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SQE

SQE1 Preparation Course

This course is for those who wish to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales using the Solicitor Qualifying Examination (SQE) pathway to qualification. The course will prepare you for the SRA’s centralised SQE1 assessments, which will test functioning legal knowledge (FLK). It is part of our new suite of SQE courses.

To study this course it is recommended you have a law degree or have completed a law conversion course, such as MA Law (Conversion), Postgraduate Diploma in Law or SQE Law Essentials.

If you are currently working in the legal sector, including international lawyers, you may wish to study our part-time online SQE1 Preparation for Legal Professionals course. 

Includes our SQE1 Exam Preparation Course for free*.

 
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Key Facts

Entry Requirements

None required. However, the SRA requires a degree (or equivalent) to qualify as a solicitor.

Course requirements ➔

Entry requirements

Next start date

January 2025

See all Start Dates

Is this course right for you?

 

You can still qualify as a solicitor with the current route. Contact us on [email protected] or call +44(0)1483 405679

 

We’re so confident in our SQE courses that, if you don’t pass SQE1, you can repeat our SQE1 Exam Preparation Course for free up to two further times.*

*Terms and Conditions apply

78% of our students passed the January 2024 SQE1 assessments first time, compared to the industry average first attempt pass rate of 59%*

15 study manuals, extensive practice question bank, and ULawSQE – our intelligent revision app.

All developed by our expert lecturers.

Course Details

SQE1 Preparation Course

This course will prepare you for the SRA’s centralised SQE1 assessments. The SQE1 assessments will test functioning legal knowledge (FLK) through two multiple choice assessments, each comprising 180 single best answer questions.

The course will also help you prepare for Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) as a trainee solicitor, by helping you to develop functioning legal knowledge for practice.

Why choose the SQE1 Preparation Course?

  • Adaptive and personalised learner journey, using our dynamic learning model: Prepare, Engage, Consolidate (PEC), covering all professional practice subjects and revision of all law subjects in the SRA’s assessment specification.
  • Confidence for the assessments, with the opportunity to practise daily for the exact type of questions you’ll face. Our intelligent revision app, ULawSQE, will give you practice tests using multiple-choice questions, which prepare you for the SQE1 exams, so you’ll know exactly what to expect. It will focus on the topics you need to improve, giving you the best preparation for success in the assessments.
  • Benefit from our extensive experience in preparing students for the type of questions in the SQE1 assessments.
  • In depth lecturer guidance and support from our experienced lecturers, who are all practitioners. Your lecturer will monitor your progress and give you weekly individual feedback using predictive analytics, so you’ll know where to focus.
  • Brand new resources, developed specifically for SQE by our expert lecturers. You’ll be provided with all course materials including our ULaw SQE revision app, which has an extensive bank of practice exam questions. You’ll be able to take mock tests and receive personalised feedback.
  • Enjoy flexibility - We understand that everyone’s circumstances are different. That’s why we offer a wide range of study modes (full-time, part-time, on campus, online) across our courses to provide you with the greatest choice and flexibility you need to succeed in your studies. 
  • Experience of working in practice. You’ll learn in the context of our virtual law firm, ULaw LLP. ULaw LLP replicates the working environment of a law firm and students perform real world tasks on simulated cases, deals and transactions, as if they were in the office.
  • Support for your career. You’ll have access to ULaw’s award-winning Employability Service, for information, advice, practical experience and links to the profession to help you to succeed in your career. Available at all campuses, the Employability Team will help you achieve your career and work experience goals.
  • We have a vast network in the legal industry and deliver training to 91 of the top 100 law firms, with exclusive relationships with 61 of the top UK law firms and many of the most prestigious US firms.

Not sure if this course is right for you? Download our free guide, An SQE Course for Everyone, to find your path to becoming a solicitor.

Following this course, we recommend:

Important Information

Progression for full-time PgDL and MA Law (Conversion) students

Based on the projected end dates of our full-time Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PgDL) and Master of Arts in Law (MA Law Conversion) courses, find out if you are eligible to commence our Bar Practice Course (BPC)LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) or SQE1 Preparation Course in January 2025.

Find out more ➔

Please note: If you require a visa to study in the UK and wish to progress on to one of our on-campus vocational courses, please refer to our UK visa requirements page for information about applying for a Student Route visa.

Find out more ➔

*All eligible cohorts contacted, results based on over 1,800 responses.

SQE Exam Dates

Intake

Study mode

SQE1 exam

January 2025

Part-time

July 2025

March 2025

Full-time

July 2025

June 2025

Part-time

January 2026

September 2025

Full-time

January 2026

January 2026

Part-time

July 2026

March 2026

Full-time

July 2026

June 2026

Part-time

January 2027

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Full access to the SQE app

Students studying our SQE1 Preparation Course will receive full access to our intelligent SQE revision app ULaw SQE. The app is designed to help prepare and embed your Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK), ready to take on the SQE1 assessments.

Find out more

Course Structure

Students will be required to complete a pre-study online diagnostic test to check their understanding of the key foundational law subjects. This should be completed within 24 hours of the start date.

This Academic Legal Knowledge Quiz is made up of 7 subjects which represent the Black Letter Law subjects.

We use diagnostic testing to assess each student’s knowledge in these subjects for SQE1. Based on your results, we may recommend extra revision aids or a law conversion course.

This course has two modules. Ethics and Professional Conduct is taught across both FLK 1 and FLK 2.

The appropriate level of academic law knowledge is likely, though not required, to have come from a previous course of academic study. Academic law subjects will not be directly taught on the SQE1 Preparation Course, but students will have opportunities and materials to enable them to revise academic law content throughout. Students whose academic law knowledge may not be sufficient or sufficiently recent to undertake the SQE1 Preparation Course may wish first to undertake our SQE Law Essentials course, which provides a solid academic law foundation and a firm basis for progression.

Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 (FLK1)

Professional Practice

  • Business Law and Practice
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Legal Services

Academic Law

  • Contract
  • Tort
  • Legal System of England and Wales
  • Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law

Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 (FLK2)

Professional Practice

  • Property Practice
  • Wills and the Administration of Estates
  • Solicitors Accounts
  • Criminal Practice

Academic Law

  • Land Law
  • Trusts
  • Criminal Law

There are four to five units per week throughout the course (two units per week on the part-time course). Each unit follows our unique dynamic learning model: Prepare, Engage, Consolidate (PEC).

Prepare. You will spend approximately six hours per unit preparing, using the University’s virtual learning environment (VLE) where all resources will be accessible. The Prepare stage includes a rich mixture of learning activities, including study manuals, multi-media, preparatory tasks, and quizzes.

Engage. The Engage stage involves between four and five two-hour classroom based and tutor facilitated face to face workshops where you will be asked to apply the knowledge you have acquired in the Prepare stage.

Consolidate. You will complete the Consolidate stage using our VLE. This stage involves a mixture of short consolidation learning activities and weekly revision tests on practice and law subjects using our intelligent revision app.

There will be regular mock assessments throughout the course, along with opportunities to review your progress and ask questions of your subject expert tutors in group review sessions.

Course Start Dates

  • SQE1 Preparation Course
    • Part-time Day: Birmingham, Bristol, Egham (Royal Holloway), Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, London Bloomsbury, London Moorgate, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield and Southampton
    • Part-time Evening: London Bloomsbury and Manchester
    • Part-time Weekend: Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Leeds, London Bloomsbury, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield
  • SQE1 Preparation Course
    • Full-time: Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Egham (Royal Holloway), Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, London Bloomsbury, London Moorgate, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield and Southampton
  • SQE1 Preparation Course
    • Part-time Day: Birmingham, Bristol, Egham (Royal Holloway), Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, London Bloomsbury, London Moorgate, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield and Southampton
    • Part-time Evening: London Bloomsbury and Manchester
    • Part-time Weekend: Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Leeds, London Bloomsbury, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield

Online

Study SQE1 Preparation Course Online starting January 2025, March 2025 or June 2025

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Course requirements

The course demands show you the requirements, prior knowledge and commitments our course will involve.

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Study Online

You can also study this course online.

If you’re looking for a more flexible approach to your studies, why not consider online study? We have over 2,500 students from across the world studying at our online campus.

The online version of the SQE1 Preparation Course covers the same content as the on campus version, with the added flexibility of choosing where and when you study.

SQE1 Preparation Course Online ➔

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Course Information

 

With so many options for how and where you can study the SQE1 Preparation course, you can be sure to find a start date and study option to suit your needs.

Calendar

 

There are no formal ULaw exams. There are mock SQE1 assessments throughout the course, to track your progress and help you prepare for the requirements of the real assessments.

This course does not lead to an academic award. However, students who successfully pass the SQE1 assessments will accumulate 60 credits, which can be applied towards an award under the University’s Recognition of External Assessments Policy.

You will sit your SQE assessments at Pearson VUE test centres in the UK and internationally. For details on how to book, pay and receive your results for your SQE assessments, as well as request any reasonable adjustments, please visit the SRA website.

  • There are two multiple choice assessments over two days – one for FLK1 and one for FLK2.
    • FLK1 covers: Business Law and Practice; Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort; Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law; and Legal Services
    • FLK2 covers: Property Practice; Wills and the Administration of Estates; Solicitors Accounts; Land Law; Trusts; Criminal Law; and Criminal Practice
  • On each day the assessment is likely to take five hours, with a break in the middle.
  • Each assessment contains 180 single best answer questions.
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Employability We Set You Up For Success

We care about your career, which is why we offer support with job applications and other work experience opportunities as soon as you accept your place.

Discover more
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Fees and Booking

 

Book this course ➔

  • If you’re considering the SQE1 Preparation Course, you may be interested in our LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) which includes all our SQE preparation courses, leads to a master’s qualification, and could qualify for postgraduate funding.
  • If you’re a non-law graduate, you may be interested in our law conversion courses: PGDL, MA Law (SQE1), SQE Law Essentials

The SQE1 Preparation Course at Newcastle University is subject to approval.

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The course fee does not include the SQE1 assessment fee.

2024/25 Course Fee (for courses starting on or after 1 July 2024)

  • London: £6,200
  • Outside London: £4,900

Study manuals: eBooks are included in the course fee, and you’ll receive a 50% discount if you’d like to purchase print versions.

This course does not qualify for postgraduate funding. We have alternative courses with postgraduate funding including our LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2).

Offers and discounts

  • £250 SQE Prep Alumni Discount for ULaw graduates.
  • Free SQE1 Exam Preparation Course. Saving you £550.
  • You can pay with one upfront payment or with three monthly instalments (six monthly instalments on the part-time courses).
  • Pass first time or study for free. We’re so confident in our SQE courses that, if you don’t pass the SQE1, you can repeat our Exam Preparation Courses up to two further times.*

*Terms and conditions apply.

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We have students from over 120 different countries throughout our campuses, with a dedicated team to help international students.

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