In 2019 I graduated from Hull University with a degree in Law with Criminology. I had thoroughly enjoyed my time at university and knew I needed to put the work in to secure a place at a local firm. I wanted to stay local as I wouldn’t want to leave my family.
In 2020 I applied to work at Hudgell Solicitors along with a few other firms in the area, luckily Hudgell’s invited me for an interview, and I haven’t looked back since!
Why I chose the SQE
Working at Hudgell Solicitors I am surrounded by incredibly hard-working solicitors, and I soon realised I wanted to follow in their footsteps. In 2022 I started to research the different routes to qualification. The Solicitors Qualifying Examination was introduced in 2021. This route stood out to me as I had already acquired qualifying work experience in my role as a paralegal, and this meant I wouldn’t have to compete with my colleagues for a training contract once I had completed the course. Training contracts are an 18 – 24-month work-based programme, the prerequisite for a training contract is that you must have undertaken the legal practice course prior to completion. I know a lot of people who have taken the LPC and have been successful, but I wanted to challenge myself and try something new.
I therefore chose the SQE route. I enrolled with The University of Law, which involved an application form and a personal statement of approximately 500 words. I was accepted onto the course with an unconditional offer.
What does the SQE involve?
The course is remote and involves 2 lectures every week on different subject areas. Everything is provided electronically, and you have access to all of the textbooks. The university guides you in terms of which chapters to read and is only an email away if you need any advice or have any concerns. The University of Law is unique as it also has an app you can download onto your mobile phone. This app is a revision tool where you can practice up to 2,000 multiple-choice questions. This is extremely useful as it allows you to time yourself and it gives you an idea of how quickly you need to read and answer each question. Just before the exam, I had completed 1,200 practice questions.
The course is then split into two qualifying exams, SQE1 and SQE2.
SQE1 comprises of 360 single best answer multiple choice questions, covering 16 subject areas over 2 days. SQE2 tests candidates written and oral legal skills through 16 assessments over 5 days. Once you have successfully passed both exams, if you have also acquired 2 years qualifying work experience you can apply to the SRA to be admitted as a solicitor.
I completed my SQE 1 exam in July 2023 and I am pleased to say that I was one of the 53% of people who passed the exam. Seeing how low the pass rate had been since the SQE was introduced didn’t fill me with much confidence going into the exam and I felt as though a pass was almost unachievable, but it just goes to show how tough these exams are and if you are going to choose this route you have to give it your all!
Preparing for the exam
Preparing for and passing the exam alongside working full-time as a paralegal was incredibly difficult and time-consuming. If I was going to be successful, I knew I had to be organised and manage my time wisely. I implemented a strict schedule, arriving at work at 7 am to complete 2 hours of revision before my working day as a paralegal commenced at 9 am. After work, I gave myself some time to unwind but would always aim to revise for at least 1 more hour in the evenings. I also studied on weekends. Although this was tough at times, opening my results and seeing that I had passed made every long day and weekend worth it.
I started my revision by reading the study materials and creating my own revision booklets for each topic. The booklets I created were limited to the key information I felt I would need to remember for the exam. I would take these booklets everywhere with me and read them on the go. I would also aim to complete between 10-20 multiple-choice questions every day.
Sitting the exam
When the time came to sit the exam, I was incredibly nervous, I didn’t know what to expect and I was unfamiliar with single-best answer multiple choice questions. When I studied at university the exams were short and sweet and consisted of essay-style questions which is what I was used to.
I arrived at the test centre at 8:30 am, the exam started at 9 am and finished at approximately 3 pm. We had 1 hour lunch at 12pm and during this time we were able to go out and get some fresh air. Although the thought of a 5-hour exam is daunting, once you see the first question the adrenaline takes over and before you know it, it’s 3 pm.
If you find yourself with time left over at the end of the exam, my advice would be to not overthink. If you are considering changing answers, ensure you have a very good reason for doing so. It is very easy to become panicked and second-guess yourself when you have time to spare. You do not want to talk yourself out of the right answer, with such a large number of questions and a high pass rate every mark counts. The pass rate varies every year depending on the complexity of each exam, but it has been as high as 60%.
In my experience, the key to success with SQE1 is practice, practice and more practice. If you put in the hours and have a good support system, it is achievable and hard work really does pay off.