Approaching the SQE

To pass SQE1, you need to master a massive syllabus and apply fundamental legal principles under pressure, without notes and with the clock ticking. Tough? Definitely.

In July 2026, the pass rate was just 42% for all candidates.

That shift isn’t an accident. The SQE pass mark isn’t fixed. It’s set after each sitting using the Modified Angoff method, where a panel of solicitors estimates how many out of ten minimally competent candidates would answer each question correctly. Their scores are averaged, adjusted for difficulty and consistency, and scaled so that 300 on a 0–500 scale is always the pass mark.

There’s no set fail rate, but the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said that if everyone passed, the test would be too easy, so the bar stays high.

Bottom line? This exam is guaranteed to be tough. You can’t bluff your way through. But with the right preparation, you can pass the SQE and achieve your goal of becoming a solicitor.

This guide will show you how: smart study strategies, targeted memorisation, common pitfalls to avoid, and effectively managing your time.

The first step in tackling the SQE1 is knowing exactly what you’re up against. While plenty of details about the exam can be opaque, the syllabus itself is clear. The SRA website provides a full breakdown of the topics in its detailed assessment specification. 

If you’re not already using the SRA specification as your main reference, you should be. This syllabus is what Kaplan's question writers will be looking at when deciding what questions to set. Your study plan should follow it closely.

The exam is not designed to test ultra-niche legal points that a junior solicitor would realistically look up. It's called 'functioning legal knowledge' for a reason: it targets central legal rules and concepts you’re expected to have at your fingertips. 

That said, they do sometimes throw in curveballs—questions on less familiar or rarely tested areas of legal practice. If you come across something obscure, it may be low priority, but don’t ignore it completely.

One detail many candidates miss: SQE1 is based on the law as it stood four months before the exam. If a legal change happens within that window—even a major one—you’re expected to apply the previous version.

This can catch you out if your materials auto-update, so always check whether recent legal changes fall after the cut-off.

The next step in tackling the SQE1 is to prepare for the format in which you’ll be tested on the syllabus.

The exam tests “Functioning Legal Knowledge” (FLK) via two papers, known as FLK1 and FLK2, each covering a mix of legal topics, from criminal law to business law and administrative law. Both papers follow the same format: 170 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions, split into two sessions of 85 questions. Each session lasts 2 hours 33 minutes, so each paper is 5 hours 6 minutes in total. That gives you about 1 minute 48 seconds per question. You have a 1 hour break between sessions.

Each session covers a fixed group of subjects, and questions are mixed randomly within it rather than grouped by topic:

• FLK1, session 1: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Legal Services

• FLK1, session 2: Contract, Tort, Legal System of England and Wales, Constitutional and Administrative Law, EU Law

• FLK2, session 1: Wills and the Administration of Estates, Trusts, Land Law, and Solicitors Accounts in the context of wills

• FLK2, session 2: Property Practice, Criminal Liability, Criminal Law and Practice, and Solicitors Accounts in the context of property

Ethics and professional conduct can come up in any session, across every subject.

Overwhelmingly, all the candidates we interviewed post-exam wished they had focused on SQE practice questions far earlier.

In fact, this was the single most common piece of advice from successful candidates. SQE practice questions hold the key to passing SQE1, and we’ll come back to this point again and again in this guide.

Additionally, the SRA website has a timed sample test that lets you practise with the real exam format as it will appear on the Pearson VUE test centre computers. You can try out useful features like flagging tricky questions to come back to later.

It’s important to stress: practising MCQs and taking mock exams isn’t something to leave until the last minute. Start doing SQE practice questions right now. Not after you’ve read through everything. Not once you “feel ready.” Now.

Why? Because doing practice questions early fundamentally changes how you study. It shifts how you read legal materials, whether textbooks, lecture slides or notes, by showing you which details actually matter.

Instead of trying to memorise everything equally, you begin to notice what’s testable, spot recurring structures, and focus your attention on the way rules are framed, applied and questioned. In short, it teaches you how to read with the exam in mind.