SQE2 advocacy: how to prepare and structure your submissions

What the task is

You receive an email asking you to appear in a hearing, telling you which court, and usually a file of documents. You have 45 minutes to prepare. Then you have 15 minutes to make your submissions to a judge who is in the room. The judge is played by a solicitor of England and Wales, who marks both your skills and your law. The judge may ask you questions.

There are two advocacy stations. One is in Dispute Resolution, for example an interim application in the county court. The other is in Criminal Litigation, for example a bail application or a plea in mitigation in the magistrates' court or the Crown Court. They are oral assessments, held at venues in Birmingham, Cardiff, London and Manchester.

What the judge marks

Advocacy has five skills criteria, more than any written skill. That means delivery is a large part of the station. Suppose a correct argument is read from a script, without looking at the judge or responding to a question. It loses marks on language and behaviour and on engaging the court, even when the law is right.

A structure for 15 minutes

1. Introduce yourself and whom you represent. Use the form of address for the court named in the task, for example "Sir" or "Madam" in the magistrates' court and "Your Honour" for a circuit judge in the Crown Court.
2. State the order you seek, in one sentence.
3. If it helps, give a one-line road map: "I will deal with the two objections in turn."
4. State the legal test the court must apply, with its source.
5. Take each limb of the test in turn: the facts that support your client, and the answer to the facts that do not.
6. Deal with the weakest point openly. A judge is more persuaded by an advocate who faces it than by one who avoids it.
7. If the court has concerns, offer an alternative, such as conditions on bail or a shorter adjournment.
8. Close by repeating the exact order you ask for, and ask whether the court has any questions.

The preparation checklist at the top of this page sets out the 45 minutes before. You can tick each step as you practise.

A short annotated example

This is our own excerpt, not an SRA sample. Daniel is charged with burglary. The prosecution opposes bail because he failed to surrender once in 2021 and because it says he would commit offences on bail.

• [1] Earns credit (language and behaviour). The correct form of address, the client's name and the application, in one sentence.
• [2] Loses credit (law, comprehensively applied). The right to bail and the test for that ground are correct, but only one ground is addressed. The prosecution also relies on the risk of further offences, which is a separate exception in Schedule 1 to the Act. Each objection needs an answer.
• [3] Earns credit (persuasive argument; key facts). The weak fact is met directly with a stronger, more recent one.
• [4] Earns credit (engages the court). Conditions give the court a way to grant bail while addressing its concerns.

Check your own submissions

Our paraphrase of what the five skills criteria reward. The SRA publishes advocacy performance indicators and sample videos with its SQE2 sample questions.

• Did I speak to the judge, at a steady pace, and use the right form of address?
• Could the judge follow where I was in my argument at every point?
• Did I give reasons for each point, tied to the test, rather than assertions?
• Did I answer the judge's questions directly and then return to my structure?
• Did I use every fact that matters, including the ones against my client?
• Did I state the law correctly, and deal with every ground in issue?
• Did I avoid misleading the court, including on facts or law against my client?

Common mistakes

• Reading a script. Use an outline of headings and key words.
• Not stating the order sought until the end.
• Arguing facts without the legal test, or reciting the test without the facts.
• Avoiding a question from the judge, or treating it as an interruption.
• Running over or stopping at minute 8. Practise to time.
• Misstating the law or the facts in a way that misleads the court. An advocate's duty not to mislead the court applies even when the truth hurts the client's case.

Practising on SQE Practice

Live advocacy practice is not available on SQE Practice yet. It is planned for a later stage. The written skills make up 12 of the 16 stations and can be practised now, with marking against the SRA's criteria. The client interview guide covers the other oral skill, and the marking criteria page shows how the eight advocacy grades become a station score. The SQE2 hub and plans and prices describe what is available today.