Recording your qualifying work experience 

Updated 12 April 2023

Who can apply

Candidates who want to record a completed period of qualifying work experience (QWE). Find out what you can claim as QWE on our candidate pages.

You only need to register the full two years' QWE by the time you apply for admission as a solicitor. For example if you are due to leave a role shortly or because you want to use a past role as QWE.

Before applying, please make sure the solicitor of England and Wales or compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) we regulate are aware that they will need to confirm your QWE. They will be contacted once you have submitted this.

When to apply

You can apply when you have a completed and confirmed period of QWE - you must enter an end date. This date cannot be in the future or left blank.

As QWE can be gained in up to four organisations, you’ll need to complete a separate application for each period of QWE you register.

What you need

• A completed period of QWE that has already ended. If you have been in role for more than two years, we suggest you speak your confirming solicitor to agree the best date range to use
• Confirmation from a solicitor or compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) we regulate.

How to record your QWE

Confirming your understanding

Step 1 - check the boxes to confirm you understand our requirements

Organisation/branch

Step 2 - fill in your organisation details

Work experience type

Step 3 - details of what type of experience such as paid, apprentice, placement or volunteer

Work experience details

Step 4 - tell us about when you completed your experience and its duration

• start and end date of the QWE – the end date cannot be left blank and it must be in the past
• your work pattern (full time or part time)
• total number of months and weeks completed

If you are an apprentice, you can use any two-year period from your apprenticeship. 

Confirmation by a solicitor or COLP 

Step 5 - name and SRA number of the solicitor or COLP confirming your QWE

We have guidance for those who are confirming your experience if needed.

We cannot accept confirmation from any another qualified lawyer or barrister unless they are also a solicitor or COLP we regulate.

Fee

There is no fee for this notification

Making your application

You will need to make your application by applying online in mySRA.

First, you will need to create an account. If you already have a mySRA account, you will need to log in.

Once logged in, select 'Start new applications' on the homepage. The application is called 'Notify us of your qualifying work experience'.

If you have started it already it, you will find your draft application in 'My profile' under 'Applications and documents'.

You may find it useful to have this guidance open in a separate device or browser window to help you complete the form.

We will let you know that we have registered your QWE within 30 days.