SQE: What are the QWE options?

Jun 02, 2023

Written By Elizabeth Beesley

The introduction of the SQE has led to numerous questions and confusion. In order to dispel these, we are here to answer your queries and inform you what counts towards the SQE qualification criteria. This will ensure you know what exactly is required in order for you to successfully qualify as a solicitor.

What is Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)?

As part of the route to qualification, aspiring solicitors need to pass SQE1 and SQE2 assessments, which assess practical and theoretical legal skills. The exams are only one part of the total requirements needed to qualify as a solicitor, you’ll also need to complete qualifying work experience, or QWE. Unlike the previous model that formed part of the LPC, QWE can be completed before, during or after SQE assessments, on the condition that you register and complete your QWE before applying for admission as a solicitor in England and Wales. You must also complete two years of full-time QWE to satisfy the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority), although you do not need to register with the SRA before you start your QWE.

Therefore, there are no time limits on when you can claim experience as QWE and how far back it can go, so long as it fits the SRA requirements. This means it can be claimed retrospectively from a past job, placement, or volunteer role.

Qualified foreign lawyers are exempt from QWE.

What counts as QWE?

QWE can be completed in the UK or abroad, and does not need to cover English and Welsh law. It must involve providing legal services, as opposed to simulated services. You can complete it at a maximum of four different workplaces, including law firms, law centres, university pro bono clinics and charities.

Valid QWE could include placements as part of law degrees, working as a legal apprentice, working as a paralegal, and volunteering at a law centre or charitable organisation.

Your QWE must expose you to at least two competencies in the Statement of Solicitor Competence (including ethics, professionalism and judgement, technical legal practice, working with other people, and managing personal workload).

You will later be assessed on your ability to demonstrate a full range of competencies through SQE assessments.

How has QWE changed qualifying as a solicitor?

Firstly, some firms have recruited trainees partly out of paralegal ranks, allowing for early qualification and more flexibility. For instance, someone who was a paralegal with a firm for 18 months could spend six months as a trainee before qualifying as a solicitor, so long as they pass the SQE exams.

Contrary to the old system, where such opportunities only functioned as ways to get a footing in law and boost the resume, the SQE counts these as fully-fledged QWE to the same degree as a training contract.

Furthermore, small legal businesses may offer more flexibility about adapting to the SQE’s practices, as they do not have the resources for full training contracts. The ability to recruit candidates with experience that counts towards solicitor credentials allows them to accommodate for more entry-level hires.

Despite the expectations from many formal legal training contracts - with most law firms retaining the traditional model with four seats over two years - there is no requirement to work in a specified number of practice areas. However, it remains that many law firms continue to advertise for traditional traineeships and want their future lawyers to have completed a two-year training contract with them before taking an NQ role.

Many are also now acknowledging additional opportunities that the new SQE route follows. For instance, some firms are providing revamped training schemes, whilst others are developing new ways of training lawyers, like the graduate solicitor apprenticeship.

How is QWE assessed?

QWE must be signed off either by a solicitor qualified to practise in England and Wales or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP). In order to reach this stage, a supervisor or someone in the organisation(s) at which you have worked will need to sign a declaration confirming that you have spent time with them and developed your legal skills.

The solicitor or supervisor responsible for signing off your QWE must confirm: the length of the work experience; that the work has given you the chance to develop some or all of the competencies needed to work as a solicitor; and that there were no issues which brought into question your character and suitability to become a solicitor.

If you are struggling to find someone to confirm your QWE as a result of working abroad with no English-qualified solicitors, it is possible to work with a solicitor regulated by the SRA (known as an external confirming solicitor) who will be able to confirm your QWE. This solicitor will learn about your SWE by reviewing your training diary, a portfolio of your work, or through feedback provided by a supervisor.

Ultimately, it is important to stay open-minded about and capitalise on the numerous potential opportunities made possible by the new route to qualifying as a solicitor compared to the previous regime. Although many will still opt for the traditional training contract, it need not be the only thing you consider when looking to kickstart your legal career.

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