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Continuing competence


Pinned by the SRA

Understanding your continuing competence requirements

We require solicitors and registered lawyers to maintain their competence to carry out their role.


Understanding your continuing competence requirements

We require solicitors and registered lawyers to maintain their competence to carry out their role.

FAQs about continuing competence

We require solicitors, registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers to maintain their competence to carry out their role. This means they must keep your knowledge and skills up to date, including any relevant legal, ethical and regulatory obligations relevant to their role.

Reflecting and identifying your competence requirements

Reflecting on and learning from your practice is one of your competence requirements.

Learning and development templates

Continuing competence templates to help you reflect, identify and record your learning and development.

The law firms role in making sure solicitors meet their continuing competence obligations

Under our Code of Conduct for Firms, all firms we authorise to provide legal services (including sole practices) must make sure that their managers and employees, are competent to carry out their role, and keep their professional knowledge and skills, as well as understanding of their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, up to date.

What children should expect at youth court

We worked closely with the Youth Justice Legal Centre and Just for Kids Law to explore what children should expect from a solicitor.

Working with other organisations in the criminal justice system

The key point is to engage early with other organisations as this will help you understand more about the child you are working with.

Communicating and engaging effectively with children in the youth court system

Child witnesses and defendants experience much higher levels of communication difficulty in the justice system than was previously recognised.

Keep your knowledge and skills up to date in the youth court system

Keeping your knowledge and skills up to date is essential to get the best possible outcomes for child defendants, witnesses and victims when practising youth advocacy in the courts.

Youth court solicitors good practice guide

What good practice looks like for solicitors practising in youth courts (defence and prosecution).