Up from 78%
The latest Solicitors Qualifying Examination 2 (SQE2) results are in, with the overall pass rate climbing to 80% in the January 2026 sitting.
A total of 1,141 candidates sat the assessment between 27 January to 6 February, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s latest statistical report published this week. Of those candidates, four fifths were successful, continuing SQE2’s run of relatively strong outcomes.
The 80% figure represents a two percentage point increase on the previous October/November sitting, which recorded a 78% overall pass rate.
Interestingly, first-time candidates performed slightly worse than the cohort as a whole, achieving a 79% pass rate.
SQE2 consists of 16 stations, including 12 written assessments and four oral exercises, designed to test practical legal skills alongside the application of functioning legal knowledge. Candidates can only attempt SQE2 once they have passed SQE1 or secured an exemption. While SQE1 pass rates have fluctuated in recent sittings, SQE2 continues to deliver results in the high seventies.
As in previous reports, the diversity data reveals persistent attainment gaps across certain groups. White candidates recorded an 88% pass rate, compared with 66% for Asian candidates and 53% for Black candidates. Candidates whose first language is English achieved an 84% pass rate, while those whose first language is not English recorded a 61% pass rate, maintaining a noticeable differential.
Candidates holding a first-class undergraduate degree achieved an 92% pass rate, compared with 81% for those with a 2:1 and 53% for candidates with a 2:2. Age also showed variation in outcomes, with 16 to 24 year olds achieving an 88% pass rate, compared with 81% among those aged 25 to 34.
Is there a reason the pass rate for white candidates is so much higher than for blacks? Because as it stands the exams seems like a massive barrier to diversity in the profession
So what is your solution? Just pass anyone who happens to be black or an ethnic minority even if they fail the exam?
Lmao when did I say that Nigel? The solution would be to find out why blacks are disproportionately failing.
It is for so many reasons, Mansfield. A lot of the blacks are foreign educated from Caribbean and African countries where English is not their first language. such as the Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Ghanaians, South Africans and the like. There are also a lot of systemic and socio economic issues affecting black students who are UK trained and who take these exams.
I’ve met many blacks who have attained a 2.2 or 1st at uni easily passing these exams. The hurdle is getting to this stage where they can compete at an equal footing with everyone else. Not sure what to do in order to fix these disparities. Its very complex stuff.
English is the main language in the countries you listed and I would say having gone to school in one of them and in England, I got taught English way better there. I speak far better English than my actual country’s language because it is the first language.