SQE1: Historical Pass Rates and Trends

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) publishes detailed SQE1 reports after every SQE1 assessment, and at the end of each year.

Given that the SQE has been running for almost three years now, I thought it might be useful to amalgamate some of the performance data to illustrate pass rate trends over time. (As far as I know, the SRA publishes SQE1 stats on a per-test basis, but does not present historical pass rates in any one document).

Below I’ve shared what I think are the most useful and interesting SQE1 stats from the past…

Historical SQE1 Pass Rates

Let’s start by looking at the overall candidate numbers, and pass rates, since the introduction of the SQE in late 2021:

Exam Session	Number of SQE1 Candidates	SQE1 Pass Rate
November 2021	1073	53%
July 2022	1829	53%
January 2023	3031	51%
July 2023	3475	53%
January 2024	6061	56%

Key Observations:

1. The number of candidates attempting SQE1 has increased significantly since the introduction of the exam (up from 1,073 in November 2021 to 6,061 in January 2024)

2. Pass rates have remained relatively stable, hovering around 51-56%. (Note: These rates are similar to the old pass rates for the multiple choice portion of the QLTS.  I wrote the QLTS (or “Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme”) a few years ago. It was a precursor (of sorts) to the SQE, and ran for about a decade before being replaced by the SQE).

3. The January 2024 sitting saw the highest pass rate of 56%.

FLK1 vs. FLK2 Performance in SQE1

Here’s a break down of performances in FLK1 and FLK2 separately:

Exam Session	FLK1 Pass Score	FLK1 Pass Rate	FLK2 Pass Score	FLK2 Pass Rate
November 2021	57%	67%	56%	54%
July 2022	56%	64%	55%	55%
January 2023	57%	59%	56%	56%
July 2023	53%	66%	52%	58%
January 2024	300*	63%	300*	61%

Key Observations:

1. There are consistently higher pass rates for FLK1 than for FLK2.

2. However, the gap between FLK1 and FLK2 pass rates has narrowed over time.

3. FLK1 pass rates have fluctuated more (between 59-67%) compared to FLK2 (54-61%).

Sitting SQE1: First Attempts vs. Subsequent Attempts

Here you can see how many candidates have taken the exam for a 1st, 2nd or 3rd time:

Assessment	Assessment Window	Number of Candidates	Number of 1st Attempt Candidates	Number of 2nd Attempt Candidates	Number of 3rd Attempt Candidates
SQE1	Nov 2021	1073*	1073 (100%)	n/a	n/a
SQE1	July 2022	1829*	1736 (95%)	93 (5%)	n/a
SQE1	January 2023	3031*	2816 (93%)	184 (6%)	8 (<1%)
SQE1	July 2023	3475*	3005 (87%)	425 (12%)	31 (1%)

*Represents the total number of candidates who sat the full SQE1 exam, regardless of whether they took both FLK1 and FLK2, or just one part.

We can also look at the performance of first-time candidates versus those retaking the exam:

Exam Session	Pass Rate (SQE1 First Attempt)	Pass Rate (SQE1 Overall)
July 2022	55%	53%
January 2023	54%	51%
July 2023	56%	53%
January 2024	59%	56%

Key Observations:

1. First-attempt candidates consistently perform better than the overall SQE1 pass rate.

2. The difference in performance has increased slightly over time, with first-attempt candidates in January 2024 outperforming the overall pass rate by 3 percentage points.

SQE1 Performance by Legal Practice Area

Average FLK1 Scores (2021 – 2023)

Practice Area	Average Score (All Candidates) %	Average Score (for Candidates Who Passed SQE1) %	Average Score (for Candidates Who Failed SQE1) %
Ethics	71.3	77.8	59.0
Contract Law	67.8	76.2	52.0
Legal System	60.8	67.9	47.2
Legal Services	60.7	67.0	48.9
Tort	59.8	67.1	45.9
Dispute Resolution	54.3	61.1	41.5
Business Law and Practice	54.1	62.2	39.0

Average FLK2 Scores (2021 – 2023)

Practice Area	Average Score (All Candidates) %	Average Score (for Candidates Who Passed SQE1) %	Average Score (for Candidates Who Failed SQE1) %
Ethics	69.9	79.6	58.4
Criminal Liability	65.3	74.9	53.8
Land Law	58.0	69.7	43.9
Trust Law	56.4	66.6	44.1
Criminal Law and Practice	54.7	63.9	43.6
Wills and Intestacy	53.2	63.7	40.4
Property Practice	47.4	56.6	36.3

Key Observations:

1. Test takers consistently score highest in the Ethics portion of the exam (for both FLK1 and FLK2).

2. After Ethics, Contract Law and the Legal System of England and Wales are strong areas for candidates in FLK1.

3. Aside from Ethics, Criminal Liability and Land Law show higher mean scores than other FLK2 areas.

4. Property Practice in FLK2 appears to be the most challenging area for candidates. (Note: Property Practice was not part of the QLTS’ multiple-choice test. From memory, Land Law was traditionally the area of the QLTS exam with the lowest scores).

5. Regardless of whether they pass or fail SQE1, candidates seem to struggle with the same practice areas (and also perform better in the same areas).

The Performance of Qualified Lawyers vs. Non-Qualified Candidates

The SRA provides a lot of demographic data in its regular SQE1 Reports. One part of the report compares the performance of qualified lawyers with that of non-qualified candidates:

Year	Qualification Status	Proportion of Test Takers	SQE1 Pass Rate
2021	Not Qualified	75%	56%
2021	Qualified	25%	48%
2022	Not Qualified	65%	53%
2022	Qualified	35%	53%
2023	Not Qualified	65%	50%
2023	Qualified	35%	56%

Key Observations:

1. The proportion of qualified candidates sitting SQE1 has increased, from 25% of candidates in 2021 to 35% in 2022 and 2023.

2. In 2021, non-qualified candidates outperformed qualified candidates in SQE1. In 2022, both had the same pass rate. In 2023, qualified candidates outperformed non-qualified candidates.

3. The performance of candidates who are qualified lawyers has improved over time, while non-qualified candidates’ performance has slightly decreased.

Conclusions

1. SQE1 is Increasingly Popular: The significant increase in candidate numbers suggests growing acceptance and adoption of the SQE route to qualification.

2. SQE1 is Consistently a Challenge: The relatively stable overall pass rates indicate that the SQE1 maintains a consistent level of difficulty, despite the increasing number of candidates.

3. The Pass Rate Gap Between FLK1 and FLK2 is Narrowing: The higher pass rates for FLK1 suggest that candidates seem to find this component slightly easier than FLK2. However, the narrowing gap between FLK1 and FLK2 pass rates might indicate that candidates are adapting their prep strategies.

4. The First Attempt Advantage: The data shows that first-attempt candidates consistently perform better.

5. Certain Subjects Are Consistently Less (or More!) Challenging: Ethics stands out as a high-scoring area across both FLK1 and FLK2. More challenging areas include Business Law and Practice (in FLK1) and Wills and Property Practice (in FLK2).

6. Qualified Candidates Have Recently Begun Outperforming Non-Qualified Candidates: The improving performance of qualified lawyers over time perhaps suggests that prior legal experience is increasingly valuable in the SQE context. However, non-qualified candidates still form the majority of test-takers and achieve competitive pass rates.

Where To Find More SQE1 Data

As mentioned, the SRA publishes detailed SQE1 reports after every sitting – and at the end of every year. In these reports you can find many more stats than I’ve included here. For example, the SRA publishes diversity and socio-economic data to help understand how candidates with different characteristics and backgrounds perform in the SQE. Their reports also break down pass rates by demographic characteristics (ie. ethnicity, disability, religion, age, sex, education, etc.).

If you are interested in these additional details check out the SRA’s Full SQE Reports.

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