How to study for SQE2: a four-step method that works

How should you study for SQE2?

Study for SQE2 in four steps. First, read the SRA’s SQE2 syllabus so you know exactly what is examinable. Second, check your legal knowledge topic by topic. Third, practise all six legal skills assessments under time pressure. Fourth, build one repeatable technique for writing answers.

SQE2 is a skills exam, but it is not only a skills exam. Every station except the client interview is marked for skills and for application of law, and the SRA weights the two equally (SRA SQE2 assessment specification). So a plan that only practises technique, or only revises the law, gives away half the marks. The four steps below cover both.

What is in the SQE2 exam?

SQE2 has six legal skills assessments:

• Client interview and attendance note/legal analysis (one assessment in two parts)
• Advocacy
• Case and matter analysis
• Legal research
• Legal writing
• Legal drafting

You sit 16 assessments in total over five half-days. The oral part has four assessments over two half-days: two interviews with attendance notes, and two advocacy submissions. The written part has 12 assessments over three half-days. They are set in five practice areas: Criminal Law and Practice (Criminal Litigation), Dispute Resolution, Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, and Business Law and Practice.

Ethics and professional conduct run through all of it. The questions do not flag ethical issues, so you have to spot them yourself (SRA SQE2 assessment specification).

Step 1: Why start with the SQE2 syllabus?

Start with the syllabus because it tells you exactly which law SQE2 can test. The SRA’s SQE2 assessment specification lists the examinable law in Annex 1, and that is a sub-set of the SQE1 functioning legal knowledge (FLK). Some SQE1 subjects are not examined in SQE2 at all. One caveat: the legal research assessment can take you outside the FLK, but there the task is to find and use the sources, not to recall them.

This step matters most if you were exempt from SQE1, because you may never have worked through the FLK in this form. But don’t skip it if you passed SQE1. Depending on when you sat it, you may not remember every detail of the syllabus, and you need a clear list of what to revise before you start.

Read the specification once in full. Then turn Annex 1 into a checklist of topics you can tick off in step 2.

Step 2: How do you check your legal knowledge for SQE2?

Go through the syllabus topic by topic and test yourself on each one. There is no single right method. Many candidates use flashcards. Others work from a textbook or their own notes, and some go back to SQE1 practice questions.

Whatever method you use, remember the format you are training for. In SQE2 you write answers under real time pressure, without your notes. So for each topic, aim to be able to write down quickly a set of bullet points that covers the key principles. If you can’t produce that list from memory, the topic needs more work.

Recall beats rereading here. Writing out the law from a blank page is harder than recognising it, and it is much closer to what SQE2 asks of you. The Law Drills SQE2 FLK Refresher is built for this step: it covers all 19 areas of the SQE2 syllabus with multiple-choice drills and short answers you write yourself, and the AI coach marks each short answer and coaches you through it. It is a refresher for the law, not practice for the skills assessments, so use it alongside step 3.

Step 3: How do you practise the SQE2 skills assessments?

Once you know the law, practise using it in all six skills assessments. Knowing the law is only useful if you can turn it into a good answer in the time allowed, and the only reliable way to build that is to answer practice questions.

If you are on an SQE2 course, your provider will usually give you practice questions and mocks. If you are self-studying, or want more, start with the SRA’s own SQE2 sample questions, which come with sample answers and commentary. The same page has the SRA’s Performance Indicators, which show what competent and non-competent performance looks like against each marking criterion, so use them to mark your own attempts. Our mega list of SQE resources lists more SQE resources.

Practise to the real timings. Legal writing is 30 minutes, legal drafting 45 minutes, and case and matter analysis and legal research are 60 minutes each. For the oral assessments, you get 10 minutes to read the file before a 25-minute interview, and 45 minutes to prepare a 15-minute advocacy submission. The written assessments are typed, but the attendance note after each interview is handwritten in 25 minutes, so practise that one by hand.

More candidates now ask an AI tool to write SQE2 practice questions and model answers. That can be a useful extra source of practice, but AI output can contain legal errors, just as some human-written materials do. Check any AI-written question or answer against reliable materials, such as the SRA’s sample answers or your course materials, before you rely on it.

Step 4: What makes a good SQE2 answer technique?

As you practise, focus on how you answer as well as what you answer. Build a technique you can repeat for every type of question, so that on the day you are not deciding how to start. Four habits help most:

• Plan the whole answer first. Write your subheadings and the key legal points under each one before you fill in the detail. This gives you a structure and helps you manage your time. If you run short, every part of the question still has something in it.
• Write short sentences. Put each new point in a new sentence. Short sentences are easier for the marker to follow and harder to get wrong.
• Explain the rule, apply it, then deal with exceptions. State the legal rule first, apply it to the facts, then address any exception that is relevant.
• Use the client’s facts. Refer to the facts of the question as much as you can, so it is clear your advice is tailored to this client. The SRA’s criteria ask you to apply the law correctly and comprehensively to the client’s situation.

Check names, dates and figures before you move on. The SRA says you should not lose marks for spelling mistakes that a spell checker would normally flag and that don’t affect legal accuracy. But a spell checker won’t catch a wrong name, date or value, and an error there can change the meaning of your advice (SRA SQE2 assessment specification).

How do the four steps fit together?

Treat SQE2 study as a number of separate parts, not one block. Know the syllabus, know the law in it, practise the six skills assessments, and practise a technique you can repeat. In the final months you will move between steps 2, 3 and 4: a weak practice answer often shows a gap in the law, and the fix is to go back to step 2 for that topic.

If you are preparing for a resit, our guide to passing an SQE resit covers how to adapt your plan after a fail. And if you want to keep the law fresh while you practise the skills, you can start the SQE2 FLK Refresher for free.

Common questions

How many skills assessments are there in SQE2?

Six legal skills: client interview and attendance note/legal analysis (assessed together), advocacy, case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing and legal drafting. Across the oral and written parts they add up to 16 assessments over five half-days.

Is the law tested in SQE2, or only skills?

Both. The SRA marks every station except the client interview for skills and for application of law, and weights the two equally in your final mark. The client interview itself is marked on skills only. So keeping the law fresh matters as much as practising the skills.

Do I need to revise every SQE1 subject for SQE2?

No. SQE2 tests a sub-set of the SQE1 functioning legal knowledge, set out in Annex 1 of the SRA's SQE2 assessment specification. Some SQE1 subjects are not examined in SQE2 at all, so start by reading the specification to see what is in scope.

Can I use AI to write SQE2 practice questions?

You can, and many candidates do. But AI-written questions and model answers can contain legal errors. Check them against reliable materials, such as the SRA's own sample questions and your course materials, before you rely on them.

Will I lose marks for typos in SQE2?

Not necessarily. The SRA says candidates should not lose marks for spelling mistakes that do not affect legal accuracy or clarity and that a spell checker would normally flag. Errors in names, dates or values can still cost you, so check those carefully.