Focus on FLK
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has opened its annual review of the Functional Legal Knowledge (FLK) tested in the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), inviting feedback from students, firms and other stakeholders.
The review covers the FLK set out in the SQE assessment specifications, including SQE1’s FLK1 and FLK2, as well as the FLK assessed in SQE2. Its aim is to ensure the syllabus reflects developments in law and legal practice, while also offering clarification where issues have been raised by stakeholders.
All interested parties are encouraged to submit feedback that aligns with those aims. Submissions should be sent by email to the SRA by 13 February.
Feedback will be reviewed by subject matter experts at Kaplan, the SQE’s assessment provider, with any resulting changes agreed jointly with the regulator.
An updated FLK will be published by the end of April 2026, with stakeholders also being notified of any key amendments. The revised syllabus will apply to all SQE assessments sat on or after 1 September 2026.
The SRA has stressed that this annual review is separate from the wider five-year review of the FLK due to take place later this year. Feedback gathered through previous annual reviews will feed into that longer-term evaluation, details of which are available on the regulator’s website.
The annual review follows the publication of an independent report last month which found that student confidence in the SQE has fallen sharply, even as support for the new qualification route has grown among law firms.
Concerns about assessment fairness lie at the centre of student dissatisfaction — an issue Legal Cheek has previously reported on and one that prompted a trainee solicitor to launch an online petition. The research found that just 28% of candidates agreed that the SQE is a fair assessment, while nearly two-thirds disagreed, representing a notable decline since 2022.