal system that is not substantially different from that in England and Wales. If you cannot show this, we will not be able to grant exemptions from the assessments.
Additionally your qualification (or related jurisdiction) must require you to comply with a code of conduct or ethical obligations that are similar to those in the SRA Code of Conduct.
Qualified lawyers with the QLTS MCT
If you apply for an SQE1 exemption, you can ask us to take your MCT into account. However, the MCT alone is not equivalent to all of SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 (FLK1) or Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 (FLK2).
There are differences between the QLTS day one outcomes and what is tested in SQE1. For example SQE1 includes the procedural subjects of Business Law and Practice Wills and the Administration of Estates, Property Practice, Dispute Resolution and Criminal Practice which are not tested in the MCT. There are no partial exemptions available, so you would need to make sure you can provide sufficient evidence for any areas not covered by the MCT.
Also, if you have passed the MCT, you can also sit the SQE2 assessment to complete your QLTS qualification. You would then have until 31 March 2024 (inclusive) to apply for admission as a solicitor. Find out the future SQE2 exam dates.
Qualified lawyers with the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
There are two qualification options available to you if you have the LPC. Find out more
Exemptions from SQE1 (FLK1 and/or FLK2) assessments
Your evidence will need to show us that:
- Your qualifications and/or work experience cover the areas of law assessed in SQE1 – either for Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 or Functioning Legal Knowledge 2, or the whole assessment
- Your qualifications and/or experience are equivalent to level three of our SRA Threshold Standard
- The law where you are qualified and/or have done your work experience is not substantially different to the law of England and Wales
- You have detailed references from your supervisor(s) to corroborate all your work experience
- You have relevant samples of your work. For example, redacted attendance notes, letters to clients etc
Exemptions from SQE2 assessment
You will need to upload evidence of your qualification when you apply. This could be your admissions certificate or letter from your law society or bar.
You may be exempt from SQE2 if you have:
- the same practice rights as a solicitor of England and Wales, and
- at least two years' professional legal work experience (or equivalent)
Practice rights
You will need to demonstrate how your experience is equivalent to these five practice rights:
- Criminal litigation (including advising clients at the police station)
- Civil litigation, which is referred to as dispute resolution on the form
- Property practice
- Wills and intestacy, probate administration and practice
- Business organisations rules and procedures
Less than two years' work experience
Where you do not have two years' legal work experience, we will require further evidence to consider this on a case-by-case basis. This work experience can be gained as part of your qualification or post, or a combination of these.
You would need to demonstrate how your qualification and experience is equivalent in content and standard to the SQE2 Assessment Specification.
The practical legal skills you need to demonstrate is equivalent to level three of our SRA Threshold Standard.
What to do before applying
Make sure you have added your legal qualifications and jurisdictions in mySRA within 'My profile'. You will not be to apply for an exemption until you do this.
To do this, you will need to create a mySRA account. If you already have one, you will need to log in.
Sitting SQE1 while awaiting an SQE2 decision
If applying for an SQE2 exemption and you are ready to sit SQE1 you can do this alongside making your exemption application. Any results from this exam will not affect the decision.
And if the exemption is not granted you will need to have passed SQE1 before you are allowed to sit SQE2.
If you are granted an SQE2 exemption you are allowed three attempts at SQE1 and these have to be taken within six years. This six years only starts from the first day of sitting the SQE1 assessment.
Fee
The application fee is £265.
How to complete your application
Open allFill in your personal details.
You need to provide details of the law society, bar or other authority you are qualified under. This including your current professional title, date of qualification and registration number. You will also need to provide the contact details for the law society, bar or other authority.
You will then need to confirm whether you hold any of the following practice rights in your jurisdiction:
- Criminal litigation
- Civil litigation, which is referred to as dispute resolution on the form
- Property practice
- Wills and intestacy, probate administration and practice
- Business organisations, rules and procedures
If you do not have all these rights, you will need to complete Section 8 (Technical legal practice B1-7 only) on the application form.
Please tell us if your jurisdiction/qualification’s Code of Conduct or any ethical obligations include these requirements:
- upholding the proper administration of justice and the constitutional principles of your jurisdiction or of the rule of law
- upholding public trust and confidence in your profession and in legal services provided by lawyers in your jurisdiction
- acting with independence
- acting with honesty and integrity
- acting in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion
- acting in the best interests of each of your clients
The obligations set out above may be expressed differently in other jurisdiction/qualification’s Codes of Conduct or ethical obligations.
You will need to choose which exemptions you are applying for. These can be either agreed exemptions for your qualification or new/additional exemptions.
Agreed exemptions (only)
4a – Agreed and additional exemptions
If your qualification has an agreed exemption, for example from SQE2, you may wish to apply for an SQE1 exemption as well. This will be based on your qualifications and/or work experience.
If you want to apply for these, please tick section 4a and then complete section 4b.
4b – New exemptions
Please complete this section for an individual exemption (new or additional).
You can apply based on your legal or other qualifications and/or professional legal work experience.
Evidence you can use include:
- your professional legal qualification which gives you practise rights
- a personal qualification (undergraduate or Master's degree, diploma, CPD courses etc)
- your own professional legal work experience.
If you are using work experience as evidence, you will need to tell us about the organisation where it was gained, including:
- organisation name
- organisation SRA number (if applicable)
- the length of the period of work experience
- your job title
- the name of any supervisor(s) and their SRA number(s) (if applicable)
- the legal qualification of your supervisor(s)
To grant an exemption from the SQE1 FLK1 assessment, we must be satisfied that your qualifications and/or experience are not substantially different in content and standard to the SQE.
You will need to show us that your qualifications and/or experience are equivalent to FLK1 - both content (coverage of the areas of law) and standard (the standard of a newly qualified solicitor in England and Wales).
Please be aware we cannot grant partial exemptions.
In the assessment table under 'Please tell us how these areas are covered by your professional legal qualification', you should provide details showing that it:
- covers content which is not substantially different to the areas of English and Welsh law assessed in FLK1
- is of a standard comparable to level three of our Threshold Standard - the standard of a newly qualified solicitor.
Under 'If these areas are covered by another qualification or experience, please tell us how', include any other relevant qualifications, and your professional experience. This should:
- cover content which is not substantially different to the areas of English and Welsh law assessed in FLK1
- be exercised at a standard which is comparable to level three of our Threshold Standard - the standard of a newly qualified solicitor.
You must also provide evidence that:
- the law in the jurisdiction where you gained your professional qualification or experience is not substantially different from the law in England and Wales. It is not sufficient to state that your jurisdiction's law resembles or is based on that of England and Wales. You must provide evidence, for each of the areas of law assessed in FLK1, that the law is not substantially different.
- your qualification requires you to adhere to a code of conduct or ethical obligations similar to our SRA Principles and SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs.
Supporting evidence
You must include the following evidence within your application:
- other qualifications through certificates and transcripts
- all work experience must be corroborated by detailed references from your supervisor(s)
- redacted relevant samples of your work.
You can use evidence for more than one area of law or more than one skill.
Examples
'I am a qualified lawyer and hold English and Welsh qualifications such as a law degree or the Legal Practice Course which cover the subjects assessed in FLK1. I wish to apply for an exemption from SQE1 FLK1.'
Your qualification may meet our requirement in respect of content, that is, you may have studied the areas of law assessed in FLK1. However, as these qualifications are not set at the standard of a newly qualified solicitor, they will not on their own be sufficient evidence to grant you an exemption.
You would need to submit additional evidence to show that you have met the standard of a newly qualified solicitor. For example, you could submit evidence about your experience as a practising lawyer, if this was in a jurisdiction whose law is not substantially different to the law in England and Wales – use the relevant column in sections 5 and 6 of the form.
For an exemption to be granted, you would have to show that your experience covered all of the law assessed in the assessments you seek exemption from, at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. We are not able to accept applications where there are any gaps in relation to the law assessed in FLK1.
'I am a qualified lawyer who has studied all the areas of legal knowledge in FLK1. I qualified in, and practise in, a jurisdiction which has law that is not substantially different from that of England and Wales. However, my professional Code of Conduct does not have the duties set out in the SRA Principles and SRA Code of Conduct.'
Because your qualification does not require you to adhere to a code of conduct or ethical obligations that are similar to those in our SRA Principles and our SRA Code of Conduct, you will not be entitled to an exemption from SQE1 FLK1. Depending on your experience, you may be entitled to exemption from SQE2.
Guidance for referees
Please make sure that your referee(s) have read this information.
All references must:
- be provided for each period of experience claimed
- be written for the purposes of this application and dated within the last 3 months
- be submitted on letterheaded paper.
Referees must:
- have provided direct supervision and have made it clear in their reference what the supervision arrangements were
- have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before corroborating your experience and confirm that they have done so in their reference
- include examples from their direct observation of your work
- confirm the dates they supervised you
- have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before confirming your experience and stating that they have done so in their reference.
How to show your experience and provide work samples
Here is a suggestion for how you could complete the assessment table, using the Business Law and Practice section as an example.
Area of functioning legal knowledge | Please tell us how these areas are covered by your qualification | If these areas are covered by another qualification or experience, please tell us how | Please tell us how the law covered by your qualification, which you have practiced in your work experience, is not substantially different to the law of England and Wales | Evidence in support, eg academic qualifications or awards, reference, samples of work etc |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. |
Business Law and Practice |
|||
Business organisations, rules and procedures |
||||
1.1 Business and organisational characteristics (sole trader / partnership / LLP / private and unlisted public limited companies) |
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
Example here |
Example here |
Evidence in support eg reference or work sample. For example, redacted emails to supervisor, page 16 Document 33 record of telephone call with client Document 35, page 4, letter to other parties’ solicitor |
1.2 Legal personality and limited liability |
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
Example |
Example |
Evidence in support eg reference, samples of work. For example, reference letter from J Bloggs & Co. |
1.3 Procedures and documentation required to incorporate a company / form a partnership / LLP and other steps required under companies and partnerships legislation to enable the entity to commence operating: constitutional documents Companies House filing requirements |
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
State which distinct area of law and practice you achieved the outcome. |
EG ABC & Co |
Evidence in support eg reference, appraisal document, samples of work |
Your evidence and work samples should support your examples. Please make sure you redact all samples to remove sensitive or identifying information.
We will not accept non-redacted documents.
To grant an exemption from the SQE1 FLK2 assessment, we must be satisfied that your qualifications and/or experience are not substantially different in content and standard to the SQE.
You will need to show us that your qualifications and/or experience are equivalent to FLK2 - both content (coverage of the areas of law) and standard (the standard of a newly qualified solicitor in England and Wales).
Please be aware we cannot grant partial exemptions.
In the assessment table under 'Please tell us how these areas are covered by your professional legal qualification', you should provide details showing that it:
- covers content which is not substantially different to the areas of English and Welsh law assessed in FLK2
- is of a standard comparable to level three of our Threshold Standard - the standard of a newly qualified solicitor.
Under 'If these areas are covered by another qualification or experience, please tell us how', include any other relevant qualifications, and your professional experience. This should:
- cover content which is not substantially different to the areas of English and Welsh law assessed in FLK2
- be exercised at a standard which is comparable to level three of our Threshold Standard - the standard of a newly qualified solicitor.
You must also provide evidence that:
- the law in the jurisdiction where you gained your professional qualification or experience is not substantially different from the law in England and Wales. It is not sufficient to state that your jurisdiction's law resembles or is based on that of England and Wales. You must provide evidence, for each of the areas of law assessed in FLK2, that the law is not substantially different.
- your qualification requires you to adhere to a code of conduct or ethical obligations similar to our SRA Principles and SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs.
Supporting evidence
You must include the following evidence within your application:
- other qualifications through certificates and transcripts
- all work experience must be corroborated by detailed references from your supervisor(s)
- redacted relevant samples of your work.
Examples
'I am a qualified lawyer and hold English and Welsh qualifications such as a law degree or the Legal Practice Course which cover the subjects assessed in FLK2. I wish to apply for an exemption from SQE1 FLK2.'
Your qualification may meet our requirement in respect of content, that is, you may have studied the areas of law assessed in FLK2. However, as these qualifications are not set at the standard of a newly qualified solicitor, they will not on their own be sufficient evidence to grant you an exemption.
You would need to submit additional evidence to show that you have met the standard of a newly qualified solicitor. For example, you could submit evidence about your experience as a practising lawyer, if this was in a jurisdiction whose law is not substantially different to the law in England and Wales – use the relevant column in sections 5 and 6 of the form. For an exemption to be granted, you would have to show that your experience covered all of the law assessed in the assessments you seek exemption from, at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. We are not able to accept applications where there are any gaps in relation to the law assessed in FLK2.
'I am a qualified lawyer who has studied all the areas of legal knowledge in FLK2. I qualified in, and practise in, a jurisdiction which has law that is not substantially different from that of England and Wales. However, my professional Code of Conduct does not have the duties set out in the SRA Principles and SRA Code of Conduct.'
Because your qualification does not require you to adhere to a code of conduct or ethical obligations that are similar to those in our SRA Principles and our SRA Code of Conduct, you will not be entitled to an exemption from SQE1 FLK2. Depending on your experience, you may be entitled to exemption from SQE2.
Guidance for referees
Please make sure that your referee(s) have read this information.
All references must:
- be provided for each period of experience claimed
- be written for the purposes of this application and dated within the last 3 months
- be submitted on letterheaded paper.
Referees must:
- have supervised you directly and make it clear in their reference what the supervision arrangements were
- have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before corroborating your experience and confirm that they have done so in their reference
- include examples from their direct observation of your work
- confirm the dates they supervised you
- have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before confirming your experience and stating that they have done so in their reference.
How to show your experience and provide work samples
Here is a suggestion for how you could complete the assessment table, using the Business Law and Practice section as an example.
Area of functioning legal knowledge | Please tell us how these areas are covered by your qualification | If these areas are covered by another qualification or experience, please tell us how | Please tell us how the law covered by your qualification, which you have practiced in your work experience, is not substantially different to the law of England and Wales | Evidence in support, eg academic qualifications or awards, reference, samples of work etc |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. |
Property Practice |
|||
Core knowledge areas of freehold real estate law and practice |
||||
1.1 Investigation of a registered and unregistered freehold title:
|
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
Example here |
Example here |
Evidence in support eg reference or work sample. For example, redacted emails to supervisor, page 16 Document 33 record of telephone call with client Document 35, page 4, letter to other parties’ solicitor |
1.2 Pre-contract searches and enquiries:
|
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
Example |
Example |
Evidence in support eg reference, samples of work. For example, reference letter from J Bloggs & Co. |
1.3 Law Society Conveyancing Protocol |
Give a broad overview of your knowledge and the skills you have developed, providing specific examples to illustrate. Make sure that you explain:
|
State which distinct area of law and practice you achieved the outcome. |
EG ABC & Co |
Evidence in support eg reference, appraisal document, samples of work |
Your evidence and work samples should support your examples. Please make sure you redact all samples to remove sensitive or identifying information.
We will not accept non-redacted documents.
Your qualification included two year's work experience
Please tick the box and return to mySRA to upload your form. We need no further information.
Your two years’ work experience was completed post qualification, or a combination of both during and post qualification
Please tick the relevant box and add the name and contact details of your referee confirming your experience.
Please tick the box and add the name and contact details of your referee confirming your experience.
You will need to upload a reference(s) from your referee(s). Please make sure that your referee(s) have read this information.
References 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.
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
- include a summary of your role and description of the standard of your work
- 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
- 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.
To grant an exemption, we must be satisfied that your qualifications and/or experience covers the standard and content of SQE2 and meet level three of our Threshold standard.
Please be aware that we cannot grant partial exemptions from SQE2.
You must include the following evidence within your application:
- other qualifications through certificates and transcripts
- all work experience must be corroborated by detailed references from your supervisor(s)
- redacted relevant samples of your work.
You can use evidence for more than one area of law or more than one skill.
When completing the table, you must:
- set out specific, detailed examples showing how you achieved each of the skills
- tell us what evidence you are supplying.
References
You will need to upload a reference(s) from your referee(s). Please make sure that your referee(s) have read this information.
References 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.
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
- include a summary of your role and description of the standard of your work
- 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
- 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.
How to show your experience and provide work samples
Here is a suggestion for how you could complete the assessment table using the Business Law and Practice section as an example.
SQE2 skills | Evidence that the skills meet the solicitor statement of competence at level three of our Threshold Statement |
Evidence in support, eg reference, samples of work etc |
---|---|---|
A Ethics |
||
A1 |
Act honestly and with integrity, in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements and the SRA Standards and Regulations, including
|
Example here |
A2 |
Maintain the level of competence and legal knowledge needed to practise effectively, taking into account changes in your role and/or practice context and developments in the law, including
|
Example here |
A3 |
Work within the limits of your competence and the supervision which they need, including
|
Example here |
Your evidence and work samples should support your examples. Please make sure you redact all samples to remove sensitive or identifying information.
We will not accept non-redacted documents.
Making your application
To make your application apply online in mySRA. If you do not already have an account you will need to create an account to access the form.
Once logged in select 'Start new applications' on the homepage. The application is called 'Apply for qualified lawyer exemption from the SQE assessments'.
If you have already started it, you will find your draft application in 'My profile' under 'Applications and documents'.
Once you have submitted, you cannot apply for another exemption under the same application. For example, if you apply for SQE2, you cannot use the same application and fee to then apply for SQE1 at a later date.
We will let you know our decision within 180 days.