SQE Update – November 2021

In this bulletin find out about the first sitting of the SQE1 assessment, the date for SQE2 bookings opening, marking the SQE and validating degrees.

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First SQE1 assessment

The first ever SQE assessments took place last week. 1090 candidates attempted the SQE assessments, across more than 100 test centres in 26 countries.

Candidates will get their results on or before 24 January 2022. We will also publish a SQE1 post-assessment report providing feedback about overall candidate performance, and the key results from the assessment, such as pass mark and pass rate.

SQE assessment data

Looking beyond the post-assessment reports that we will publish after each SQE assessment, we are also continuing to work with stakeholders on developing our approach to publishing more detailed anonymised SQE candidate data.

Publishing this data will benefit future candidates as it should help inform their training choices, while also offering insights for employers to help with their recruitment.

We need to make sure we get our approach to publishing candidate data right. That includes making sure any data is appropriately anonymised and contextualised. We are also mindful that we need large numbers of candidates to make the data we publish as meaningful and useful as possible.

We will provide an update in the next few months on our approach, and timescales for publishing this more detailed data.

SQE2 booking opening

Booking for the first ever SQE2 assessments, taking place in April 2022, will open on 25 January and close on 7 March. Bookings are naturally subject to availability, so we recommend candidates book early.

Please note, that if you are a candidate who wants to request a reasonable adjustment for SQE2, you do not need to wait until bookings open to make the request. Please contact Kaplan who will advise you on the best way to apply, depending on where you are in your SQE journey.

Article on reasonable adjustments

Everyone deserves a fair attempt at the SQE assessment. Our Director of Education and Training, Julie Brannan, has written in the Law Society Gazette about how we are making sure that everyone has the opportunity to take the SQE and perform to the best of their ability. And how we have worked closely with disabled people and disability groups to make sure we get our approach to reasonable adjustments right. For the first SQE assessments, one in 15 candidates used reasonable adjustments.

Read the article

Marking the SQE and its pass mark

Some people have asked for a reminder of how the SQE is marked and how we set the pass mark. The pass mark for each sitting of the SQE will be set by the Assessment Board in accordance with the SQE Marking and Standard Setting Policy. There is no fixed pass mark as it can vary to make sure that the passing standard of the assessment remains at the correct level. The pass mark will be published after each Assessment Board and will also be included with the candidate's results.

We covered this at our SQE Conference 2019 in the ‘SQE assessment methodology’ session which you can view on demand. You can also read the SQE Marking and Standard Setting Policy for further details. 

Check and validate qualifications

Aspiring solicitors can now check and validate their degree or equivalent level 6 qualifications. To qualify under the SQE route you must have a degree (or equivalent) and it must be checked before you apply for admission. All checks are done by our third-party validation service, Atlantic Data.

Learn more about validating a qualification

Get involved

Future SQE candidate numbers training provider survey - new deadline

Now that SQE training providers are more advanced in their course development and recruitment, it would help us to have an update on potential candidate numbers for future SQE sittings. Take our short survey to tell us - the deadline is Friday 26 November.

Take it now

SQE networking events

Thank you to everyone who came to our autumn SQE networking events in Cardiff, Leeds and London. We had more than 50 training providers, law firms and in-house legal teams attend. It was great to move beyond virtual engagement, and chat in person for the first time in almost two years.

We got a lot of useful feedback on areas such as qualifying work experience, how aspiring solicitors are accessing information on the SQE, and how training providers would like to continue to engage.

We plan to offer more networking opportunities in 2022.

On demand webinar

SQE: What it means for law firms

We recently ran a live session at Legalex 2021 on what the SQE means for law firms. Topics covered in the session included how firms are responding to the SQE, how the training market is developing, and the opportunities around qualifying work experience.

Watch the webinar