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The SQE2 exam format

SQE2 has 16 stations: 12 written over three half-days at a Pearson VUE centre and 4 oral over two half-days at a venue in Birmingham, Cardiff, London or Manchester. It tests six skills in five practice areas, and each station is marked on skills and law equally.

Updated 1 October 2026 · Checked against the sources listed below

Sample script: board minutes and resolution

Legal drafting · Business Law and Practice · 45 minutes

Sample, tap anything

SkillsC3 / 5

LawC3 / 5

Station 60%

460 words

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

MINUTES - ITEM 3 3. Investment by Ms Okafor The Chair told the board that Ms Amara Okafor wishes to invest £120,000 in the Company by subscribing for 200 new ordinary shares at £600 each. She has already paid the money into the Company's bank account on 29 September 2026. Hartley & Co valued the Company at £600,000 on 12 August 2026 which is £600 per share. The money will be used to buy a new kiln costing £95,000 and the rest is working capital. The directors noted that under article 5.1 the directors cannot allot shares unless the members pass an ordinary resolution1. The members therefore need to approve the allotment. The directors also noted that the existing shareholders have pre-emption rights under section 561 of the Companies Act 2006 which are not excluded by the articles, so the members need to pass a special resolution to disapply them under section 5702. IT WAS RESOLVED: 1. That the directors recommend written resolutions of the members to authorise the allotment and disapply the pre-emption rights. 2. That the written resolutions be sent to all of the members. 3. That once the resolutions have been passed the Company allots 200 ordinary shares of £1 each to Ms Okafor at £600 each, fully paid. 4. That the register of members be updated and a share certificate issued to Ms Okafor.3 WRITTEN RESOLUTIONS OF THE MEMBERS Circulation date: 5 October 2026 The directors of the Company propose the following resolutions as written resolutions under the Companies Act 2006.4 ORDINARY RESOLUTION That the directors are authorised under section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to allot up to 200 ordinary shares of £1 each in the Company to Amara Okafor at £600 per share. This authority will expire on 31 December 2026.5 SPECIAL RESOLUTION That section 561 of the Companies Act 2006 does not apply to the allotment of those shares to Amara Okafor.6 NOTES Members agree by signing and returning the signature table.7 If the resolutions are not passed within 28 days of the circulation date (2 November 2026) they lapse.8 NOTE TO PARTNER The articles stop the directors allotting shares without the members' approval so I have drafted an ordinary resolution for this. We also need a special resolution to get round the pre-emption rights. Hannah and Dev have 80% so they could pass it between them but I have still sent it to Gillian9 so that all the members get it. Please note the 28 day lapse date is 2 November. Ms Okafor has asked us to advise her but we act for the Company so there is a conflict and we should tell her to get her own advice10. We should also file the return of allotment at Companies House.

Tap a highlight to read its comment.

Work on next

Business Law and Practice: written resolution mechanics (s291 statement, lapse under the articles, s283 labelling)

  1. 1.Check the articles for a written resolution lapse period: article 22.1 gives 18 October 2026, not 2 November
  2. 2.Use s571 with the directors' recommendation and written statement where the client wants no wider power
  3. 3.Label the resolutions in the introduction, use the defined terms and add full notes for members and filing deadlines
  • You spotted 3½ of 5 key issues.
    • Partly: Pre-emption: s561 applies to a cash allotment of Ordinary Shares and article 5.2 keeps it; disapply it by special resolution for this allotment (s571, or s570 or s569), with the directors' recommendation and written statement of reasons, price and justification sent to every member with the resolution
    • Partly: The written resolutions: labelled ordinary and special; 75% of 1,000 votes; circulated by the directors to all three members although Hannah and Dev hold 80%; with how to agree and the lapse date (18 October 2026 under article 22.1)
    • Partly: The board's minute: record the facts and the s571 statement, recommend and circulate the resolutions, allot subject to and with effect from them passing, and direct the register, certificate and filings
  • You answered everything you were asked.
  • Applies article 5.1 and the pre-emption right to the facts, but misses article 22.1 and does not tie the disapplication to the s551 authority.
  • Sends to Gillian despite the 80% and declines to advise Ms Okafor, but uses the 28-day default lapse period and gives the partner no next steps on filings beyond the return of allotment.

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 12 covered. Tap a point to read it in full.

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

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

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SQE2 at a glance

stations: 4 oral and 12 written
16
for each written half-day of four tasks
3h 15m
practice areas, with ethics in every station
5
out of 500, one pass mark for SQE2 as a whole
300
Sources for these figures

The written exam: three half-days

Each written half-day is 3 hours 15 minutes and has one task in each written skill.

SkillTimeWhat you produce
Case and matter analysis60 minutesA report or note analysing a client's matter, usually for a partner
Legal research60 minutesAdvice from a pack of sources, some of them irrelevant
Legal writing30 minutesA letter or email to a client or another party
Legal drafting45 minutesA legal document, or part of one, ready for use

The practice areas are fixed by day.

DayPractice areas
Day 1Two stations in Dispute Resolution, two in Criminal Litigation
Day 2Two stations in Property Practice, two in Wills and Intestacy, Probate Administration and Practice
Day 3All four stations in Business Law and Practice

On Days 1 and 2 any skill can fall in either area. You type your answers on the Pearson VUE platform. The SRA's guidance says candidates should not lose marks for poor formatting.

The oral exam: two half-days

DayStations
Oral day 1Advocacy in Dispute Resolution; client interview and attendance note in Property Practice
Oral day 2Advocacy in Criminal Litigation; client interview and attendance note in Wills and Probate

Client interview and attendance note. You have 10 minutes to read the file, then 25 minutes to interview the client, played by an actor. Then you have 25 minutes to write the attendance note and legal analysis by hand. The actor marks your interview skills. A solicitor marks the note, which carries all the law marks for the station.

Advocacy. You have 45 minutes to prepare from the case papers, then 15 minutes to make submissions to a judge, played by the assessor, who may ask questions.

Ethics, negotiation and tax

Ethics and professional conduct can arise in any station, and the question never flags it. From the October 2026 sitting, every station has a third law criterion for it: "Identify any ethical and professional conduct issues and exercise judgment to resolve them honestly and with integrity".

There is no negotiation station. Every sitting has at least one negotiation element inside an interview, a case and matter analysis or a legal writing task. Tax rates, reliefs and thresholds are given to you in an attachment where a task needs them.

How it is marked

Each station has skills criteria and law criteria, and assessors grade each criterion from A (Superior performance) to F (Poor performance). Skills and law count equally in the station. The final result is the mean of all 16 stations, oral and written weighted the same. There is one pass mark for SQE2 as a whole, set at 300 on a scale of 0 to 500.

No station has its own pass mark, and there is no separate pass for the oral or the written exam. The marking criteria page lists every criterion by skill, and the marked example above shows how they apply to one answer.

The order of the days

The five half-days are not in a fixed order. At some sittings the written exam comes first, and at others the oral. The SQE2 dates page lists the windows for each sitting.

Questions candidates ask

In 16 stations, each a separate task. Assessors grade each criterion A to F, and skills and law count equally in each station. The final score is the mean of the 16 stations, with one pass mark for the whole exam.

Three half-days of 3 hours 15 minutes each. Every half-day has one case and matter analysis (60 minutes), one legal research (60 minutes), one legal writing (30 minutes) and one legal drafting task (45 minutes).

30 minutes for each legal writing task. There are three, one on each written half-day.

60 minutes for case and matter analysis and 45 minutes for legal drafting. Each appears once on each written half-day.

45 minutes to prepare, then 15 minutes of submissions to a judge. There are two advocacy stations, one in Dispute Resolution and one in Criminal Litigation.

No separate one. Every sitting includes at least one negotiation element inside a client interview, a case and matter analysis or a legal writing task.

The SRA trialled a spell check in the July and October 2026 written exams. It checks spelling only. The marking guidance stays the same: spelling errors that leave the meaning clear do not cost marks.

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.

Try a written station under time

The free SQE2 diagnostic takes about 20 minutes: a short writing task marked against the SRA's criteria, A to F, and quick questions across case and matter analysis, drafting and research. The marking is automated.

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a marked writing task and 8 quick questions · about 20 minutes · free, no card details

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