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Preparing for SQE1 and SQE2 as one plan

Preparing for both stages means two different kinds of study. SQE1 needs knowledge and timed multiple choice practice. SQE2 needs written and oral answers marked against the SRA's criteria. Plan them as one sequence, with SQE2 practice starting before your SQE1 result.

Updated 1 October 2026 · Checked against the sources listed below

Sample script: driving offence letter

Legal writing · Criminal Litigation · 30 minutes

Sample, tap anything

SkillsC3 / 5

LawC2.7 / 5

Station 57%

477 words

Skills and law count equally. No single station has a pass mark: the exam result is the average of all 16.

Dear Imran Re: Your court case Thank you for your instructions. I understand that on 4 August 2026 at 6.12am you were caught by a mobile camera driving your work van at 38mph in a 30mph limit on Melton Road.1 You were late for a job because you had overslept. You already have 9 points on your licence from three speeding offences in 2023 and 2025. Your mother has dialysis three times a week at Leicester General Hospital and you take her. You work for Ashfield Heating as a gas engineer earning £38,000 a year and you pay the rent of £850 a month. Your hearing is on 22 October at Leicester Magistrates' Court. Will you be banned? This offence is likely to get 3 points. That would put you on 12 points. If you get 12 points within three years the court has to disqualify you for a minimum of 6 months under the totting up rules. You asked if the 2023 points have expired. They have not. Points stay on your licence for four years (your DVLA record shows they will not be removed until 18 September 2027)2, so they will still be counted and you will be on 12. Can you keep your licence? You can ask the court not to ban you because of exceptional hardship. This means the hardship has to be more than the normal hardship anyone suffers when they lose their licence. In your case you would explain to the court that you need to drive for your job3 and that your mother relies on you to get to her dialysis. The magistrates will decide whether this is exceptional. I cannot say for certain what they will decide.4 Your friend mentioned special reasons. This does not apply to you, as special reasons are for things connected with the offence itself, not your work or family situation. Your employer's letter We cannot tell the court that you will be sacked, because Dawn's letter says they would give you a job in the stores. We are not allowed to mislead the court. We will need to tell the court about the stores job if it comes up.5 Do you need to attend? Yes, you should attend court on 22 October.6 You will need to explain your hardship to the magistrates yourself, so it is important that you are there. I will come with you. At court you will be asked to enter a plea. As you accept you were speeding you will plead guilty.7 The court will then decide on the fine and the points, and will hear our argument about exceptional hardship. Next steps Please send me any evidence you have about your mother's treatment and your job before the hearing so that I can prepare.8 Please contact me if you have any questions. Yours sincerely Siobhan Kerr Holbrook Mistry LLP

Tap a highlight to read its comment.

Work on next

Criminal Litigation: exceptional hardship, applying the burden, sworn evidence, job loss and alternatives to the client's facts

  1. 1.Explain the three-year rule as offence date to offence date, not the DVLA removal date
  2. 2.Apply exceptional hardship fully: burden, sworn evidence, job loss not enough given the stores offer, and the alternatives for his mother
  3. 3.Replace the opening recital with a short introduction and end with a specific, dated list of evidence
  • You spotted 2 of 4 key issues.
    • Partly: Will he be banned? Band A speeding gives 3 points; the 2023 points still count because the three years run offence to offence; 12 points means a minimum six-month totting-up ban
    • Partly: Can he keep his licence? Exceptional hardship (burden, sworn evidence, job loss not enough and he would be redeployed, his mother's dialysis and the alternatives, points stay, three-year bar on reuse); special reasons not available for personal circumstances
    • Partly: The hearing on 22 October: plead guilty for a one-third fine reduction that does not shorten a ban; exceptional hardship heard with his evidence; he must attend because the court cannot ban in his absence without adjourning
    • Partly: His request to tell the court he will be sacked and to keep the stores offer quiet
  • Not everything asked was answered: What he needs to do before the hearing is left vague; Why he must attend (no ban in his absence without an adjournment) is not explained
  • Reaches 12 points and rejects special reasons, but the three-year rule is applied by the DVLA removal date rather than offence dates, and exceptional hardship is stated rather than applied to the stores offer and the alternatives.
  • Says the outcome is uncertain, but gives no view on prospects, does not identify the evidence the court will test (patient transport, taxis, Farah) and closes with a vague request for 'any evidence'.
  • The opening paragraph retells the file note (time of offence, salary, rent) which Imran already knows.

Grades by criterion

Skills

Application of law

Tap a grade to see only its highlights. Tap a criterion to read the reason for its grade.

Law points

2 of 9 covered. Tap a point to read it in full.

  • Covered
  • Wrong
  • Partly
  • Missed
  • Partly
  • Covered
  • Missed
  • Partly
  • Partly

A sample script written for this demonstration and marked against the SRA's assessment criteria.

Try the free SQE2 diagnostic

At a glance

SQE1 fee for sittings from October 2026
£2,006
SQE2 fee for bookings from October 2026
£3,086
passed SQE1 in January 2026
53%
passed SQE2 in April 2026
83%
Sources for these figures

What each stage asks of your preparation

SQE1SQE2
What you practiseSingle best answer questions, timed, by subject then mixedWritten tasks and oral stations, timed, by skill and practice area
What feedback looks likeRight or wrong, with an explanation of each optionA to F on each criterion, with comments on your own text
What tells you that you are readyTimed mixed scores and mock resultsStation scores across skills and areas, and no very weak combination
The lawAll of the SQE1 syllabusPart of the SQE1 syllabus, applied to a client's facts

The law carries over. The way you show it does not. An SQE1 question bank does not prepare you for SQE2, and SQE2 tasks do not cover enough law for SQE1.

Pairing the sittings

SQE1 runs in January and July. SQE2 runs in January, April, July and October. You can sit SQE2 only after you have passed SQE1, so the SQE1 results date sets the earliest SQE2 sitting.

SQE1 sittingSQE1 resultsEarliest SQE2A sitting with more time
January 20279 March 2027April 2027 (written from 20 April)July 2027 (oral from 27 July)
July 2027Not yet publishedOctober 2027 (oral from 28 October)January 2028, once published

Six weeks between the SQE1 result and the April SQE2 is short for a candidate starting SQE2 from nothing. Starting SQE2 practice in the weeks after the SQE1 exam, before the result, makes the earlier sitting realistic.

A two-stage plan

  1. Start with a diagnostic across every SQE1 subject, and build the SQE1 plan back from your sitting.
  2. Work through the SQE1 subjects, then mixed timed practice, then full mocks.
  3. Sit SQE1. In the weeks before the result, start the SQE2 written skills, with legal writing and case and matter analysis first.
  4. Once you have passed, book SQE2 and move to all four written skills in all five practice areas, with each answer marked.
  5. Add the oral stations: advocacy and the client interview with its attendance note.
  6. Finish with full written sessions and a mock, then the final weeks on the weakest skill and area.

The how to pass SQE1 and how to pass SQE2 pages set out each stage in detail.

Why one platform for both

The SQE2 law points come from the SQE1 syllabus. On one platform, a law point you missed in an SQE2 answer can link back to the SQE1 knowledge entry for it, and SQE2 recall cards are drawn from the same material. You keep one account, one set of billing and the progress from SQE1. Each exam has its own exam date, plan and readiness, and you switch between them in the app.

What it costs: courses and this platform

OptionAdvertised price, October 2026
SQE1 preparation from a large course providerfrom about £199
SQE2 course aloneabout £1,150 to £6,400
SQE1 and SQE2 course togetherabout £4,900 to over £12,000
SQE1 + SQE2 bundle on this platform£299 for 18 months

The bundle includes everything in SQE1 Full cycle (£179) and SQE2 Full cycle (£219), £99 less than buying both. A learner who already has SQE1 Full cycle can add SQE2 for £120.

What the bundle does not include

The bundle has no live teaching and no tutor. SQE2 answers are marked against the SRA's criteria by an automated marker, with comments on your text and a model answer to compare. Marking by a solicitor is not offered yet. The written skills are covered in full. Oral practice is planned and is not yet in the platform, and the advocacy and client interview pages give a method for practising them with a partner. If you need a tutor to teach you the law from the beginning, a course may suit you better.

Questions candidates ask

The one that gives you the practice each stage needs. For SQE1 that is a large bank of questions in the exam format, with explanations and full mocks. For SQE2 it is timed tasks in every skill, each marked against the SRA's criteria, with feedback you can act on.

The SRA does not require one. Candidates pass after courses, after self-study and after a mix of both. What every route needs is full coverage of the SQE1 syllabus and marked practice in the SQE2 skills.

The SRA sets no period. It depends on how recently you studied law. SQE1 in July 2027 and SQE2 in January 2028 is one pairing, with about six months between the two exams.

You can start SQE2 practice before you sit SQE1, and the law you revise serves both. A sensible order is to keep SQE1 as the main work until it is sat, then move to SQE2 while you wait for the result.

Courses that cover both stages are advertised at about £4,900 to over £12,000 in October 2026. The SRA's exam fees for both stages add £5,092. Our SQE1 + SQE2 bundle is £299 for 18 months.

The bundle runs for 18 months from the day you buy it, which leaves room for a resit of either stage. Three attempts at each are allowed within six years of your first SQE assessment.

Sources

SQE Practice is independent of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Rules, dates and fees can change: the SRA is the authority, and this page is checked against it.

SQE1 and SQE2 for one payment

The SQE1 + SQE2 bundle is £299 for 18 months: SQE1 questions, mocks and a study plan, and SQE2 timed tasks with every answer marked against the SRA's criteria. The marking is automated.

See the bundle

one payment · 18 months of both exams

See the bundle15 min