Since September 2023 the SRA introduced a 60% pass mark, so I don’t think the pass mark varies between 55-57% anymore…

Black 34% pass rate
Asian 49% pass rate
White 66% pass rate

That’s extremely damning and not something I’ve seen reported anywhere else. I’ve also not seen equivalent stats so openly reported for A-levels or GCSEs. The reasons are likely complex.

It’s the same by gender:
Men 61% pass rate
Women 53% pass rate

I can tell you that the men on my SQE prep courses are usually outclassed intellectually by the women. That the opposite is reflected in the results could be down to a (stereotypical) female tendency of overthinking answers, as shown in analysis of other exams, which means men tend to trust their judgement more. Again, whatever the reasons for it, these stats are also damning.

So the exams favour white men. In the context of an exam designed to increase diversity, the irony could not be more cruel.

Where can we find the Revise SQE books ?

Thank you (self studying ) 😌

Because it works. England & Wales is a preferred jurisdiction, and English law the preferred governing law, for an overwhelmingly high proportion of commercial transactions globally, because it works. See https://www.thecityuk.com/our-work/legal-excellence-internationally-renowned-uk-legal-services-2022/

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.

Of course it’s ridiculous because it’s subtle. The law is always so clear that the “right one” can be identified by any member of the mediocracy. The cheek of these examiners, not making it clear which is the right answer. It almost seems as if they don’t want every student to pass.

Can you still do the LPC if you graduated with an LLB in 2021? As in, started the undergrad in 2018 and graduated in 2021? I for one have no aspirations to sit this horrible SQE exam and would much rather proceed with the traditional LPC route.

I work in-house and my company are willing to sponsor my further legal education to help me qualify, which I aim to start in 2025. I am hoping I can still sit the LPC..

The UK legal tradition? You mean the one where Scots hated the English therefore learned Civil Law from the Dutch? Sure, we’re more blended these days (for same reasons as South Africa – it’s amazing how interchangable some principals are) but it’s hardly UK.

But still… we look at England with their “we do this because that’s what we’ve done before” approach and scream until we’re as blue in the face as Mel Gibson’s Wallace “but why?!?”

But failing students who don’t perform well is bad for their mental health. This “law is difficult” excuse doesn’t justify tough qualifying exams. A fairer system would be where most students pass.

“others had to travel the day before and stay alone in an hotel room in a place unknown to them”

THE PERFECT PREPARATION FOR COURT.

Your conclusion rests on the unstated assumption that the “UK legal tradition” is the sole basis upon which the exam ought to be aligned. Why do you think that is the case? The SRA presumably had their reasons for not pursuing an open-answer case-study approach.

And I’m not sure I’d agree that the questions in the SQE can be prepared for by rote memorisation. Many of the questions require evaluation of a scenario and selection of the “single best answer” from a range of technically valid alternatives – which is a much tougher challenge than simply selecting the correct factual answer.

“I totally agree the SQE is difficult, stressful, and mentally and physically draining. But hey, guess what, so is life as a solicitor! I therefore don’t agree that such exams should be adapted to make it the most enjoyable experience for the largest number of candidates possible. That’s simply just not how life works, unfortunately, and not how the legal sector works, either.”

This. One thousand times over. I’ve said this a number of times on these pages but many people just won’t listen.

Totally agree re the mark moderation for SQE1. I got 80% in flk1 and there is NO way I got 80% of the answers correct.

AI only managed to pass the SQE1 sample questions which are a piece of cake compared to the real exam. Also, you’re forgetting about the SQE2 which tests the soft skills that AI could not master.

ULaw?

Everybody is looking for their mock tests so I doubt they would offer them so cheaply.

“It may be that in fact the SQE ends up limiting access to the profession to those who can get a sponsored training contract in advance, a group who are overwhelmingly white and middle class at the moment.”

I hadn’t thought of it this way, and I can see that this is a possible consequence – which I agree is far from ideal.

Some of the answers are so subtle it is not even clear however which is the right one – MCQ is a ridiculous way to assess potential solicitors.

I am also very very unhappy about all kinds of issues from Kaplan – like people turning up at 8am and not sitting until afternoon, masses of mess ups over basic exam things. The proposal to allow a more decent system of booking by email for the next sitting rather than having people stay on phone lines for 5 hours on the day booking opens is one tiny change of very many they could make.

Yes, I agree. I did the course before SQE and before the LPC i.e. the Finals course in the early 1980s in the UK. That was closed book (as indeed was the LPC until the pandemic) as was my three year LLB before that and I had to learn lots and lots from memory. Even now I know a lot of law which my post pandemic open book LPC children who are now qualified do not have memorised.

In comfort to any SQE1 students this time around the last SQE results study found that if you have a first at university you will do best at SQE1, if a 2/1 next best, if a 2/2 next best so it is very very likely that those sitting SQE21 who have high school and university exam results wll be in the 50% who pass. The LPC has 5% of those sitting passing too as did the Finals course I did.

I do not however support the MCQ approach. In real life as a lawyer you write your argued answers – you don’t choose one solution. MCQ were brought in to help those with poor English (and to make marking cheaper) and it is not worked – those with poor English do even worse in SQE than the LPC so they should revert to the LPC.

Negative marking? Don’t give the exam writers any ideas please – it’s already enough of a challenge as it stands… unless you want to reduce the pass rate to 1%…?

I suspect the downvoters here are just bystanders who haven’t taken the SQE and don’t intend to..