In this article, Peter Liver Chief Operations Director at the College explains how QWE can benefit your firm and your trainees’ development.
Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) is now an integral part of the process to becoming a fully qualified solicitor in England and Wales with the SQE. As a recent concept and a replacement for previous ‘training contracts’, QWE is designed to diversify and equalise opportunities in the legal profession by being a more flexible and accessible route to gain experience in law. At The College of Legal Practice, we’re very positive about this advancement, both for candidates and employers. In this article, I'll be sharing how firms can maximise the potential of QWE for developing their trainees, particularly through a lens of widening participation.
From contracts to QWE: how 2021 changed the face of training
When the SRA announced the new route to qualifying as a solicitor in 2021, a lot of changes were afoot. Intended to increase diversity in the profession and standardise training routes, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) requires all trainee lawyers to complete the same examinations, comprised of two parts - SQE1 and SQE2. This replaces the old LPC route. Alongside this, all entrants must complete Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). QWE requires all candidates to complete two years of work experience in the legal sector covering a range of competencies outlined by the SRA.
While this may sound similar to the previous system of training contracts, QWE is far more flexible. Candidates can complete QWE before, during or after their SQE exams, and it can be carried out in up to four different places with varied term lengths. Provided trainees can total up to two years (full-time equivalent) in no more than four legal services organisations and get this signed off by a qualified solicitor or compliance officer, this can go towards their qualification. So with this new route, we are seeing trainees working in a variety of roles, from a paralegal to a volunteer, working in varied firm sizes from high street to global, and within organisations and charities with a legal team. This change broadens opportunities and is a positive step in diversifying the law workforce of the future.
Each year, the SRA conducts a survey of recent trainees on the SQE route to explore how this new pathway is being received. In April’s survey findings, there were several headlines with specific references to the accessibility of QWE (you can read the College’s full summary here and the original SRA report here).
You will be pleased to see that firms reported multiple benefits of the new QWE regime, including:
- Being able to develop existing employees
- QWE being simpler to provide than a Period of Recognised Training (PRT)
- Being able to provide work experience to aspiring solicitors for the first time
- Not having to worry about assessing an individual’s competency to practice as a solicitor
Meanwhile, some challenges were also identified:
- Some firms were unable to employ any or all their paralegals as solicitors after their QWE was confirmed
- Some found the QWE too new, and therefore were unsure how to deliver it
- Some did not understand the requirements of QWE
It’s clear from this report that benefits largely focus on widened access, while challenges are largely due to the process being new and/or requiring time to embed. Let us explore further how QWE should look in your firm (and how we see that other firms are doing it right).
Your responsibilities as an employer delivering QWE
For many firms, we see that adjusting to the new QWE route doesn’t change much, unlike the move to the SQE exams. This is particularly if there is already a robust system in place in the organisation for assessing trainees. There are several responsibilities that are specific to QWE that you’ll need to consider and others from PRT that you no longer need to worry about. These all surround the focus of both assessing a candidate against core competencies and confirming that they’ve been met.
Firstly, we recommend to our clients setting up a clear process of how QWE will run before your candidate joins the team (or before they formally begin their QWE). Decide who specifically will be confirming your trainees’ QWE - this can be someone internally, or smaller firms can bring in a solicitor to confirm QWE. Anyone confirming QWE, which is carried out through the SRA’s system, though, must know a candidate’s work well enough.
All candidates must be assessed on whether they have met core solicitor competencies through their work. Firms must have a robust internal review system in place to ensure this is properly tracked and assessed for quality throughout someone’s QWE — and this shouldn’t be a tick-box exercise.
I recommend this guidance from Sarah, that gives you more detail on your responsibilities as an employer.
Who is doing it right?
Often, the best way to learn is by observing others, and we have several examples of firms that we work with that are doing a brilliant and very thorough job managing their QWE processes and programmes.
Over at Clarke Wilmott, there is a clearly outlined package for QWE for their paralegals, many of whom already have some QWE prior to starting their SQE exams. Their focus on social mobility means that they don’t expect their trainees to study full-time but work alongside their studies. Colleagues work within the business completing their two years QWE whilst we support them studying part-time for the SQE, and also take on the College of Legal Practice’s O shaped: People & Business Skills module to ensure they are developing client skills to support their training.
At Browne Jacobson, their future lawyers are fully supported through the QWE either alongside studying for the SQE or after they complete the exams. They also support the O Shaped initiative across the organisation both through training with the College and workshops with the O Shaped team. We have seen the team at Browne Jacobson be a very strong advocate for solicitor apprenticeship programmes too, which are exciting opportunities for both individuals and firms. The apprentices study for their SQE alongside employment for their two years QWE, improving social mobility in terms of recruitment for the firm, and offering a high level of support and coaching through the programme. You can read more about graduate solicitor apprenticeships with the College here.
Acuity Law are another great example. Acuity were early adopters of the SQE based in 2022, and we’ve partnered with their team to deliver a clearly outlined, but flexible, programme of study that combines our SQE prep courses with QWE. Their trainees take SQE1 full-time and then study part-time for SQE2 whilst completing their QWE. Some of their QWE programmes specialise in one practice area and others offer the traditional four seats.
Want to know more?
In summary, we believe the SQE route is a fantastic step towards diversifying the legal workforce of the future. With many large firms trailblazing new, flexible delivery programmes, opportunities are widening. If you’re keen to learn more about our partnerships, visit our Partnership page.
Giles and I would also be happy to advise you on approaches to QWE and share our insight and experience so please get in touch.