- SQE1 is the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination and tests functioning legal knowledge across thirteen subjects.
- It is two papers: FLK1 and FLK2. Each is 180 questions, sat as two sessions of 90 questions with 153 minutes per session.
- Every question is single best answer with five options, one mark, no partial credit and no negative marking.
- Ethics and professional conduct is examined pervasively across both papers rather than as its own section.
- The SRA sets the pass mark for each sitting rather than publishing a fixed percentage, so no fixed target exists to quote.
What the SQE1 exam is
SQE1 is the first of the two stages of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, the assessment route to qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales. It tests functioning legal knowledge: not what you can recite, but whether you can apply the law to a client's facts and choose the right answer.
It is assessed entirely by multiple choice. There is no essay, no oral element and no coursework at SQE1. Skills such as interviewing, advocacy and drafting are assessed at SQE2, which is a separate stage sat later. For the wider picture of how the two stages and qualifying work experience fit together, see what the SQE is.
The exam is set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and delivered on its behalf by an assessment provider at test centres. Nothing on this page implies any endorsement by, or affiliation with, either.
FLK1 and FLK2: the two papers
SQE1 is split into two assessments, FLK1 and FLK2. FLK stands for functioning legal knowledge. They are separate papers with separate content, and together they cover thirteen subjects.
FLK1 is the private client and commercial disputes half in broad terms: business, civil litigation, contract, tort, the legal system and the regulation of legal services. FLK2 is the property, private client and criminal half: conveyancing, wills, solicitors accounts, land, trusts and the two criminal subjects.
Both papers are sat within the same assessment window, usually on separate days. Each is 180 questions, and each is delivered as two sessions of 90 questions.
| Paper | Questions | Structure | Time per session |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLK1 | 180 | Two sessions of 90 questions | 153 minutes each |
| FLK2 | 180 | Two sessions of 90 questions | 153 minutes each |
| SQE1 total | 360 | Four sessions across two papers | 612 minutes in total |
The thirteen subjects, and which paper each sits on
Thirteen subjects are examined across the two papers. Knowing which paper a subject sits on matters for revision sequencing, because the two papers are usually sat on different days and there is no point carrying land law into an FLK1 session.
The SRA does not publish a percentage weighting for each subject. Anyone presenting exact per subject percentages is inferring them, and you should read them that way. What the assessment specification does give you is the depth of coverage expected in each area, which is a better guide to revision time than a made up percentage.
| Subject | Paper | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Business Law and Practice | FLK1 | Companies, partnerships, directors' duties, finance, insolvency and tax basics |
| Dispute Resolution | FLK1 | Civil claims from pre action conduct through case management to enforcement |
| Contract Law | FLK1 | Formation, terms, vitiating factors, discharge and remedies |
| Tort | FLK1 | Negligence, occupiers' liability, nuisance, vicarious liability and defences |
| Legal System and Public Law | FLK1 | Courts, sources of law, the constitution, judicial review and human rights |
| Legal Services | FLK1 | Regulation of solicitors, money laundering and financial services rules |
| Property Practice | FLK2 | Freehold and leasehold transactions, searches, planning and taxation |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | FLK2 | Validity, intestacy, grants, administration and inheritance tax |
| Solicitors Accounts | FLK2 | Client money, the client account, double entry, bills and breaches |
| Land Law | FLK2 | Registered and unregistered title, co ownership, leases, easements and mortgages |
| Trusts | FLK2 | Creation, trustees' duties, breach, tracing and equitable remedies |
| Criminal Liability | FLK2 | Offences, mens rea, participation and defences |
| Criminal Practice | FLK2 | Police station advice, bail, procedure, evidence and sentencing |
Single best answer of five
Every question on both papers is single best answer. You are given a short factual scenario, usually with a solicitor and a client, then a question line and five options labelled A to E. You choose one.
One mark is available and there is no partial credit. There is also no negative marking, which means a wrong answer and an unanswered question score identically, so there is never a reason to leave one blank.
The format matters more than it sounds. On a well written question more than one option is defensible, and the mark goes to the best one on the facts given rather than to the only true one. That is a distinct skill from knowing the law, and it is worth practising deliberately. There are ten free SQE1 practice questions written that way, each explaining why the best answer beats the runner up.
- Five options, exactly one best answer, one mark
- No partial credit and no negative marking, so answer every question
- Scenario based rather than recall based: a client, concrete facts, then a question
- Wrong options are built from real reasoning that fails at one identifiable step
- The same format applies to both papers and all thirteen subjects
Ethics is examined pervasively, not separately
There is no ethics paper on SQE1 and no ethics section within either paper. Ethics and professional conduct is examined pervasively, which means a conduct point can appear inside a scenario from any subject on either paper.
In practice that means a conflict of interests question can arrive dressed as a commercial property sale, and a confidentiality question can arrive dressed as a litigation file. Nothing on the face of the question marks it as an ethics question, so you cannot decide to be careful only when you see one coming.
The practical consequence for revision is that conduct should not be a topic saved for the last fortnight. It should be present in the practice you do for every other subject, which is also how the papers present it.
The pass mark, and why nobody can quote you a number
The SRA sets the pass mark for each sitting rather than publishing a fixed percentage. It is determined for that sitting by a standard setting process, so it can differ between windows and between FLK1 and FLK2.
That has two consequences. First, any source quoting you a fixed SQE1 pass percentage is stating an assumption, not a rule, however confidently it is worded. Second, aiming at a rumoured number is the wrong target anyway. Since the threshold moves, the sensible approach is to build a comfortable margin above recent published pass marks rather than to aim at the line.
The more useful measure in preparation is consistency. Because both papers sample across their subjects, a candidate averaging seventy eight per cent with one subject at forty is in a worse position than one averaging seventy two with nothing below sixty five. Look at the spread across the thirteen before you look at the average.
102 seconds a question, and what that actually feels like
Each session is 90 questions in 153 minutes. That is 9,180 seconds for 90 questions, or 102 seconds each, including reading the scenario.
A hundred and two seconds is enough, but it is not generous. A typical stem runs to four or five sentences of facts, and the five options are full statements rather than single words, so a substantial part of the allowance goes on reading before you have thought about anything. Candidates who are comfortable with the law and still come out short are almost always losing the paper to reading speed and to time spent agonising between two options.
The fix is to practise at the real pace from early on rather than saving it for mocks. Set a per question clock, get used to the feel of a hundred seconds, and build the habit of flagging and moving on. A question you sit on for four minutes costs you the two you never reach at the end.
- 90 questions in 153 minutes is 102 seconds each, reading included
- Four sessions in total across the two papers, each with its own clock
- Flag and move rather than agonise. Time spent on a hard question is taken from an easy one
- Practise at pace routinely, not only in full mocks
- Answer everything before time is called, because a blank scores the same as a wrong answer
What the format means for how you prepare
Three things follow from the structure above, and they are what separate preparation that works from preparation that feels productive.
Revise by paper, not by the order a textbook happens to be in. FLK1 and FLK2 are usually sat on different days, so the last week before each should be spent on that paper's subjects rather than on all thirteen at once.
Interleave subjects inside your practice. The real paper does not group its questions by subject, so a session that moves from a trusts question to a bail question to an accounts question is training something the exam actually tests, which a block of forty land law questions does not.
And track your score by subject rather than overall. The number that tells you whether to book is not your average. It is your worst subject.
- Sequence revision by paper, since FLK1 and FLK2 are sat separately
- Interleave subjects in practice sessions to match how the paper is built
- Keep conduct running through every subject rather than as a final topic
- Sit full mocks in the real shape: two sessions of 90 questions at 153 minutes
- Judge readiness on your weakest subject, not your average
