Regulator publishes new business plan
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expects to generate more than £59 million from the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) over the coming year, as it pledges further improvements to the assessments in a bid to restore confidence among candidates and the wider profession.
The regulator’s business plan for 2026-27 forecasts £59.1 million in education and training income, which is generated through SQE candidate fees. This represents a 2% increase on the £57.8 million budgeted for the previous financial year.
Expenditure on education and training, which is primarily associated with delivering the SQE, is expected to be slightly higher at £60.9 million, up from £58 million in 2025-26. The SRA says these costs are “almost entirely offset through fees paid by the SQE’s candidates”.
The figures come as the regulator identifies improving confidence in the SQE as one of its key priorities for the year ahead, acknowledging that further progress is needed to improve the candidate experience.
“We will continue to enhance candidates’ experience of the SQE, building on improvements already made while recognising that further progress is needed to build confidence,” the business plan states.
As part of this work, the SRA says it will continue working with independent assessment experts to complete a technical evaluation of the SQE, providing “assurance on its design and operation” and helping to identify potential improvements.
The regulator says it will consider the findings of the evaluation and consult accordingly, while continuing to gather feedback from candidates, employers and the wider legal profession.
The regulator also pledged to make SQE performance data more accessible, including information on differences in outcomes between candidate groups. The commitment comes after the SRA admitted last year that a flaw in how it collected candidate information had left it unable to publish pass rates broken down by SQE training provider, despite originally promising to release the figures in 2023.
The SRA says it will also “continue to explore how best we can support candidates from differing backgrounds to choose training options appropriate for them”, while monitoring how perceptions of the SQE change over time.
The commitments come as the SRA is already consulting on changes to the Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) underpinning SQE1, following concerns that the assessment covers too many areas of law.
The regulator has also announced plans to reduce the number of questions in SQE1 from 360 to 340 from January 2027, following complaints that the exam felt rushed and pressurised.
Meanwhile, the latest published SQE1 results saw the overall pass rate fall to 42% in July, down from 53% in January.