*Pretends to be shocked*
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned aspiring lawyers that the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is “more demanding” than its predecessor, the Legal Practice Course (LPC).
The comparison comes as the regulator points to several groups that tend to perform less well on the SQE, including LPC grads taking SQE2 under transitional arrangements, resitting candidates, overseas-qualified lawyers and candidates whose first language is not English.
It forms part of a new SRA report, The SQE: Four Years On — Facts and Figures, which looks at almost four years of assessments taken between November 2021 and July 2025. Over that period, more than 30,000 candidates sat the SQE across 50 countries.
The SRA says that LPC grads — many of whom are asked by their future training firms to complete SQE2 — should, in particular, be aware that the exams are “more demanding” than the LPC.
“This may reflect the fact that the LPC focuses on testing a candidate’s readiness to start a training contract, whereas the SQE tests whether a candidate is ready to practise as a solicitor,” the SRA says. “The data shows that candidates who have completed the LPC cannot rely on their studies for that qualification to pass SQE2.”
The report also examines overall pass rates since the launch of the SQE, with the current pass rate mong all candidates who have attempted the assessments standing at 66% for SQE1 and 85% for SQE2. For candidates sitting SQE1 for the first time, pass rates have ranged from 46% to 60%, while in SQE2, first-attempt pass rates have been higher, varying between 69% and 84%.
The regulator explains that differences between sittings reflect variations in the strength of candidate cohorts, rather than changes in the difficulty of the assessments.
The report goes on to address concerns raised by candidates following lower-than-average pass rates in certain sittings, including the July 2025 SQE1 assessment, which recorded a historic low pass rate of just 41%. The regulator’s report notes that this sitting had the highest proportion of resitting candidates to date, a group that has historically performed less well.
However, the regulator says this did not fully explain the outcome. Analysis of candidate performance on common questions showed that the July 2025 cohort was “weaker than previous cohorts”, including July 2024. The SRA adds that aspiring lawyers should not attempt to game the system by choosing particular sittings, stressing that the same standard applies regardless of timing or location.
The data also sheds light on what factors most strongly influence performance. Drawing on analysis conducted by assessment provider Kaplan, the SRA found that university ranking and degree classification together explain around 23% of the variance in SQE1 scores. For SQE2, around 30% of variance is explained by a candidate’s SQE1 performance and university ranking.
By contrast, characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, disability and socio-economic background account for relatively little of the variation in scores. The SRA says that most of the remaining variance is likely explained by factors it does not collect data on, including “motivation, aptitude, ability and study time”.
On diversity, the report shows that SQE cohorts are more ethnically diverse than both the UK working population and the solicitor profession. Around 28% of candidates are Asian or British Asian, while 7% are Black or Black British. The regulator recognises that White candidates continue to have higher overall pass rates, but reckons ethnicity alone explains only a small proportion of the difference in outcomes.
As previously reported by Legal Cheek, solicitor apprentices were a group highlighted as performing strongly. More than 800 apprentices have now passed the SQE, with overall pass rates of around 71% for SQE1 and 93% for SQE2, compared with 66% and 85% respectively across the full cohort. The SRA said apprentices are more likely to come from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds.
Julie Swan, the SRA’s director of education and training, said:
“The data contained in this report shows that the SQE is attracting a diverse range of candidates. The strong performance of solicitor apprentices is to be celebrated and is supporting social mobility. Kaplan’s latest report shows that neurodivergent candidates are performing well. This indicates that reasonable adjustments are removing potential disadvantages these candidates might otherwise experience in the assessments.”