The SRA has said it is satisfied that solicitors are maintaining their professional competence despite a rise in the number of complaints from the public.
In its annual assessment of continuing competence, the SRA revealed that in 2025 a total of 606 solicitors told the regulator they had not met the declaration requirements when renewing their practising certificate. Solicitors must declare each year that they are maintaining their competence and these declarations are analysed to spot trends and areas of concern.
In most cases, declarations were not made due to illness or maternity leave, but on the occasions where the reason was not clear, the SRA said if followed up and was satisfied with assurances that competence was being maintained.
A further 19 competence-related reports from the public were flagged as giving rise to concerns about a solicitor’s knowledge, skills or expertise. But following engagement with each of the relevant firms, the SRA was satisfied they had taken steps to address the issue and that staff had the required professional knowledge.
The SRA reviewed 123 training records from solicitors in 66 firms. All 123 respondents completed some form of learning and development during the review period and almost all solicitors had kept some form of up-to-date record of their learning and development.
Most solicitors who kept a record had completed between one and four learning activities. The focus was on maintaining technical legal practice.
The findings come at a time when the number of competence-related reports received increased from 2,720 in 2024 to 4,038 in 2025. But complaints overall had risen over the same period, so competence-related complaints remained stable at 23% of all reports received.
Assessment of complaints found possible gaps in solicitors’ communication skills. In some cases there had been limited explanation of risks and potential outcomes to clients, legal information was not communicated clearly enough and not enough information was given on available courses of action.
The SRA also urged solicitors to think about how they apply the knowledge they have picked up, after finding errors or omissions in documents and incomplete or inaccurate information and forms.
Continuing competence requirements are likely to become more stringent in the next year, with the SRA keen for practitioners to better understand their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations. Analysis of this year’s declarations from solicitors showed that ethics learning and development is rarely carried out in parts of the profession.
The SRA said: ‘We want solicitors to be confident in making ethical decisions and able to deal comfortably with unfamiliar or ethically challenging scenarios. We want to drive a culture where all solicitors reflect on all aspects of their practice and regularly carry out ethics learning and development.’
The regulator has proposed mandatory three-hour ethics ‘discussions’ once a year and finished consulting earlier this year. Subject to analysis of consultation feedback and approval by the Legal Services Board, it will implement this rule at the start of the 2027/28 practising year.
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