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SQE1 syllabus: every FLK1 and FLK2 topic

The SQE1 syllabus is the SRA's assessment specification. It has six subject areas in FLK1 and seven in FLK2, with ethics examined across both. Each FLK is sat as two sessions of 85 questions, and each session covers a fixed group of subjects.

Updated 24 September 2026 · Checked against SRA sources listed below

Paper

Session

80 topics shown of 80

Law examined
The law in force four calendar months before the first assessment. Dates calculated from that rule:January 2027: 11 September 2026July 2027: 12 March 2027
Tax figures
From September 2026, rates, thresholds and the values of reliefs and exemptions are given in the question. Which reliefs exist, and their conditions, must be known.
Blueprint ranges
The share of each paper is from the SRA's 2019 blueprint ranges, the only version published in full. Question counts are our arithmetic on 170.

Both papers, any session

Ethics and professional conduct

Examined across both FLKs and in any session, usually inside a question on another subject. With money laundering, up to 20% of questions. Money laundering is examined in FLK1 only.

  • Ethics and professional conduct: the SRA Principles and Codes

    The SRA Principles; Client identification, instructions, service, costs information and complaints; Own interest and client conflicts; Confidentiality, the duty of disclosure and acting against former clients; Undertakings, not misleading others and dealing with third parties; Referrals, fee sharing, commissions and independence; Cooperation, reporting duties and firm compliance

FLK1, session 1

85 questions · 2 hours 33 minutes

  • The blueprint describes this area as: business organisations, rules and procedures, including taxation of business organisations.

    • Business structures and legal personality

      Separate legal personality and limited liability; Choosing a business medium; Partnership existence, authority and liability; Partnership decision-making, agreements and dissolution; Limited liability partnerships

      Changed September 2026. Legal personality covers sole traders, partnerships, LLPs, and private and unlisted public companies.

    • Incorporation, constitution and filing

      Incorporating a company and Companies House requirements; Articles of association and the company's constitution

    • Directors: appointment, duties and decisions

      Appointment, removal, resignation and disqualification of directors; Directors' general duties (ss 171–177); Transactions with directors requiring members' approval; Board decisions and meetings

    • Shareholders: resolutions, meetings and minority protection

      Ordinary, special and written resolutions; General meetings: calling, notice, quorum and proxies; Minority shareholder protection

    • Company finance

      Allotment, pre-emption, transfer, buyback and redemption of shares; Debt finance, security and registration of charges; Dividends, distributions and accounting requirements

      Changed September 2026. Redemption and buyback of shares are included; other reductions of capital and financial assistance are excluded.

    • Corporate and personal insolvency

      Corporate insolvency procedures; Clawback of assets and directors' liability on insolvency; Priority of distributions and personal insolvency

    • Taxation of businesses and their owners

      Income tax on trading, employment and investment income; Capital gains tax on business assets and shares; Corporation tax, company losses and distributions; Value added tax for businesses; Business property relief for inheritance tax

    • Professional conduct in business and company matters

      Acting for companies, directors and shareholders

    Practise FLK1 questionsBusiness Law and Practice questionsSQE1 tax calculator

Practise a FLK1 session 1 set

FLK1, session 2

85 questions · 2 hours 33 minutes

Practise a FLK1 session 2 set

FLK2, session 1

85 questions · 2 hours 33 minutes

Practise a FLK2 session 1 set

FLK2, session 2

85 questions · 2 hours 33 minutes

Practise a FLK2 session 2 set

Your unsure topics

Mark topics as confident or unsure and the count by session appears here.

SessionUnsureMarked
FLK1 session 100 of 20
FLK1 session 200 of 20
FLK2 session 100 of 23
FLK2 session 200 of 16
Ethics (any session)00 of 1

Topics are our grouping of the SRA's SQE1 Assessment Specification, for assessments from 1 September 2026. FLK1 headings are checked against the SRA's FLK1 document for that date; check the SRA's FLK2 document for the exact FLK2 wording. Your marks are kept in this browser only.

SQE1 at a glance

subjects across FLK1 and FLK2
13
questions in each FLK
170
per session of 85 questions
2h 33m
out of 500 to pass each FLK
300
Sources for these figures

How the SRA sets out the syllabus

The SRA publishes the SQE1 syllabus as an assessment specification, with a document for each of the two assessments, FLK1 and FLK2. For each subject area it lists the knowledge a newly qualified solicitor is expected to apply. The version that governs the January and July 2027 sittings applies to assessments from 1 September 2026.

A blueprint in Annex 4 gives each area's share of the paper as a range. The only version published in full is the 2019 one, so the map above uses the SRA's 2019 blueprint ranges. A question is classified by its main subject, and many questions need knowledge from more than one area, so an area's range understates how often its law is needed.

Ethics and professional conduct is examined across both assessments rather than as a subject of its own. A question on a conveyancing transaction may turn on a conflict of interest, and a question on litigation may turn on a duty to the court. Ethics and money laundering questions together can make up to 20% of the questions, and money laundering is examined in FLK1 only.

The SRA calls the standard functioning legal knowledge. It means applying the law to a set of facts to find the right outcome or course of action, at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. Every question is single best answer, with five options and a realistic scenario. The assessments are closed book, and they are not designed to test detail a solicitor would look up.

Case names are needed only where the name is the usual term for the principle, such as Rylands v Fletcher or CPR Part 36. Differences between the law in England and the law in Wales can be examined.

Tax is examined only in Business Law and Practice, Property Practice, and Wills and the Administration of Estates. From September 2026 the rates, thresholds and values of reliefs and exemptions are given in the question, and the SQE1 tax calculator works through the calculations in that form.

Using the map to plan

  1. Mark every topic once, quickly. The count by session shows where the uncertainty is before any study time is spent.
  2. Give the practice subjects the same attention as the academic ones. Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts and Legal Services are unfamiliar to most law graduates, and together they make up much of both papers.
  3. Share time by the blueprint ranges and by weakness. The SQE1 study plan does this week by week for your sitting.
  4. Test the ratings. A topic marked confident can still cost marks, and a short diagnostic across every subject gives a better starting point than instinct.

The FLK1 practice questions and FLK2 practice questions are set in the exam format, and the page on how hard SQE1 is shows which of these areas score lowest on the SRA's figures.

When the syllabus changes

The SRA reviews the specification each year and publishes any change on its website, which is the authoritative source. The law examined at each sitting is the law in force four calendar months before the first assessment in the window. Preparation providers, including this one, summarise the specification, and a summary is only as current as its last review. This map was checked on 24 September 2026.

Questions candidates ask

Thirteen subject areas: six in FLK1 and seven in FLK2, as the SRA's assessment specification lists them. Ethics and professional conduct is examined across all of them rather than as a separate subject.

FLK1 session 1 covers Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution and Legal Services; session 2 covers Contract, Tort and Legal System. FLK2 session 1 covers Wills and the Administration of Estates, Trusts and Land Law, with Solicitors Accounts in the context of wills; session 2 covers Property Practice, Criminal Liability and Criminal Law and Practice, with Solicitors Accounts in the context of property. Ethics can come up in any session.

Yes. FLK1 examines the Legal System of England and Wales together with Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law, and that area includes the place of EU law in the UK constitution.

The SRA reviews the assessment specification each year. The current version applies to assessments from 1 September 2026, so January 2027 is the first SQE1 sitting it governs.

Sources

SQE1 Ready 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.

Check your ratings against a measured result

Marking topics shows what feels uncertain. The free diagnostic asks 13 questions across FLK1 and FLK2 in about 15 minutes and gives a first read on every subject.

Take the free diagnostic

13 questions · about 15 minutes · free, no card details

Take the free diagnostic15 min