This guide explains what each stage involves, how they differ, where they fit in the qualification timeline, and what preparation actually looks like for each.

What is the SQE?

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is the centralised assessment that all aspiring solicitors in England and Wales must pass to qualify. It replaced the Legal Practice Course (LPC) from 2021 onwards and is administered by Kaplan on behalf of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SQE applies to all candidates regardless of their degree background — a law degree is no longer a requirement to qualify, as long as you pass the assessments and complete qualifying work experience.

For a complete overview of the full qualification journey — from degree to admission to the roll — see our guide: What is the SQE?

SQE1: Functioning Legal Knowledge

SQE1 is the first stage of the examination. It tests legal knowledge across 13 subjects through multiple choice questions (MCQ). There are two papers:

• FLK1 — Functioning Legal Knowledge Paper 1: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Contract, Tort, the Legal System, Constitutional and Administrative Law, and Legal Services.
• FLK2 — Functioning Legal Knowledge Paper 2: Property Practice, Wills and Intestacy, Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, Trusts, and Criminal Law and Practice.

Each paper contains 180 questions, giving 360 questions across the two sittings. The papers are typically sat on consecutive days during a scheduled exam window. SQE1 is marked by Kaplan and results are given as a scaled score. The typical pass mark sits around 56–60%, though this varies by cohort and sitting.

The key thing to understand about SQE1 is that it tests knowledge and application. You are not being asked to draft a contract or interview a client — you are being asked to identify the correct legal answer from four options. That means preparation is fundamentally about building legal knowledge across all 13 subjects and practising the MCQ format intensively.

“SQE1 assesses functioning legal knowledge — candidates must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the law across the SQE1 functioning legal knowledge areas.”

— Solicitors Regulation Authority, SQE Assessment Specification

This is exactly where Sqewise is built to help. Our Smart Selector serves questions across all 13 FLK1 and FLK2 topics, weighted to your weakest areas so your practice time is always focused on what matters most. Browse all topics on our SQE1 topics page.

SQE2: Practical Legal Skills

SQE2 is the second stage and tests what you can do rather than what you know. It assesses six practical legal skills across five practice areas (property, wills and intestacy, criminal, civil litigation, and business):

• Client interviewing and attendance notes
• Advocacy and oral presentation
• Case and matter analysis
• Legal research and written advice
• Legal drafting
• Written advising

SQE2 is assessed over multiple days through a combination of written tasks and oral assessments in front of assessors. You play the role of a solicitor and are assessed on your ability to handle realistic legal scenarios. You must have passed SQE1 before you can sit SQE2.

Preparation for SQE2 looks very different from SQE1. MCQ practice is irrelevant at this stage. Instead, candidates typically work through skills-focused courses offered by SQE preparation providers, practise mock client interviews, draft real legal documents under timed conditions, and develop advocacy techniques. Some candidates do this through their law school’s SQE2 programme; others use independent providers.

SQE1 vs SQE2: Side-by-Side Comparison

Do You Have to Pass SQE1 Before SQE2?

Yes, without exception. The SRA requires candidates to pass SQE1 before they can sit SQE2. There is no way around this — it is a hard prerequisite. If you fail SQE1, you can resit it, but you cannot sit SQE2 until you have a passing SQE1 result. This is one reason why building a solid SQE1 preparation strategy is so important: it is literally the gateway to the rest of the qualification process.

Where Does Qualifying Work Experience Fit?

Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) — the two years of practical experience required to qualify — can be completed before, during, or after the SQE assessments. It does not need to be a traditional training contract. Paralegal work, internships, placements, and other supervised roles can all count, as long as they are signed off by a solicitor. This flexibility is one of the most significant changes the SQE introduced compared to the LPC route.

How Should You Prepare?

For SQE1, the most effective preparation combines three things: structured revision of all 13 topics, high-volume MCQ practice weighted to your weak areas, and timed mock exams that replicate the real exam format. Sqewise is built specifically for this. Our Smart Selector identifies where your knowledge is weakest and prioritises those topics. When you feel ready, our practice mode serves questions continuously, and Pro subscribers get access to full 90-question timed mock exams.

For SQE2, you will need a different type of provider — one that focuses on practical skills training, live assessments, and feedback. Many law schools and independent SQE prep providers offer SQE2 programmes.

The most important thing is to start SQE1 preparation early, be systematic across all 13 topics, and take full mocks to identify gaps before the real exam. Start practising today on Sqewise — your first 25 questions are free, with no credit card required.

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What the Final Week Is For

Broadly, the final week serves two purposes: consolidating what you already know, and managing the psychological transition from revision mode to exam mode. Both matter.

By the final week, your knowledge base is largely set. The marginal value of new information is low — there is not enough time to encode it properly or to practise applying it. The high-value activities in the final week are different from earlier phases of revision:

• Reviewing key rules and definitions that you know but want to feel sharp on
• Running short, targeted practice sessions on your weakest topics
• Reviewing errors from your most recent mock exam
• Resting and recovering cognitive capacity for exam day

A Day-by-Day Final Week Plan

• Day 1 (6 days before exam): Active recall sweep of FLK1 topics. For each subject, write down the five rules you are least confident about, check them, then do 15–20 practice questions on the weakest subject.
• Day 2 (5 days before exam): Same process for FLK2 topics. Focus on the areas your mock review flagged as weak.
• Day 3 (4 days before exam): Targeted practice on the 2–3 topics where your mock exam performance was weakest. 40–50 questions maximum.
• Day 4 (3 days before exam): Light revision only. Flashcards or brief notes for key rules across all subjects. No new topics. Finish by early afternoon.
• Day 5 (2 days before exam): Very light session — review your personal list of “rules I keep forgetting.” Confirm your exam venue, travel, and logistics. Early evening finish.
• Day 6 (day before exam): No revision. Rest completely. Prepare your exam materials. Eat well and sleep at your normal time. Do not stay up late reviewing.
• Day 7 (exam day): Light breakfast. Arrive at the venue with time to spare. No last-minute notes or cramming.

What to Avoid in the Final Week

The common mistakes in the final week are predictable and avoidable:

• Starting new topics for the first time — this adds anxiety without adding useful knowledge
• Doing a full practice exam in the two days before the sitting — this fatigues you without enough time to recover
• Changing your sleep pattern to study later or earlier than usual
• Reading notes obsessively the morning of the exam

“The night before the exam, put your notes away. Everything you have learned is already stored. Your job now is to rest so you can retrieve it.” — widely reported advice from SQE1 tutors and successful candidates.

Exam Day Technique

A few practical points for the exam itself:

• Read each question fully before looking at the answer options — this prevents the options from anchoring your analysis
• On questions where you are unsure, eliminate obviously wrong options first, then make your best choice from the remainder
• Never leave a blank — there is no negative marking
• Pace yourself: 180 questions in 5 hours is 100 seconds per question. Keep an eye on your progress at the midpoint
• If you are badly stuck on a question, mark it and move on — return to it if time allows

Practise on Sqewise

If you are reading this in your final week, the most useful thing you can do is a targeted practice session on Sqewise focused on your weakest topics. Check your progress dashboard to see where to focus, review the topic list for any subjects you haven’t revisited recently, and make sure you’ve completed at least one full mock exam. Good luck.

The post SQE1 Final Week: How to Revise (and Rest) in the Last 7 Days Before Your Exam appeared first on SQE Wise.

The 60-Day Framework: Three Phases

A 60-day plan divides naturally into three phases of roughly 20 days each:

• Phase 1 (Days 1–20): Foundation pass. Work through all subjects at a high level, building core knowledge. Aim for 1–2 days per major topic. Do 20–30 practice questions per subject as you go.
• Phase 2 (Days 21–45): Targeted revision and volume practice. Identify your five weakest subjects from Phase 1 performance and allocate double time to them. Increase daily question volume to 50–60. Interleave subjects to build integrated recall.
• Phase 3 (Days 46–60): Mock exams and consolidation. Complete two full mock exams in timed conditions. Review each exhaustively. Revisit any subject where mock review reveals gaps. Do a final sweep of all topics in the last three days.

Week-by-Week Subject Allocation

Here is a suggested subject allocation for Phase 1:

• Days 1–3: Contract Law
• Days 4–6: Tort Law
• Days 7–8: Business Law (Companies/Directors)
• Days 9–10: Dispute Resolution
• Days 11–12: Criminal Law
• Days 13–14: Land Law
• Days 15: Trusts
• Days 16: Wills and Intestacy
• Days 17: Solicitors’ Accounts
• Days 18: Legal Services
• Days 19: Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Day 20: Property Practice

This is a template — adjust based on your existing strengths and weaknesses. If you are stronger in criminal law and weaker in business law, reduce the former and expand the latter.

Daily Study Structure

For each study day, a simple structure works well:

• Morning (90 min): Practice questions on current topic — before re-reading notes
• Mid-morning (60 min): Review errors and identify gaps; targeted note review
• Afternoon (90 min): Second practice session — mixed questions including current topic
• Evening (30 min): Active recall exercise — write down 5 key rules without looking

Rest is not optional. Build in at least one full rest day per week. Cognitive performance degrades without recovery time, and a well-rested revision session produces more than a fatigued marathon one.

Tracking Progress

You cannot improve what you don’t measure. Throughout your 60 days, track:

• Your mastery score per topic after each revision block
• Your daily question volume
• Your mock exam scores and the subject breakdown of errors

Sqewise’s study planner automates much of this tracking. It calculates recommended daily hours by topic based on your exam date and current mastery scores, and adjusts as you improve.

The Final Week

In the last seven days before the exam, reduce new content and focus on consolidation:

• Days 54–57: Final sweep of all topics — flashcards, brief notes, no new material
• Day 58: Light practice session, early finish
• Day 59: Rest day — no revision. Prepare logistics: know your exam venue, confirm your ID documents, plan your travel.
• Day 60 (exam day): Light breakfast, early arrival, no last-minute cramming

Practise on Sqewise

A study planner is only as effective as the practice questions that feed it. Use Sqewise’s adaptive practice platform throughout your 60 days — the smart selector adjusts question weighting based on your mastery scores, so every session targets your gaps automatically. See our plans for full mock exam access, or learn how Sqewise works.

The post SQE1 Study Planner: A Practical 60-Day Revision Framework appeared first on SQE Wise.

Why Mock Exams Are Different From Practice Questions

Topic-by-topic practice questions and full mock exams serve very different purposes. Practice questions build subject-specific knowledge and test rule application in isolation. Mock exams do something different:

• They test your ability to sustain concentration and performance over five continuous hours
• They reveal how well your knowledge holds when questions switch between subjects without warning
• They show how you perform under genuine time pressure with a fixed end point
• They surface anxiety patterns and question-management habits that don’t appear in topic practice

A candidate who scores 70% on contract law practice questions but only 58% on full mocks has a stamina and integration problem, not a knowledge problem. Only mocks can reveal and fix this.

When to Start Mock Exams

The biggest mistake candidates make with mock exams is leaving them too late. Mocks are most valuable when done early enough that you still have time to act on the results.

Aim to complete your first full mock exam no later than six weeks before your sitting date. Complete at least two full mocks, with thorough review of each, before sitting the real exam.

If you only do mocks in the final week, you lose the ability to use them diagnostically. You’ll identify weaknesses but have no time to fix them.

How to Run a Mock Exam Properly

Exam conditions matter. A mock done in a comfortable chair with breaks and reference materials is not a mock — it’s extended practice. To get value from a mock exam:

• Set a five-hour timer before you start
• Work in a quiet environment with no distractions
• Do not use notes, textbooks, or any reference material
• Take only the breaks permitted in the real exam (typically a short comfort break mid-paper)
• Complete every question — never leave blanks

How to Review a Mock Exam

The review is at least as important as the mock itself. Every question you got wrong is a data point — use it.

• For every incorrect answer: identify which topic it falls under, what rule you misapplied or didn’t know, and what the correct reasoning is
• For questions you guessed correctly: mark these too — lucky guesses are gaps in disguise
• Group errors by topic: if you got 7/20 contract law questions wrong, that’s a systematic gap requiring targeted revision
• Review time management: did you spend too long on early questions and rush the last section?

Using Mock Scores to Make a Go/No-Go Decision

Your mock scores should inform whether you sit the exam or delay. As a rough benchmark:

• 65%+ consistently: you are likely in pass territory
• 58–65%: borderline — identify and fix the weakest subjects urgently
• Below 58%: consider whether you have enough time to close the gap before your sitting

These are rough guides, not guarantees. The actual pass mark varies by sitting. But consistent mock scores well above the estimated pass threshold correlate strongly with first-time pass rates.

Practise on Sqewise

Sqewise offers full SQE1 mock exams under realistic exam conditions, with instant scoring and detailed performance breakdowns by subject. After your mock, the progress dashboard shows exactly where to focus your remaining revision time. Try free practice questions first, or explore our Pro and Max plans for full mock access.

The post SQE1 Mock Exams: How to Use Them Effectively (Not Just as a Final Test) appeared first on SQE Wise.

Mistake 1: Passive Reading Instead of Active Recall

Reading notes and highlighting key passages feels like revision. It isn’t — or at least, it’s the least effective form of it. Passive exposure to material creates a feeling of familiarity that masquerades as knowledge, but it doesn’t build the retrieval pathways that the SQE1 requires.

Active recall means trying to remember information before looking at it. Use practice questions before re-reading the topic. Close your notes and write down everything you know about consideration, then check. Explain diminished responsibility aloud without prompting. This is harder and more uncomfortable than reading — which is exactly why it works better.

Mistake 2: Leaving Practice Questions Until “Ready”

Candidates who delay questions until they feel “ready” do fewer total questions and reach exam day with less applied confidence. The right approach is to do questions from day one. Attempting a question on a topic you haven’t studied yet highlights gaps that reading alone would never surface.

On Sqewise, you can filter practice by subject and start alongside each topic as you study it. Don’t wait — start now.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Weaker Subjects

Every SQE1 candidate has subjects they find harder or less interesting. The temptation is to spend more time on familiar topics, scoring 75% on contract law questions while constitutional law sits at 45%. This is a trap. Use objective tracking to identify your weakest subjects and allocate disproportionate time to them in the final revision phase.

“The biggest gains in SQE1 performance come from fixing your weakest subjects, not perfecting your strongest ones.”

Sqewise’s progress dashboard shows a mastery score for every topic, updated after every session. If a topic is below 60%, it needs dedicated attention before you sit the exam.

Mistake 4: Not Doing Full Mock Exams

Topic-by-topic questions and full mock exams are different in a crucial respect: mocks test your ability to sustain performance across five hours with 180 questions. Many candidates are surprised to find that their topic-by-topic scores don’t translate directly into mock performance — question fatigue, loss of focus after the three-hour mark, and anxiety all play a role.

Aim for at least two full mock exams in timed conditions in the six weeks before your sitting. Review every question afterwards, including the ones you got right.

Mistake 5: Revising Without a Plan

Unstructured revision produces uneven coverage. Some topics get revisited many times; others are forgotten entirely. A structured study plan allocates specific time to each topic, schedules review sessions, and builds in mock exam weeks.

Use Sqewise’s study planner to create a personalised schedule based on your exam date. The planner calculates recommended weekly hours by topic and adjusts as your mastery scores improve.

Practise This Topic on Sqewise

The best time to correct these mistakes is now. Start with a diagnostic session on Sqewise’s practice platform, identify your weakest topics, and build a plan that fixes them systematically. See our how it works page or explore our plans for full mock access and analytics.

The post 5 SQE1 Revision Mistakes That Cost Candidates Marks (and How to Avoid Them) appeared first on SQE Wise.

FLK1: Business and Property Law

FLK1 covers the subjects that arise most commonly in transactional and commercial legal practice. The core topics tested in FLK1 are:

• Contract Law — formation, terms, breach, remedies, vitiating factors
• Tort Law — negligence, occupiers’ liability, nuisance, defamation, vicarious liability
• Business Law and Practice — company law, directors’ duties, partnerships, insolvency
• Property Law and Practice — freehold and leasehold conveyancing, mortgages, co-ownership
• Wills and Administration of Estates — validity, intestacy, personal representatives
• Dispute Resolution — civil procedure, limitation, interim remedies, costs

FLK2: People and Criminal Law

FLK2 covers the subjects that arise most frequently in personal client and criminal practice:

• Criminal Law and Practice — offences against the person, property offences, procedure, sentencing
• Trusts — express, resulting, constructive trusts; certainties; breach and remedies
• Solicitors’ Accounts — SRA Accounts Rules, client money, interest
• Legal Services — SRA Standards and Regulations, principles, complaints, regulatory framework
• Constitutional and Administrative Law — parliamentary sovereignty, judicial review, human rights

Wait — Aren’t Some Topics in Both Papers?

Yes. The SRA’s approach is that a qualified solicitor needs functioning legal knowledge across all areas, but certain topics have greater overlap. Solicitors’ accounts and legal services, for example, are tested in FLK2 but the underlying regulatory principles run across both papers. You won’t be penalised for applying, say, contract law knowledge in a scenario that primarily arises in FLK1 — but the questions are designed to be self-contained.

The SRA publishes a detailed Subject Matter Specification for the SQE1. Every revision plan should start with that document — it tells you exactly what rules you’re expected to know.

How the Papers Differ in Practice

FLK1 tends to have a strong quantitative element in property and business questions — you may need to calculate stamp duty land tax, work out apportionment figures in a conveyancing transaction, or apply loan-to-value ratios. Build comfort with basic arithmetic and financial calculations for FLK1.

FLK2 contains the criminal law scenarios, which often involve multiple defendants, partial defences, or procedural decisions. These questions test your ability to apply nuanced rules quickly. Criminal procedure in particular — bail, disclosure, modes of trial — requires precise knowledge rather than broad understanding.

Should You Sit Them in the Same Session?

Most candidates sit FLK1 and FLK2 in the same examination period, typically on consecutive days. There are arguments for and against:

• Same session: Momentum, consistent preparation period, no gap where knowledge fades
• Split sessions: Reduces total revision pressure, allows deeper focus per paper

The majority of candidates who use a well-structured revision platform and begin preparation at least four months before the exam date are well-equipped to sit both papers together. If you’re starting with less than ten weeks to go, consider whether splitting is more realistic for your circumstances.

Revision Strategy: Should You Study FLK1 and FLK2 Together?

The most effective approach is to study them in parallel rather than sequentially. Complete contract law, then do some criminal law, then move to tort, then trusts. This interleaving is harder in the short term but produces stronger retention — a well-established finding in cognitive psychology.

Use your progress tracking to keep an eye on mastery across both papers simultaneously. Sqewise’s smart selector balances questions from both paper subjects automatically, so gaps don’t build up silently in one area while you’re focused on the other.

Practise This Topic on Sqewise

Sqewise covers all FLK1 and FLK2 subjects in one platform. You can filter your practice sessions by subject, or let the smart selector allocate questions based on where you need the most work. Visit our SQE1 topics page for the full subject breakdown, or see how Sqewise works.

The post SQE1 FLK1 vs FLK2: What’s the Difference and How to Prepare for Both appeared first on SQE Wise.

This guide breaks down a proven strategy for first-time SQE1 success, drawing on what separates candidates who pass from those who resit.

Understand What the SQE1 Actually Tests

The SQE1 is not a memory test in the traditional sense. It tests functioning legal knowledge — the ability to apply legal rules to realistic client scenarios. That distinction matters enormously for how you revise.

Candidates who try to memorise vast textbooks often struggle, because the exam asks “what should the solicitor advise here?” not “what does Section 3 of the Act say?” Your revision must be applied and practical from the start.

The exam consists of two papers — FLK1 and FLK2 — each containing 180 multiple-choice questions to be completed in five hours. There is no negative marking, so you should always attempt every question.

Build a Realistic Study Plan Before You Do Anything Else

Before opening a single revision guide, map out your available time. Work backwards from your exam date and allocate weeks to each subject area. Most candidates need between 300 and 400 hours of study to be well-prepared.

A sensible structure looks like this:

• Weeks 1–8: First pass through all subjects — build core knowledge, do topic-by-topic practice questions
• Weeks 9–14: Second pass — focus on weak areas, increase daily question volume
• Weeks 15–16: Mock exams, review errors, fine-tune exam technique

The key is to build in review sessions. Don’t just move forward — spiral back to reinforce what you’ve already covered. Use a study planner to track this automatically.

Prioritise Active Recall Over Passive Reading

Reading notes is the least effective form of revision. Active recall — forcing yourself to retrieve information from memory — is dramatically more effective and is well-supported by the cognitive science literature.

In practice, this means:

• Attempting practice questions before re-reading the topic
• Using flashcards to test rules and exceptions
• Summarising topics from memory, then checking what you missed
• Explaining concepts aloud as if to a client

With Sqewise, every practice session is powered by a smart selector that adjusts question weighting based on your mastery — so the system automatically emphasises where you need more work. This means your revision time is never wasted on topics you already know well.

The 80/20 Rule for Topic Coverage

Not all topics carry equal weight. Contract law, tort, criminal law, and land law together account for a substantial portion of both papers. Ensure these foundational subjects are solid before spending significant time on smaller topics like legal services or constitutional law — though every topic must be covered to some degree.

“The candidates who pass SQE1 first time are almost always the ones who did the most questions, not the most reading.” — SQE Tutor feedback, widely reported across cohorts

Use Practice Questions From Day One

Many candidates make the mistake of delaying practice questions until they feel “ready.” This is counterproductive. Starting questions immediately — even on topics you haven’t fully studied — builds the exam mindset early and highlights gaps you wouldn’t have noticed from reading alone.

Aim for a minimum of 50 practice questions per study day in the final six weeks. In the earlier phase, 20–30 per day is sufficient while you’re building knowledge foundations.

When you get a question wrong, don’t just note the correct answer. Understand the reasoning. Ask yourself: what rule did I misapply? What fact in the scenario was the decisive one? This analytical habit is what converts practice sessions into real exam performance.

Mock Exams Are Non-Negotiable

Complete at least two full mock exams in exam conditions before sitting the real thing. Full mocks serve purposes that topic-by-topic practice cannot:

• They test your stamina over a five-hour paper
• They reveal how well you perform under time pressure
• They show whether your knowledge holds across all subjects simultaneously, not just in isolation
• They familiarise you with the psychological experience of a long, high-stakes exam

Review every mock answer — including the ones you got right. Sometimes a correct answer was a lucky guess, and identifying those is just as important as understanding your errors.

Take Care of the Basics

Sleep, exercise, and nutrition aren’t soft extras — they directly affect cognitive performance. During an intensive revision period, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is one of the highest-return investments you can make.

Study in focused blocks of 45–90 minutes with short breaks. The Pomodoro technique works well for many SQE1 candidates. Avoid marathon sessions that stretch beyond four hours without rest — they produce diminishing returns and increase the risk of burnout.

Practise This Topic on Sqewise

Ready to put your revision strategy into action? Sqewise offers over 2,000 SQE1 practice questions across all FLK1 and FLK2 subjects, with intelligent tracking so you always know where to focus next.

Start practising free — no credit card required. Or explore our Pro and Max plans for full mock exams, detailed analytics, and a personalised study planner.

Check out our guide on how Sqewise works and see the full list of SQE1 topics covered.

The post How to Pass SQE1 First Time: A Proven Study Strategy appeared first on SQE Wise.