When will the SQE be brought into play?

Jun 17, 2021

Written By Becky Kells

Many of you will be wondering when the Solicitors Qualifying Examination will be brought into play. Here, we’ll keep you updated with the key start times, as and when they get announced.

As it stands, the SQE is due to be introduced in autumn 2021, subject to final approval from the Legal Services Board. It’s worth noting that the SQE has already been delayed before—so don’t treat autumn 2021 as the definitive start time.

Specifically, the SRA has pinpointed November as the likely month for the first exam sitting for the SQE, with two sittings of the exam expected per year. There are two components to the exam—SQE1 and SQE2—and you’ll only be able to progress onto SQE2 after passing SQE1. So feasibly, we can assume that nobody will be sitting SQE2 in November 2021, with the first cohort progressing onto that exam in 2022 earliest. This goes some way to explaining why (at the time of writing) a lot more information is available about SQE1 than SQE2.

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What does the SQE start date mean for me?

If you’re doing your GCSEs or A-Levels and want to be a solicitor: Now isn’t the time to worry about what the SQE might mean for you, as it will be at least three years until you get close to completing it. However, once the SQE is in place, you will be able to complete it whether you’ve done a law degree or not.

Equally, if you do accept a place on a qualifying law degree before autumn 2021, you’ll be able to qualify via the old method—LPC and GDL—up until 2032.

If you’re a first-year LLB undergraduate: being in the first year of your undergraduate degree means that the SQE will likely be up and running by the time you graduate. So you have the option to take it, but you’re not bound to it—since you started your LLB before autumn 2021, you could also qualify via the old route, of LPC and GDL, until 2032.

If you’re a first-year non-law student: if you’ve started a degree and are considering converting to law, it may be that the SQE is the route you’ll take, once you graduate. This will be true unless you start or accept an offer of a qualifying law degree (e.g. the GDL) before autumn 2021. One perk of the SQE is you’ll not have to do a conversion course once graduating, which could work out less costly than the GDL/LPC route.

If you’re a second-year LLB student or a final-year non-law student: many aspiring lawyers apply for training contracts at this point in their education, and this is what we would advise if you want to be a solicitor. If you get accepted onto a training contract, the firm will likely fund and organise your GDL and LPC—a route of qualification that will be valid until 2032. We would not advise waiting for the SQE at this stage, purely because the date has not been finalised.

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If you’re considering self-funding the LPC or GDL: if you’ve graduated and are considering self-funding the GDL and LPC, it might be tempting to wait for the much cheaper SQE. However, since the start date is still subject to change, you might be waiting a while. One option would be to start building your Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) until it becomes feasible to sit the SQE. However, at this stage, we would suggest applying for training contracts as plan A, self-funding as plan B and waiting for the SQE as plan C, purely because the SQE start date has not yet been finalised.

If you’re a current or former LPC/GDL student: you do not need to worry about the SQE, since you are on track to complete all of the necessary study components to do a training contract. The LPC/GDL route of qualification will still be valid until 2032.

If you’re a paralegal or legal professional hoping to qualify as a solicitor: the work that you do could fall under Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). So you might want to start “banking” the work that you’re doing in anticipation of the SQE. This does depend on when you hope to qualify, though—you need two years full-time QWE in order to meet the criteria. So you could technically continue working in your current role until autumn 2021, and having amassed a large chunk (or indeed all) of your QWE you could progress onto the SQE. Again, though, this isn’t a path that you can 100% bank on at this stage, because the SQE start date is still subject to change. If you feel strongly that you want to qualify by a certain date, you should look into the LPC, GDL or training contracts.

If you’re a solicitor apprentice: The current advice for apprentices is to “ask your training provider how they are keeping up-to-date with the...SQE”. They will have more information about how your apprenticeship fits into the SQE timetable.

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