ULaw Newcastle’s Jack Ashurst talks SQE prep, teaching and resources, and building a legal career in the North East
From structured study plans and practice questions to live workshops and approachable tutors, Jack Ashurst has found plenty to help him navigate the demands of the SQE. Now studying the SQE LLM at The University of Law’s (ULaw) Newcastle campus, the Durham Uni law graduate sits down with Legal Cheek Careers to discuss the teaching and support on offer, life as an SQE student and his route towards a career in shipping law with Newcastle-based law firm Mills & Co.
Ashurst’s relationship with ULaw actually began before he became a student there. While studying law at Durham, he took on a role as an SQE Campus Representative after spotting the opportunity through the university’s Bar Society. “I thought it would give me valuable insight into what to expect from the SQE,” he explains. The role saw him represent ULaw on campus, organise events and run monthly drop-in sessions at the Students’ Union, where students could ask questions about “the course, their applications, or the SQE in general”.
By the time Ashurst arrived at ULaw, he therefore had a fairly clear idea of what to expect. “My expectation going in was that the teaching quality would be very high,” he says, pointing in particular to the provider’s SQE1 pass-rate statistics. So far, he adds, the experience has “really lived up to those expectations”, with the quality of the teaching and resources standing out in particular.
Part of that, Ashurst says, comes down to how clearly the course is organised. “When you log onto the system, you know exactly what you are doing and when you need to complete it by,” he explains. Students are also given an early study plan setting out mock exams and reading weeks around the SQE assessments. “Overall, I’ve been really impressed with the quality and organisation,” he adds.
The same structure carries through into a typical week. Ashurst starts each unit with ULaw’s textbooks, which he describes as “very thorough”, before moving on to pre-recorded videos that he treats “like lectures”. Workshops then give students the chance to work through more complex scenarios and apply what they have learned with their classmates.
Workshops also give students direct access to their professors when questions come up. Ashurst describes them as “very approachable”, explaining that students can first discuss a problem at their table before bringing it to the professor if they need further clarification. Outside the classroom, ULaw’s app provides another revision resource, tracking “what you are doing well on and what you are struggling with” so students can check their knowledge without having to wait for a formal mock.
Support extends beyond the academic side of the course too. Ashurst highlights ULaw’s careers service, which students can access alongside their studies, including through online appointments. For him, that flexibility means students can seek advice without necessarily having to travel onto campus.
The move from undergraduate study to the SQE has meant adapting his approach to revision. Coming from Durham, where exams were largely online, Ashurst says the SQE calls for a different style of preparation. “Now you have to take detailed notes and distil them down into revisable chunks,” he explains, with ULaw’s practice questions and revision resources helping him prepare more closely for the format of the assessments.
Location also played an important role in Ashurst’s decision. Keen to remain in the North East, he was drawn to the fact that ULaw offers an in-person SQE option in Newcastle. “Having the opportunity for in-person learning was essential for me,” he says. “Resolving complex problems in live workshops is much easier than doing so online.”
That choice has also shaped Ashurst’s wider experience at ULaw Newcastle. “Everyone on the course is in the same position,” he says, with students sharing the pressure of preparing for the upcoming SQE assessments and supporting one another along the way. The campus itself has proved convenient too, with ULaw based in a self-contained building on Newcastle University’s campus. The library is right outside, and the set-up means students do not have to travel across campus between workshops.
Ashurst has since continued that involvement as a Campus Ambassador at ULaw Newcastle. While his first event is still to come, he says the role will be more directly focused on prospective students than his Durham position. “People approaching you are already interested in ULaw,” he explains, so the emphasis is on answering their questions and giving them a clearer idea of “what studying there is actually like”.
His interest in law itself began much earlier, when an A-level course caught his attention at school. Already drawn to the analytical side of English literature and history, Ashurst decided to give the subject a try and “within the first year, I became really interested in it”. Work experience in criminal law followed, before he went on to study law at Durham University.
Having also considered a career at the Bar, Ashurst was ultimately more attracted to the continuity he associated with the solicitor role. While barristers may become involved at a more specific stage of a matter, solicitors have the opportunity to stay closely involved with the client throughout. “You guide the client through the entire process — whether through a transaction or a dispute,” he explains, which he says was “much more appealing” to him.
At Durham, Ashurst began to narrow down the kind of solicitor he wanted to become. A vacation scheme at a US law firm in London confirmed his interest in commercial law, but also showed him that broad commercial practice was not quite the right fit. “I was interested in the finer details,” he says. Coming away from the scheme, he knew he wanted to pursue something more specialist, and shipping law soon stood out.
Shipping law also fitted neatly with Ashurst’s desire to remain in the North East. “Newcastle is a global hub for shipping,” he says, pointing to the presence of major ship insurers in the city. Modules at Durham, including commercial law, private international law and international commercial mediation, helped reinforce that interest, while work experience and a vacation scheme at Mills & Co gave him the chance to build experience in the sector.
The vacation scheme ultimately led to Ashurst accepting a training contract with the firm. “The main reason was the quality of work,” he says, pointing to the firm’s international shipping client base. The experience also gave him a closer look at the team itself. “It is a small team of about 25 solicitors in total, which felt like the right size,” he adds, with the chance to work closely alongside colleagues another part of the appeal.
For now, Ashurst’s attention is on the SQE. Asked about the SRA’s recent decision to reduce SQE1 from 360 to 340 questions from January 2027, he is positive about the change. “Given how demanding the SQE is compared to the former LPC, listening to feedback from candidate performance reports and law firms is a positive and important step,” he says.
For prospective SQE students considering ULaw Newcastle, Ashurst points to the combination of structured teaching, accessible support and in-person learning as key parts of the experience. For him, the chance to prepare for what he describes as a “notoriously difficult” assessment through face-to-face teaching, while remaining in the North East, was a major draw — alongside ULaw’s SQE1 pass-rate statistics.
About Legal Cheek Careers posts.
