It’s like giving a surgeon 120 multiple choice questions for open heart surgery education. Why did the SQE happen, to drop the standards of the process that quite rightly stopped useless squits not being able to secure training contracts.

Watch the solicitor disciplinary tribunal cases increase tenfold.

Wait until they start the training contract.

It is merely a test of memory.

(Legal Cheek – my comment is erroneously being rejected as a duplication – is that an error around the word ‘memory’’)

It is merely a test of memory.

My sibling held a training contact with a firm in London and, thankfully, passed the SQE last year. I witnessed their struggles over the year, including their deteriorating mental and physical health, which escalated to frankly dangerous levels leading up to the SQE1 and SQE2 exams. I was shocked to hear about the shambolic nature of these exams, from failed logistics at exam centres which I believe Legal Cheek has covered to the questionable exam philosophies such as choosing the “best answer” amongst a field of other answers that could still be deemed correct.

Something needs to change to make this exam not merely more reasonable and just but also more safe. It is no joke what this exam has put people through—especially young, promising, and hard-working people. And to all those who took the LPC or are already lawyers in practice, I encourage you to try out the questions yourself, imagining that the knowledge and experience you have accumulated has yet to come, before judging those who have shared the challenges and flaws of the new system and are calling for change. I wish I had enough law knowledge to approach the questions and understand exactly what my sibling and many others went through. But I don’t. Maybe you do.

I’m really tired of people trying to put their two cents in and say ‘it’s just an exam!! It’s meant to be hard’. Most people aren’t complaining about the sqe because we have to revise a little harder. I worked until 2am at Kirk’s as a paralegal getting paid 35k and my mental health was in a much better place than it was doing the SQE. It’s not about people disliking hard work.

two variations on a theme in response to your comment:

(1) “tell me you’ve never studied the LPC without telling me you’ve never studied the LPC”

(2) what is it about the SQE that makes those who studying/sitting it feel they can denigrate the achievements of those who sat the LPC and previous exams? none of the three are/were easy and none are achieved solely by attendance.

I’ve never heard any senior lawyer who took Law Society Finals call the LPC “easy” – and this is a generation of lawyers who found out if they had passed or failed the exams when the results were published in The Times.

what I *have* heard, however, from qualified lawyers of all levels (including my firm’s clients) is the concern that the SQE is testing future lawyers on an aspect of legal practice (memory) that isn’t relevant in the 2020s

Memory, that’s it.

Now, why am I bringing this up? Because I wish someone had told me before I dove in headfirst. Spending a fortune, sacrificing your youth, time, health, and personal life, only to find out it’s not sustainable? It’s a tough pill to swallow.

And here’s the kicker: because the process is so darn long, you end up discovering later that maybe law isn’t your thing after all. But by then, you’ve invested so much time and money, you feel like you need to see it through. Talk about a bitter pill.

So, to all you future lawyers gearing up for the SQE and LPC journey, take a step back and think. If I had known then what I know now, I’d have chosen differently. Maybe opted for a smaller firm or smaller practice area, explored other interests, kept my options open.

Don’t let the allure of prestige blind you to the reality of the situation. Your happiness and well-being matter more than any title or paycheck.

Everyone in my class looks burnt out and tired and we still have to deal with the unknown of the next exams.