SQE1 Assessments 

Overview of SQE1 assessments

The two SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) assessments comprise the following subject areas:

  • Business Law and Practice; Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort; Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services (FLK 1).
  • Property Practice; Wills and the Administration of Estates; Solicitors Accounts; Land Law; Trusts; Criminal Law and Practice (FLK 2).

Within each of the above FLK assessments, questions may draw on any combination of the subject areas which might be encountered in practice.

Ethics and Professional Conduct will be examined pervasively across the two assessments above.

Principles of taxation will be examined only in the context of:

  • Business Law and Practice
  • Property Law and Practice
  • Wills and the Administration of Estates

Below subject areas are grouped within two sections giving details of each of the two FLK assessments. For each area, assessment objectives are set out, followed by the knowledge of law and practice which candidates are expected to apply in order to answer the questions.

 

 

FLK assessment 1: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Contract, Tort, Legal System, Legal Services

 

FLK Assessment 2: Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, Trusts, Criminal

Assessment specification

Find out more about the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments, including how they are constructed and what you’ll be tested on. These assessment specifications are currently applicable and apply for assessments that take place after 1 September 2024.

Learn more: SQE1 assessment specification (from September 2024)

 

SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge sample questions

SQE1 is the first part of the SQE assessment and tests the application of functioning legal knowledge. The structure of SQE1 is set out below. This is a computer-based single best answer multiple choice test.

Each question is followed by five suggested answers. The correct answer is the best of the stated alternatives and is provided alongside the sample questions. There will only be one correct answer.

You can access a short video on Understanding the anatomy of an SQE1 question. Although questions may be of different lengths, the video explains that they follow the structure of having a stem (or fact pattern), the lead in (or question) and five options (or answers).

The SQE/SRA have released a total of 130 sample questions. These are split equally between FLK1 (65 questions) and FLK2 (65 questions) 

SQE1 structure and sample question mapping

SQE1 involves two assessments. There are 360 questions in total - 180 in each assessment. They cover the following subject areas:

  1. Business Law and Practice; Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort; Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services.
  2. Property Practice; Wills and the Administration of Estates; Solicitors Accounts; Land Law; Trusts; Criminal Law and Practice.

Ethics and Professional Conduct are examined pervasively across the two assessments above.