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SQE2 exemptions for qualified lawyers

Only qualified lawyers can be exempt from SQE2. You either hold a qualification on the SRA's agreed list, such as a Scottish solicitor, or you apply individually with evidence of practice rights and at least two years' legal work experience. The fee is £265.

Updated 1 October 2026 · Checked against the sources listed below

Sample script: injunction research note

Legal research · Dispute Resolution · 60 minutes

Sample, tap anything

SkillsC2.7 / 5

LawC2.7 / 5

Station 53%

823 words

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

RESEARCH NOTE To: Kofi Mensah, Partner From: Trainee Solicitor Date: 1 October 2026 Client: Halden Lighting Ltd Background Halden Lighting Ltd is a Sheffield company which designs and sells handmade pendant lights online1 and through around 40 stockists including Penrose & Hale. Castlegate Metalcraft Ltd made its metal shades under a manufacturing agreement dated 3 March 2023 until Halden terminated it with effect from 31 August 2026 because of poor finishing. On 12 May 2026 Halden sent Castlegate the CAD files and drawings for the Orla II range so prototypes could be made. On 21 September Castlegate started selling the Lune range which Nadia says is the same as Orla II. Lune is £145 a shade and Orla II is £240. Halden wants to launch Orla II at the Northern Interiors Show in Harrogate on 13-15 October and Castlegate will also be there on stand B14 and expects £120,000 of orders. Castlegate is owed £46,800 by Halden, of which £12,000 is disputed. Nadia's brother is investing £25,000. 1. Will the court grant an interim injunction? The court has power to grant an interim injunction under CPR 25.1(1)(a) and can do so at any time (r25.2). The test is from American Cyanamid v Ethicon [1975] AC 396 as explained in AMOB Machinery v Smith-Hughes at [63]: (1) Is there a serious issue to be tried? (2) Would damages be an adequate remedy for the claimant? (3) Would a cross-undertaking be an adequate remedy for the defendant? (4) Where does the balance of convenience lie? Serious issue: Yes. Clause 9.1 of the agreement says Castlegate must not use the Confidential Information for any purpose except manufacturing for Halden and clause 9.4 says this survives termination. Lune appears to have been made from the Orla II drawings. The court will not decide the facts at this stage (AMOB [64]). Damages: Damages would probably not be adequate for Halden because it would lose the benefit of launching Orla II at the show2 and it is difficult to calculate lost sales to stockists. Yodel at [24] says that if damages would be adequate no injunction should normally be granted. Cross-undertaking: Castlegate would be compensated by Halden's cross-undertaking if the injunction turned out to be wrong3, as its losses would be lost sales. Balance of convenience: Lune is a new product so the status quo is that it was not being sold before 21 September (Yodel [25]). This favours Halden. I think an injunction is likely to be granted. 2. What Halden is taking on Under CPR 25.9(3)(a) the injunction order must contain an undertaking by Halden to pay any damages which Castlegate suffers and which the court considers Halden should pay. This means that if Halden loses at trial it could have to pay Castlegate for the orders it lost at Harrogate, which Gareth says could be £120,000, as well as other lost Lune sales. This is a significant risk and Nadia needs to be told about it before we go ahead.4 3. How and when to apply The show is on 13 October so the matter is urgent. Under r25.2(2) the court can grant an injunction before a claim is started if the matter is urgent.5 Nadia wants to apply without notice. Under r25.3(2) the court can only do this if there are good reasons for not giving notice. I do not think there are good reasons here, because Castlegate already knows Halden is unhappy from the emails on 28 and 29 September. Also under PD 25A para 4.3(3) the applicant should notify the respondent informally except where secrecy is essential.6 So I recommend an application on notice. Under r25.6(2) the application notice and evidence must be served at least 3 days before the hearing, which can be done before 13 October if we act this week7. If the application were made without notice there would be a duty of full and frank disclosure (Derma Med v Ally [2024] EWCA Civ 175 at [29]), meaning all material facts must be disclosed, and if they are not the injunction can be discharged. 4. Other matters - Nadia's witness statement Nadia has asked us to leave out of her witness statement the fact that Halden owes Castlegate money and the Instagram post she made on 20 May. I do not think we can do this. Under the SRA Code of Conduct para 1.4 we must not mislead the court, including by omission. The Instagram post could be relevant to whether the information was still confidential under clause 9.2 and the money owed is something Castlegate will raise anyway8. We should advise Nadia that both points need to be included in the evidence. It would be better to explain them, for example that only sketches were posted. 5. Next steps - Call Nadia to discuss the above. - Prepare the claim form, application notice and witness statement.9 - Serve the application on Castlegate at least 3 days before the hearing.

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Work on next

Dispute Resolution: interim injunctions, the cross-undertaking and fortification in relation to the applicant's means

  1. 1.Address Halden's means, fortification and the £25,000 when explaining the cross-undertaking.
  2. 2.Evaluate the sources not relied on (PD 25A superseded, HRA s12 not engaged, AMOB [65]) instead of citing PD 25A as current.
  3. 3.Give the ethics fall-back and a concrete timetable and next steps.
  • You spotted 3½ of 7 key issues.
    • Partly: Adequacy of damages both ways, and the balance of convenience and status quo
    • Partly: The cross-undertaking in damages: what Halden takes on, third-party undertakings and fortification given Halden's means
    • Partly: How and when to apply: before or after issue, on notice (3 days) or without notice (good reasons; informal notice; return date)
    • Partly: Full and frank disclosure and the consequences of non-disclosure
    • Partly: Nadia's instruction to leave the invoices and the Instagram post out of her evidence (unflagged conduct issue)
    • Missed: Which sources govern and which do not (superseded PD 25A; HRA 1998 s12 not engaged; Lansing Linde not applicable)
  • Not everything asked was answered: No account of the sources not relied on and why (PD 25A, HRA s12, AMOB [65]); Fortification and Halden's ability to meet the cross-undertaking not addressed
  • The Cyanamid stages are applied briefly; damages adequacy ignores Castlegate's £38,000 net assets and the cross-undertaking stage ignores Halden's means.
  • Rightly rejects the without-notice route and flags the cross-undertaking risk, but gives no timetable, no fortification plan and thin next steps, and no fall-back if Nadia refuses to disclose.
  • The opening background section recites facts the partner already knows without analysis.

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

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SQE2 at a glance

to apply for an SQE exemption
£265
at most for an exemption decision
180 days
SQE2 fee for bookings from October 2026
£3,086
passed SQE2 in April 2026
83%
Sources for these figures

The two routes

Agreed exemptionIndividual exemption
WhoA qualified lawyer whose qualification is on the SRA's agreed listA qualified lawyer whose qualification is not on the list, or who cross-qualified
What you showThat you hold the listed qualification and are admittedPractice rights, at least two years' experience and evidence of competence in the SQE2 skills
Fee£265£265
DecisionWithin 180 daysWithin 180 days

You apply through your mySRA account in both cases. If your qualification is not on the agreed list, it may be that no one has applied with it yet. You can still make an individual application.

What an individual application needs

The SRA looks for a qualification and experience equivalent to a solicitor on their first day in practice. Its guidance asks for:

  • a qualification that gives you rights to practise, and a certificate of good standing from your regulator;
  • practice rights in the areas SQE2 covers: criminal litigation including police station advice, civil litigation, property, wills and probate, and business organisations;
  • at least two years' professional legal work experience, or equivalent;
  • experience that covers all of the skills SQE2 assesses;
  • evidence for any area your practice rights do not cover, such as redacted work samples and detailed references from supervisors, dated within three months.

Evidence not written in English needs an official English translation. The SRA does not accept translations that are self-certified or generated by AI. An exemption covers SQE2 as a whole. The SRA does not grant exemptions from single stations or skills.

UK lawyers

A Scottish solicitor who qualified through Scotland's full route has an agreed exemption from SQE2 and must still apply for it. No other UK lawyer has an agreed exemption. That includes barristers of England and Wales, Scottish advocates and CILEX lawyers. Each can apply for an individual exemption from one or both stages, based on their qualifications and experience.

Solicitors of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland follow a separate route to admission in England and Wales, without the SQE assessments.

The QLTS has closed

The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme has been replaced by the SQE. The deadline to be admitted through it was 31 March 2024. A qualified lawyer who had passed the QLTS multiple choice test but not completed the route now qualifies through the SQE, as a new candidate.

Before you apply

You cannot apply for an exemption from an assessment you have failed. If you fail SQE2, you must pass it to qualify. You also cannot apply while you are waiting for results of the same assessment. You can sit SQE1 while your SQE2 application is being decided, and the SQE1 result does not affect that decision.

If your exemption is granted, you will also need to show your competence in English or Welsh. Without an exemption, passing SQE2 shows it.

If you are not exempt

A qualified lawyer without an exemption sits SQE2 like any other candidate. Your experience in practice will help with the skills, but SQE2 marks against English law and the conventions of practice in England and Wales. The SQE2 exam format and how to pass SQE2 pages explain what to expect. The fee for SQE2 is £3,086 for bookings from October 2026, against £265 for an exemption application.

Questions candidates ask

Only a qualified lawyer: someone with a professional legal qualification that gives rights to practise in England and Wales, elsewhere in the UK or abroad. You must already be admitted, and you must not have failed SQE2.

The SRA's application fee is £265.

The SRA says it will decide within 180 days of receiving a fully completed application, and that decisions often come sooner.

Yes, through the SRA's agreed exemption, if they qualified through Scotland's full route and not by cross-qualifying. They still need to apply. They can apply individually for an exemption from SQE1.

Not automatically. No UK lawyer other than a Scottish solicitor has an agreed exemption. A barrister can apply for an individual exemption, based on experience or qualifications beyond the barrister qualification itself.

No. The QLTS route has closed. The deadline to be admitted through it was 31 March 2024, and qualified lawyers now qualify through the SQE.

Qualified lawyers do not need the two years of qualifying work experience. You still need to pass SQE1 or be exempt from it, hold a degree or equivalent and pass the SRA's character and suitability checks.

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.

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