Should You Skip Certain SQE1 Subjects? A Controversial Study Strategy

Today I wanted to talk about a much discussed exam strategy for SQE1.  I’m sure you’ve come across it on social media and in your SQE-related group chats. (Heck, you may even be considering it yourself – likely as you make your way through book 10 or 12… of the 15 or so texts covering the SQE1 syllabus)!

This strategy involves abandoning some of the “smaller” assessment areas to focus on the larger ones.  As you’ll know, not all SQE1 subjects within the vast SQE1 assessment spec are tested equally.  Some areas of the law will make up a much larger portion of your test paper than others.  Business Law and Practice, for example, is a standalone subject area for FLK1, while Constitutional Law – by contrast – exists as just one of several sub-topics within the broader Legal System subject area. 

The Legal Subjects in SQE1

Weightings of SQE1 Assessment Areas

FLK1 Topic	% of Exam
Business organisations, rules and procedures, including taxation of business organisations	14-20%
The principles, procedures and processes involved in dispute resolution	14-20%
Core principles of contract law	14-20%
Core principles of tort	14-20%
The Legal System of England and Wales, Sources of law, Constitutional and Administrative law, EU law	14-20%
Legal services	12-16%
Ethics	Pervades

FLK2 Topic	% of Exam
Core knowledge areas of freehold and leasehold real estate law and practice, including core principles of planning law and property taxation. Solicitors Accounts in the context of conveyancing.	14-20%
Core principles of land law	14-20%
Wills and Intestacy, and Probate and Administration Practice. Taxation and Solicitors Accounts in the context of Wills and Probate Practice.	14-20%
Core principles of trust law	14-20%
The procedures and processes involved in advising clients at the police station and in criminal litigation	14-20%
Core principles of criminal liability	14-20%
Ethics	Pervades

Why Some Candidates Skip Specific SQE1 Subjects

Candidates sometimes decide to abandon whole topics, and sometimes just parts of a topic.  For example, someone might decide that they are not revising Tax (a much hated subject), or they might decide that they’ll revise Tax theory, but not worry about Tax calculations.

Why? Common reasons seem to be that:

• there is just too much material to get through, to review every subject (see the above mentioned 15(!) SQE1 texts);
• the test date is approaching and they have run out of time to review all subject areas and/or
• the topic is tough or involves calculations (and, as the old adages goes, lawyers become lawyers because they hate / fear math).

Commonly Skipped SQE1 Topics

The most forsaken subjects seem to be:

1. Tax – because of the calculations and because of the complex rules and reliefs and
2. Solicitors Accounts – because of the perceived difficulty and because it’s widely thought to make up only very few of the questions in FLK2.

Somewhat less commonly, people report skipping bankruptcy (a sub-topic in Business Law) or financial services (a part of Legal Services).

@jayslawlife

I had a very strategic revision strategy which involved some VERY questionable tactics 1️⃣ I focused on learning law from areas I did not feel confident in or needed a refresher on – To me, that was land law, public law and contract – This will be unique to each person, but knowing your weaknesses is important to creating your strategy 2️⃣ I focused on substantive topics – I went over these in a LOT of detail as the SRA state on their website that they will be around 14-20% of the paper each – So I knew I couldn’t get away with no knowing them – Imagine ignoring up to 60% of the content 😳 3️⃣ I abandoned topics 🙈 – Something I did which is very controversial, is that if I didn’t get something, I just abandoned it – Solicitors accounts was one of these for me – There are so few solicitor accounts questions that come up, and I just didn’t understand how to do the accounts entries – So I just abandoned it and revised more substantive topics – It’s the same for tax, I like tax, but there is not a lot of tax assessed in the SQE. – So if you just dont get it and you’re wasting time on it. Abandon it and move on You’ve got to focus on the bigger picture, 5% won’t kill you in this exam. 15% might So you’ve got to think logically about what you can include and what you have to leave behind If you have any more questions about the SQE or the legal industry in general, let me know and follow for more! #lawstudent #lawschool #lawyer #sqe #sqestudent #sqe1 #solicitorsqualifyingexam

♬ Lady Killers II – G-EAZY

Giving Up on Tougher SQE1 Subjects: The Rationale

So, should you make skipping certain subjects part of your SQE exam strategy?

I’m going to default to a lawyer’s favourite line and say: It depends.

There is a school of thought – regarding multiple-choice exams generally – which says that you should always consider that you might be able to do better by actively engaging with fewer questions. (This approach is often used in exams where time is really tight.  In such instances, it could very well be the case that a person may do better overall by, say, taking 2.5 minutes per question to read / consider 80 of 100 questions (and then guessing on the last 20), rather than taking 2 minutes per question and attempting to engage with 100 of 100 questions).

In the case of SQE1, there is a certain amount of time pressure on exam day – with just under 1.5 minutes for each single-best-answer question.  More challenging than the time constraints though is the sheer mountain of material the exam covers.  It’s so much that, even if you manage to cover off everything in the SRA assessment spec, you will not be able to retain everything (or, will not be able to retain it well enough to answer those tricky single-best-answer problems).

I absolutely understand the logic of those who feel that their time is best spent by revising the topics that are more likely to appear on exam day – or those that they feel they are most likely to be able to answer correctly.  I didn’t adopt this strategy myself (mostly because my anxious brain is / was resistant to it, and it’s difficult for me to ignore things an exam says I “should” know).  However, I do understand the rationale behind it – and it’s certainly possible that it could have benefitted me. (Given the amount of memorisation required in this exam – and my brain’s inability to recall everything I’d read – I may have been better served by, say, focussing solely on the many land law rules, rather than trying to retain all the Land Law nonsense AND trying to memorise the nuances within the Legal Services section).

Tips for Those Inclined to Skip Some SQE1 Subjects

1. Do Review All SQE1 Subjects. I’d suggest at least reading all subjects once (time permitting, of course).  Don’t just preemptively decide that, because you hate numbers, you’ll forgo trying to learn Solicitors Accounts.  For some people Solicitors Accounts ends up being quite intuitive (I am not “some people” – but I’ve met them. They’re out there). 
   • Similarly, you’re likely to find that some portions of Tax are more accessible than others.  The math for VAT calculations is very basic and, as a taxpayer, you’re likely to find Income Tax at least somewhat familiar (and therefore easier than, say, Corporation or Inheritance Tax).  So don’t write off an entire topic unless you have to.  If you are really struggling with Tax calculations, and want to cut your losses, that’s one thing – but at least give it a cursory read / chance to begin with.
2. Weigh the Risks. Recognise that there is some risk to this approach (though how much risk is certainly debatable). To my mind, the riskiest part of the decision to prioritise some subjects and de-prioritise others lies in one’s ability (or inability) to accurately gauge which topics are “most important” and most likely to show up on your exam.
   • As I’ve said before, the assessment spec is vast and Kaplan is free to ask questions on any topic within it.  This means that – even when you know a legal subject well – there is still room for Kaplan SQE to surprise you:
     • with a niche question,
     • with a word you’re not sure about,
     • with questions covering multiple legal areas (i.e. requiring knowledge of Disputes and bankruptcy, for example, in order to answer them correctly) and/or
     • with easy questions – yes, really! – which slip your mind because you’ve neglected simple concepts in favour of harder ones.  (This happened to me!)
   • I guess what I am trying to say is that, if you are banking on being able to do much better in some subjects than others, make sure you know your “stronger” subjects really, really well. Try not to gloss over anything! 

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Have you tried taking this strategic approach to SQE1 subjects? How’d you get on?

I’d love to know! Please leave me a comment below.