How Law Drills made all the difference in my FLK2 resit

What’s your background, and why did you decide to do the SQE?

I qualified as a lawyer in Jamaica in October 2002 and have been working in law since then. I moved to the British Islands a little over 10 years ago to take up a role as legislative drafter. For this job I didn’t need to have qualified as a lawyer in anywhere in the British Islands. Nothing has changed in that regard. But my employment options are restricted; I’ve been feeling stuck for some time. Having been doing legislative drafting for over 18 years, I’m ready to move on to another specialty. But I’ve gone as far as my existing qualifications can take me. Qualifying as a solicitor would certainly enable me to access a range of other opportunities. The SQE route was the most suitable because it would allow me to study while continuing in my job. It would also allow me to get credit for my existing qualifications in the form of an exemption: I received an exemption from SQE2.

How did you prepare, and what made the biggest difference in your success?

I prepared independently. Being self-financed, I was keen on finding the most cost-effective option. I chose Revise SQE largely because their books were the first that came up in my Amazon search for SQE materials. Their books were more concise than the University of Law’s books and I was persuaded by Revise SQE’s positive reviews. I bought hard copies of all 14 Revise SQE titles and the mock exams (one for each paper) in late 2023. My original intention was merely to learn enough English and Welsh law so I could do a meaningful comparison with Jamaican law, as I had planned to apply for an exemption from the entire SQE. But it eventually became clear that such an application was destined to fail. I therefore decided in the summer of 2024 that I would sit SQE1 and apply for an exemption from SQE2. I started studying, then, from slightly dated books with the intention of sitting SQE1 in July 2025. Revise SQE released updated titles in September 2024, but I persisted with the 2023 titles I already had.

I superficially read all the titles through for general familiarisation and then read them again in detail, answering the standard 5 questions after each chapter by looking back in the chapter for the answer. My success was moderate, but in retrospect this did little to prepare me for the actual exam. My next step was to try to make my own notes from the books, but I went about this inefficiently. Also, I found the FLK2 subjects intimidating and kept postponing my planned attempt at the FLK2 mock exam. I was more comfortable with FLK1, so I did that mock exam relatively early and did several of the SRA’s FLK1 sample questions as well. But I didn’t attempt any online questions for either paper. I ended up leaving the FLK2 mock exam until way too late and not doing any of the SRA’s FLK2 sample questions, with the result that my preparation was unbalanced. In July 2025 I passed FLK1 but fell slightly short on the scaled score for FLK2 (the pass mark is 300 out of 500; I scored 297). I simply hadn’t done enough FLK2 practice questions. So, I resolved to prepare for the resit by finding a reliable question bank and focusing on answering online questions.

I say this unreservedly: Law Drills made all the difference in my preparation for the FLK2 resit. I so wish I had known about and opted to try it when I first started making notes in early 2025. That would have been a far better use of my time. In preparing for the resit, I did the preset 20 questions on Law Drills every single day from the time I signed up (1 October 2025) until the day of the exam. The result was that I walked into the exam in January 2026 feeling self-assured.

What was the hardest part, and how did you push through it?

The hardest part of the curriculum is difficult to pick because there are many areas I have never practised in and therefore found challenging. But the hardest part of the whole experience was grappling with self-doubt. When I embarked on my SQE1 journey it had been more than a decade since I had last pursued an academic qualification and more than 20 years since I had last studied the subjects being tested. I was constantly questioning whether I still had the ability to do something like this. Also, the format of the exam was like nothing I had ever experienced, and the pass rate was not encouraging. Plus, I was completely alone, as I didn’t know anyone else who was preparing for the exam. I would get worried every time I answered a question incorrectly despite consulting the material to try to find the answer. Every such instance provided further ‘proof’ that I was in over my head. But I am not a quitter. So, I resolved to continue. The trouble is that, whenever I felt worried, I decided to try harder instead of work smarter. I also unwisely went out and bought something new virtually every time I panicked. I’m embarrassed about the amount of money I wasted on other materials: some plainly substandard, others moderate but inferior to what I already had. The bottom line was that, once I had started my SQE1 journey, I was always going to finish it despite my challenges and missteps. In short, tenacity got me through. In July 2025 I was happy with how FLK1 went and was sure from the moment the exam was over that I had passed. But FLK2 went horribly wrong and I had known from about 20 minutes in that I was going down. Tenacity and perseverance had prevented me from walking out of the exam, which I had seriously considered. I’m quite proud of myself for coming so close to passing, considering how unprepared I turned out to have been. This gave me confidence that if I were to prepare the way I ought to have done for the first attempt, I’d be fine in the resit.

If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?

This is the easiest question to answer. I would start with Law Drills immediately. I would do that before reading a single chapter. The reasoning is simple. You will inevitably answer questions incorrectly when you start, so it’s best to take your ego out of it from then. Disabuse yourself of the notion that you can know everything. Nothing does that more than getting answers wrong. It’s a humbling but indispensable experience which will show you very quickly where you are. That is invaluable because you will then know what you need to focus on. Consequently, your reading can be more targeted. Law Drills is brilliant because of the AI tutor. When preparing for my resit I argued with the tutor many times. Sometimes the tutor conceded that I was right and said it would review the question. Not only did that give me confidence; it also cemented the point of law in my memory. I got more from this than from spending hours poring over traditional textbooks and trying to make flashcards, etc.

Any final piece of advice for SQE candidates?

It’s very likely that you’ve never done an exam like this before. 102 seconds to read what could be a lengthy fact pattern and ‘mine the gold’ from the dense earth of plausible distractors is not real lawyering. So, take this exam for what it is and don’t read too much into it. Regardless of the result, it says precious little about your ability to succeed as a lawyer. But, with that said, you clearly need to find a way to get over the line so you can see that it’s nothing like this on the other side. Regardless of how you choose to prepare, remember that the format of the exam should determine your preparation strategy more than anything else. Panic at any stage will throw you off, so do your best to avoid it. Get a reputable series of books designed for SQE1 and trust it. Your traditional textbooks aren’t the best, as it takes too long to get through many of their explanations. The breadth and volume of examinable material are gargantuan, and your preparation time will evaporate quicker than you might expect!

In the exam, questions may ask something you didn’t see coming when reading the fact pattern. This is why early and consistent practice doing high-quality questions that mimic the exam is the best way to train your mind to meet the exam’s demands. It will sharpen your perceptiveness and train you to trust your instincts, spot the best answer, and then clear your mind for the next question. Lastly, don’t expect to remember many of the questions when the exam is over. It will all be a blur, but you will remember how you felt during the exam.

All the best.