How hard is SQE1?

What the SRA's figures show

The SRA publishes two kinds of report. A statistical report after each sitting gives pass rates, score distributions and first-attempt results by candidate background. An annual report adds mean scaled scores by practice area and pass rates by attempt. The annual report used here, for 2023/24, was published on 11 March 2025 and covers the January and July 2024 sittings.

In that report the practice areas that averaged lowest were Wills and Intestacy, Property Practice, Dispute Resolution and Business Law and Practice. The SRA noted that the same areas had been the most challenging the year before. The SRA found similar patterns among candidates who passed and those who failed, so stronger and weaker candidates alike scored lower in these areas. Across all sittings reported so far, between 41% and 56% of candidates have passed SQE1; the page on every sitting's pass rate has the full series.

Why candidates find it hard

The lowest-scoring areas are mostly practice subjects that are new to most candidates, and their questions turn on precise rules and procedure. The SQE1 syllabus map lists every topic in them, by session.

Reading the figures

Every figure above describes a group of past candidates, and none of them predicts one candidate's result. Practice-area scores are averages across thousands of candidates. Results by degree class and background cover first attempts only, and the SRA does not report groups of fewer than 10. The SRA found differences between groups but no evidence of bias in the assessments overall.

Resit figures need one more caution. The SQE1 rows count only candidates sitting both FLK1 and FLK2 again in the same window; a candidate who failed one paper resits that paper alone and is counted in its row. On either reading, fewer candidates pass on a resit than at a first attempt, and the SRA suggests resitting candidates consider allowing more time between sittings. A resit plan starts from the practice-area breakdown in the score report, and what the pass mark of 300 means explains how that report is scaled.

Using the figures

The areas that average lowest deserve time early, before timed practice begins, and single best answer questions are best practised in the format from the start, because several options usually state correct law and only one fits the facts. The free SQE1 practice questions use that format, and the SQE1 study plan shares study time across the subjects for your sitting.