For several years the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been working on a new scheme to help ensure that the public can be confident that all solicitors, regardless of how they qualified, are competent to practise in England and Wales. The importance of this is indicated by the fact that about one-fifth of solicitors admitted since 1995 have qualified through the qualified lawyers transfer test, having either qualified overseas or elsewhere in the UK, or been a barrister in England and Wales.

We have consulted extensively on this complex issue, contacting more than 2,000 stakeholders and also inviting views via our website. You might suggest that the 39 responses we received was poor return for such effort, but surely it is quality, not quantity, that matters with consultations. The submissions were generally of a very high calibre. They challenged our thinking and resulted in fundamental changes to our proposals. We are now confident that we have listened carefully to all the key interested parties.

The current qualified lawyers transfer test was established for qualified overseas lawyers in 1990. The test and the regulations that govern it are in urgent need of modification, both to reflect changes to legal education and the domestic route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales and to open the scheme up to jurisdictions currently excluded.

The new scheme must be indisputably fair and respect the obligations placed by the World Trade Organisation and the EU on equitable treatment of members and the free movement of citizens.

The SRA board has now approved proposals for a qualified lawyers transfer scheme (QLTS) for internationally qualified lawyers and lawyers qualified in the UK (solicitors in Scotland and Northern Ireland, barristers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and advocates in Scotland) who want to be admitted as solicitors in England and Wales. Draft regulations will be put to the SRA board in November and sent to the Legal Services Board for consideration in early 2010. If approved, the new regulations are expected to be implemented from September 2010.

The new QLTS is designed to ensure that all solicitors in England and Wales have achieved the same standards of knowledge, intellect and skills as those who have qualified via the domestic route to qualification, and to be objective, transparent and fair. It will be based on the same character and suitability test used to assess those following the domestic route. It recognises that qualified lawyers who were eligible to apply under the transfer scheme have already demonstrated, by way of their home jurisdiction qualification scheme, the core knowledge and skills needed of all lawyers. It assesses the ability of applicants to apply their knowledge and skills in the context of English/Welsh law and legal practice.

The new scheme will remove the current experience requirement, but instead use practical exercises as an objective way of assessing applicants’ experience of practising in England and Wales.

The new scheme will also feature a separate English language test for all international applicants. This will have to be passed before an applicant can take the QLTS assessments. The test should be a cost-effective filter for those whose English is not up to the standard required of the other assessments. It should also enable examiners to concentrate on technical aspects in the other assessments where language skills would be tested pervasively.

The SRA had proposed that professional values, behaviours, attitudes and ethics would be tested in a structured interview. However, having considered concerns raised by consultees and learned from assessment providers about the possibilities for testing these outcomes, we decided that professional values and ethics should be tested through practical assessments, rather than by interview. This would make the assessments more valid and reduce the cost to applicants.

The SRA is confident that the new scheme will be rigorous, robust and fairer than the present system. It will ensure that all solicitors qualifying to practise in England and Wales have the same standards of knowledge, skills and intellect, and meet the same test of character and suitability.

Finally, let me give a brief update on our progress towards creating new regulatory arrangements, which will command the confidence of all sectors of the profession and the wide range of clients they serve.

Representatives of some of the large corporate law firms have agreed to work with the SRA on a programme to be led by my successor, Charles Plant. The aim of this work is to enhance the SRA’s skills and develop new approaches to regulating firms based upon their own quality assurance mechanisms.

We will work with representatives from a range of sectors, reflecting our view – and that of Lord Hunt – that the new approach to regulation should not be restricted to the largest firms.

The SRA is to open an office in London to help us develop effective relationships with firms in the corporate legal sector and people with experience in this area will be recruited.

Peter Williamson is chairman of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority