BPP LLM student Yasmin Elsayed shares her prep experience — from study techniques to gaining real-world skills through pro bono
Now an LLM student at BPP University Law School, Yasmin Elsayed chose to pursue the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route straight after completing her LLB at the University of Sussex.
Born in Dubai and growing up in Germany, she had long known she wanted to move to the UK to study law. While completing the International Baccalaureate, she got involved in community projects at school, which helped spark her interest in the subject. “I realised I really liked being part of big things,” she tells me. Her attraction to the law wasn’t only academic — women’s rights and human rights had always mattered deeply to her. It also felt natural to pursue law, as both her parents had done so as well. Yasmin moved to England for her undergraduate law degree and set her sights on qualifying as a solicitor.
When it came to the SQE, Yasmin felt there was only one real option. She chose BPP’s SQE preparation course because it allowed her to earn a master’s degree at the same time, and she appreciated the course’s clear, well-structured design. “I thought BPP would be great because they had the option to do it with a master’s as well,” she says. At the time of our conversation, she had just sat the SQE2 exam “a week ago” and was already diving into her LLM modules, specialising in commercial law.
How did she find the SQE itself? Yasmin doesn’t mince her words: “they were both very difficult exams”, she admits. However, the challenge, she explains, lies more in the sheer volume of material than the complexity of the content. With national pass rates lower than many expected, Yasmin suspects that time is a major factor. Many of her peers juggled jobs or family responsibilities alongside their studies, underestimating how intensive the preparation needs to be. “It is a very hard exam, so I do look at it as kind of a full-time job,” she says. Even Yasmin herself was taken aback by the intensity: “It was nothing like what I expected,” she recalls. Her advice to future SQE candidates is to make sure they truly understand what they are getting themselves into and to approach the process with their eyes open.
One of the key takeaways from our conversation is just how different both SQE exams are from what candidates may have experienced at university. Yasmin confirms that SQE1 is heavily focused on legal knowledge, whereas SQE2 requires applying that knowledge in practical scenarios. “For SQE1, it’s definitely more about your legal knowledge. It’s more studying and going over the content repetitively until you understand it,” she explains. SQE1 consists of hundreds of multiple-choice questions, and “you essentially have the answers in front of you” in the options provided. Success, therefore, hinges on mastering the law across a broad range of topics. “It was really important to know your black letter law,” Yasmin says, noting that the SQE prep doesn’t reteach all the fundamentals. By contrast, SQE2 is more about skills and application. “You really need to have a strong understanding to be able to decide on your own what the answer should be,” she explains. In the SQE2 practical assessments, candidates might be drafting emails to a client or advising a “judge or a client” in an oral exercise, so having solid legal knowledge is just the starting point.
So, how did Yasmin manage such a heavy workload whilst also keeping herself organised? She credits a disciplined study schedule for keeping her on track. “I made sure that towards the end of every week, I had planned out what I was going to do the following week,” she tells me. “That’s probably what kept me on track, because there is a lot of content to go through”. Sticking to a weekly study plan with clear goals helped her cover the material systematically. Early on, however, she had to learn not to overdo it. “I had a bit of trouble at the beginning with burning out,” Yasmin admits. “I would overwork myself to the point where I wasn’t processing information efficiently anymore”. Realising this was counterproductive, she adjusted her routine to include proper breaks. “I began making sure that I started early so I could finish early in the day,” she explains, aiming to wrap up revision by around 6 or 7pm each day so she could relax in the evening. Whether it meant spending time with family or seeing friends every few days, building in downtime was essential. She also made sure to maintain healthy habits, such as going to the gym. It might seem paradoxical when facing such a huge syllabus but pacing herself ultimately made her study time more effective. As Yasmin observes, “it is important to have a study plan and stick to it but also make sure that you’re giving yourself the breaks you need to prevent yourself from burning out”.
When it came to revision techniques, Yasmin’s had her own approach. “What worked for me was really reading and writing it over and over again,” she says of her method. Instead of relying solely on quick fixes like flashcards, she would repeatedly go through the study materials and reproduce the content in her own notes. Yasmin found that writing out the law by hand helped commit it to memory: “I’d do them repetitively — I’d write them digitally, and then I’d write them by hand. I felt that by writing it by hand, my brain would process the information more,” she adds. To ensure she truly understood the material, Yasmin created two sets of notes: one detailed, and one highly condensed. “I would write things out in a lot of detail, but then I would also write them more concisely, so I’d be able to read it come up with the rest from my memory,” she explains.
This process of distilling the key points forced her to grasp the concepts rather than rote-learn. Only once she had a solid grasp of the content did she turn to practice questions. However, rather than simply checking the answers and moving on, Yasmin reviewed each practice question in depth. “I also found it very helpful to go through the MCQs, and not just do them but also break them down,” she says. “Even if I was getting them right, I would still do research on every single question and write down what I had learned from it”. This extra step was time-consuming, but it paid dividends. “I actually found that I learned a lot more by doing that,” she notes and by carrying forward these study habits from SQE1, Yasmin felt more confident going into SQE2.
Beyond hitting the books, Yasmin found another way to boost her SQE preparation — by getting hands-on experience. At BPP, she has been volunteering at the law school’s pro bono legal clinic alongside her studies. It’s an opportunity open to all BPP students (even recent graduates can stay involved) and one that Yasmin eagerly seized. “It is really rewarding,” she says, and also an excellent chance to apply her learning in real cases. In fact, on the day of our interview, she had a case scheduled at the clinic later that afternoon. Working in the clinic doesn’t just provide a taste of real client work; it also mirrors many of the competencies tested in SQE2. “For example, a big part of SQE2 is your skill with clients,” Yasmin explains. In the clinic, she gets to interview live clients, ask them questions, draft advice letters and write up attendance notes under the supervision of qualified lawyers. “These are all things that fall into SQE2 as well,” she continues, so the experience has directly reinforced her training. Importantly, it has helped her develop soft skills like building client rapport and knowing the right questions to ask. Yasmin found the pro bono work “very helpful in strengthening the skills” needed for practice, and overall “a really impactful, rewarding experience” that complements her academic study.
As our conversation draws to a close, Yasmins givers her advice for those fellow students who are preparing for the SQE or embarking on the legal career path: don’t measure yourself against others. “Do not compare yourself to others,” she says. In the beginning, Yasmin admits, she fell into the trap of worrying about how her peers were studying and how far along they were. “I kept looking at how my peers were studying and how far they had gotten and it would drive me crazy,” she recalls. Once she realised that everyone learns at their own pace and in their own style, she was able to focus on what worked best for her. The key is to find your own method, stick to it, and have faith in your abilities. “Everyone studies differently, everyone learns differently,” Yasmin points out. “And the best thing you can do is believe in yourself”.
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