SQE1 January Marking error

The SRA announces SQE1 January marking error by Kaplan, as a result 175 candidates who were previously told they'd failed FLK1 and/or FLK2 were revealed to have passed. Kaplan are offering a 'goodwill payment' of £250 for those affected.

SRA announces increase in SQE costs

The SRA will be increasing SQE assessment costs, taking effect in September 2024, SQE1 will go up from £1,798 to £1,888 this will be £944 for FLK1 and £944 for FLK2, and SQE2 from £2,766 to £2,902.

SRA’s Annual Report Key Findings:

• The overall pass rates for SQE1 stay at 51% and 53% in 2023
• The overall pass rate for SQE2 was 75%
• SQE2 pass rates were higher for those who had sat SQE1 (88%) than for those who had not (66%), something for LPC graduates to consider
• Though apprentices make up only a small percent, they continued to perform comparatively well, particularly in SQE2 where 97% passed in April 2023
• Candidates with higher university degree classifications were much more likely to pass the SQE

You can find the full report here.

QWE Report Headlines: For Candidates

There were just over 5,000 QWE confirmations recorded with the SRA by November 2023. However, just over 20% said that it was difficult or very difficult to secure QWE

The three most selected reasons were:

1. There was a lot of competition for QWE
2. There was a lack of knowledge about QWE among legal service providers
3. It was hard to find QWE in their local area

Approximately 90% of candidates who had completed some QWE said they were very satisfied or satisfied with it

• An increase in the proportion of candidates saying it was difficult or very difficult to have their QWE confirmed

Expectations of employers of passing SQE prior to starting QWE:

• Just under 40% of organisations said they do not require candidates to pass either SQE1 or SQE2 before beginning QWE
• 20% said they require candidates to pass both SQE1 and SQE2 before starting QWE, 10% said they require candidates to pass only SQE1. These figures are similar to the initial survey

QWE Report Headlines: For Firms

• An increase in the proportion of organisations saying they paid or planned to pay their QWE candidates a salary or a salary plus additional expenses (from 53% to 80%)

The most important factors for candidates when seeking QWE, were:

1. Practice area and desire to work for the provider
2. Evidence that a provider's QWE covers a broad range of competencies
3. Workplace culture, particularly reasonable adjustments, EDI and flexible working options
4. Candidate support, including supervision and training

The most frequently selected benefits of QWE were:

1. Being able to develop existing employees
2. QWE is simpler to provide than a PRT
3. Being able to provide work experience to aspiring solicitors for the first time
4. That QWE does not require them to assess competence to practise as a solicitor

Some of the selected challenges included were:

1. Inability to employ any or all their paralegals as solicitors after confirming their QWE
2. QWE is too new
3. They did not understand the requirements of QWE

You can read the full QWE report here.

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