Failing the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) can be a challenging experience to navigate. Failure does not automatically mean one’s legal journey is over. However, with the intense financial, intellectual and personal investment the SQE regime demands, failure can, at first, feel like a fatal blow to an aspiring solicitor’s career. The lack of transparency surrounding the SQE, coupled with little to no regulatory support or guidance on navigating failure, only adds to the disappointment of receiving ‘NOT PASS’ on the long-awaited results day.
Dissecting failure – the results
A key difficulty is a lack of feedback. I found myself processing the words NOT PASS upon receiving my July 2024 SQE1 results, having just fallen short of the pass mark for FLK2. The results breakdown lists each area of law and its respective scaled score out of 500. While this can prove useful in identifying general areas of weakness, my difficulty came from the fact that I had floated just above or below the pass mark in every subject. I was average across the board – even in the areas I had scored highly in when assessed by my training provider or self-assessed in mocks. I was left confused about where my true weakness lay within a broad specification, or in technique, and how I should focus my preparations for a resit.
The results breakdown is the first (and, to my knowledge, only) insight candidates receive about their performance. There are no transcripts available for review. The statistical report typically follows within four to six weeks of SQE1 results, but this offers a generalised overview of the full cohort’s performance, with little individual insight.
Following my first SQE1 sitting, I made a note of immediate reflections, capturing: what I felt went well; what I found difficult; and what took me by surprise. This was to help me decompress, but it largely informed my revision path for the resit in the absence of any objective direction.
Isolation
The sheer intensity of the SQE is frequently recognised, yet a quiet embarrassment and fractured confidence remain rife among many who fail, even where they know they could not have done or given anything more. The testing environment is not optimal for peak performance. From my experience, chance also plays a part in what topics arise. Regardless, navigating next steps in isolation is burdensome. I was initially hesitant in admitting (or perhaps accepting) my SQE failure outside of my immediate circle, but once I did I soon came to realise the words NOT PASS did not define me or reflect the potential trajectory of my career.
Online self-directed study, for a second time, can also be isolating. I found buddying-up with a peer to be a great support: someone with whom I could plan targeted revision sessions and peer-assess mock exams.
Confidentiality
The requirement to sign confidentiality agreements before each exam further isolates candidates from their wider professional relationships. While the need to protect the integrity of a high-stakes exam is recognised, the effect of confidentiality agreements removes a candidate’s ability to have a frank debrief with their employer/coach/training provider to understand where they went wrong. Although I do not believe this to be the SRA’s or Kaplan’s intention, such obligations feel like a punitive measure in the context of no marked transcripts or objective individual feedback.
Finances
The SQE is an attempt to standardise qualification. While there will always be teething problems during any period of transition, there appears to be no clear regulation on how the SQE is being implemented in practice, with candidates paying both the literal and figurative price.
Without sponsorship, costs can build quickly. From last month, SQE1 will cost £1,934, and SQE2 £2,974, excluding preparatory materials, test centre commute, and/or accommodation(s). There are no discounts for resits. Candidates may consider appealing their results – though informed decisions are hard to make with little to no feedback, leaving many unprepared to risk the expense.
Some candidates are at risk of losing their jobs should they fail the SQE at the first attempt. Others are having their training contract offers withdrawn – despite the intention being that the SQE be sat at the end of the qualifying work experience period. Moreover, some firms require Legal Practice Course graduates caught in the transitional arrangements (those having commenced legal studies on or before 31 December 2021) to also sit SQE2: an additional and unnecessary hurdle seemingly dictated by internal firm policy. While some firms may be funding the SQE2 for these individuals, the pass rate for LPC graduates sits at around 40%. That leaves many facing a resit, despite having already met the gold standard for their pathway to qualification.
For financial, wellbeing or other reasons, some candidates may decide not to resit the SQE. Some explore alternative legal routes (such as CILEX, paralegal, or the bar). Others change course to new aspirations. Regardless, any next step should be celebrated as a testament to a candidate’s resilience. Preparing for and sitting the SQE is no mean feat in its own right.
Katy Boyle is a graduate solicitor apprentice based in Loughborough University’s legal services team and a Junior Solicitors Network advisory committee member
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