Positive report

The Solicitor Qualifying Examination (SQE) has received a positive verdict from its independent reviewer, with the 2025 running of the SQE described as “good” and showing improvement on previous years.

In his annual report, independent reviewer Ricardo Lé found no significant major across the two SQE1 and four SQE2 sittings delivered last year, describing the assessments as “robust and defensible” and concluding that candidates, stakeholders and the public should have confidence in the fairness of this year’s results.

The report praised the continued collaboration between the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and assessment provider Kaplan, noting a commitment to “continual improvement” rather than settling into routine delivery. Growing candidate numbers have driven much of this development, it noted, with Kaplan expanding its academic team and offering two written SQE2 sittings for the first time in April 2025 to meet demand.

It also highlighted meaningful progress on candidate support, with a streamlined reasonable adjustments process introduced last summer delivering a substantial rise in candidate satisfaction scores. New practice materials and guidance were also published, alongside workshops for third-party preparation providers to improve the quality of study resources available to candidates.

However, the report did identify one outstanding concern. The absence of a spell checker function in SQE2 written exams — flagged in previous reviews — remains unresolved, with the independent reviewer stressing that its rollout should be treated as a matter of “urgency”. Testing of a new browser-based platform that could support the feature is underway, with implementation potentially possible before the end of 2026.

Looking ahead, the reviewer called for continued focus on monitoring the quality of online marking sessions as candidate numbers grow further in 2026, as well as greater efforts to improve candidates’ understanding of why the assessments are designed the way they are.