Top tips for SQE2

The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is a new route to qualification and will eventually replace the Legal Practice Course (LPC).

The SQE is composed of three parts: SQE1 (multiple choice exams on legal knowledge), SQE2 (oral and written exams on both legal knowledge and legal skills), and qualifying work experience (QWE), which replaces the period of recognised training under the LPC.

If you've passed the LPC, you can qualify using LPC + SQE2 + QWE. I passed the LPC when I did my Master of Laws (LLM), and I sat SQE2 so that I could spend my qualifying period in a specialised renewable energy and sustainability role (rather than moving teams every six months, as you traditionally do during a period of recognised training).

I was part of the second cohort to sit SQE2, and I scored 89%, which was in the top quintile of results. I also tutored degree-level law for several years, so have a lot of experience in exam performance.

Here's my advice for sitting SQE2:

1. Understand what you need to do early

Before you start anything (including picking your learning method), take a close look at the SRA's guidance on the SQE. SQE2 is taken over five days:

• Day one: advocacy (dispute resolution) and interview (property practice)

• Day two: advocacy (criminal) and interview (wills)

• Day three: case and matter analysis, legal drafting, legal research, and legal writing (two in dispute resolution and two in criminal litigation)

• Day four: case and matter analysis, legal drafting, legal research, and legal writing (two in property practice and two in wills)

• Day five: case and matter analysis, legal drafting, legal research, and legal writing (all in business)

Days one and two are usually at a hotel (my oral assessments were, bizarrely, in hotel bedrooms that had been rearranged). Days three to five are done at assessment centres - mine were at the type of assessment centre where you take the driving theory test.

2. Learn the mark scheme

Your first focus should be the assessment criteria and the mark scheme, whether provided by the SRA or by your learning provider. Understand the detail of these resources before you start preparing for the exams, so you can prepare to perform in the way the examiners are looking for.

3. Don't over-focus on black letter law

Although SQE2 does test knowledge of black letter law, it focuses on legal skills, so it's important that you can perform in a way that demonstrates those skills. Check the functioning legal knowledge requirements for SQE2 and fill in any gaps or parts you can't remember, but stick to the key principles in each area of law. In my view, you're likely to perform better if you can answer questions in the way the examiners expect, demonstrating legal skills, and getting a few of the finer details of the law wrong, than if you get every element of the law right but neglect to demonstrate skills in the appropriate way. Plus, the exams are closed book, so it's a waste of time studying minute detail you'll never remember.

It's best to learn or revise black letter law in the context of the SQE2 exams. Studying a textbook and writing notes isn't as useful as using it to write structures and answer sample exams.

4. Focus on mock exams

Mock exams are the most efficient way to revise and prepare for exams. It helps with exam stress because it familiarises you with the context, and it allows you to shape your learning to fit the exams rather than treating learning and exam prep as two separate stages.

My learning provider gave me access to something like 300 mock exams, and I got through a good proportion of them. The SRA has some sample questions, but I'd recommend leaving these until you can have a proper crack at them because they're the only ones provided by the examiner itself, and once you've seen the answers you can't un-see them.

5. Prepare and learn structures for oral exams

Although the content is different every time, you can write structures for the oral exams that work for pretty much every SQE2 oral exam. There are certain things you should do no matter what the scenario, like ask for client contact information and cover next steps. There are also questions for each subject that commonly crop up e.g., you can draft a short list of questions that you'll always need to ask if you're assessing a probate case. The advocacy exams also follow a recurring format, so learning how to introduce your point, address the judge, etc. is key. I did this, and got full marks in the oral exams.

Writing structures also works for some of the written assessments e.g., letters in SQE2 should follow a certain structure, and writing outlines of certain types of document can help you remember things that apply to most answers, such as covering next steps at the end of correspondence.

Do take any opportunity to practice oral exams with a tutor. I'm usually not a fan of practice oral exams but it does help you feel less worried about them, and the feedback can be helpful.

6. Disregard your usual approach

If you're already working in a legal role, particularly if you're acting primarily for corporates, you need to appreciate that what the SRA is looking for isn't necessarily what clients in the real world are looking for (when's the last time you wrote a formal letter to a client?). Concise, commercial emails won't score well in SQE2.

Instead, pay attention to the details they're looking for. For instance, I wouldn't usually summarise everything a client told me in my next correspondence to them, but this is expected in SQE2 answers.

SQE2 is less about being excellent at black letter law, and it isn't really about how an efficient, commercial lawyer behaves in the real world: it's about knowing and including the details the examiner expects to see. Many of the expectations make sense if you're dealing with individual clients who are inexperienced in the matter you're advising on (e.g., someone asking about a relative's will), but are easily overlooked if you're used to dealing with experienced clients.

7. Make exam days as easy as you can

The SQE2 exams can be difficult for those who suffer with exam nerves. The four oral exams can be daunting, and my assessment centre was particularly diligent with checks that visibly put some people on edge (they checked my glasses twice to confirm they weren't spy glasses - although I have no idea how spy glasses would've helped). If you can stay overnight close to the assessment location, do so. Arrive early to avoid traffic stress. Keep yourself fed and hydrated. Come with organised notes, and know the rules of the assessments before you get there.

Make friends at the test centres, but don't stick around to discuss answers if it worries you.

Good luck

I wish you the best of luck if you're sitting SQE2 this year. It's not easy sitting an exam that only has a short history because learning providers are almost as inexperienced in the exam as the students. I hope these tips help. Drop me a message on LinkedIn if there's anything you'd like to discuss.