Tens of thousands of solicitors are failing to disclose personal information on their sex and ethnicity, calling into question the statistics relied upon by regulators and the Law Society to inform policymaking.

In the three years from 2022 to 2025, the Society’s latest annual statistics report reveals that the number of practising certificate-holders who failed to share their sex soared from 12,358 (8%) to 36,094 (21%). Over the same period, the number of PC-holders who failed to share their ethnicity climbed from 38,947 (25%) to 61,360 (36%).

Compiled since 1984, the annual snapshot uses Solicitors Regulation Authority data to provide a comprehensive picture of the solicitors’ profession in England and Wales. The 2026 report is drawn from SRA data from August 2024 to July 2025.

Chancery Lane does not speculate on why solicitors appear to be more reluctant to disclose demographic information. But the Society acknowledges that the missing metrics are large enough to have a material impact on any conclusions that can be drawn from the report.

Law Society sign

Law Society: 'Missing data is a substantive finding from our report which leaves an important gap in our understanding of diversity'

Source: Michael Cross

For example, female PC-holder counts fell in each of the last three years, even while the female share among those who did reveal their sex rose. ‘The apparent decline can therefore be a measurement effect rather than a reversal in representation,’ the report stresses.

A Law Society spokesperson said: ‘Missing data is a substantive finding from our Annual Statistics Report which leaves an important gap in our understanding of diversity.

‘The Society and the SRA both have a role to play in closing that gap. We encourage solicitors to confidentially update their diversity information with the regulator and are working with the SRA to strengthen access to data on newly admitted solicitors.

‘More complete data will enable the sector to understand where barriers remain and ensure our efforts to improve diversity and inclusion are targeted when they can make the greatest difference.’

Some of the data are reliably comprehensive, nevertheless. By July last year, the solicitors’ roll stood at 208,077, nearly 3% higher than the previous year. PC-holders reached 172,966, a 3.2% rise.

Admissions remained broadly stable, with 9,365 added to the roll. Fewer left the profession, with departures falling by 17% from the previous year to 4,930.