Applying for an SQE1 exemption

Evidence

SQE1 tests that all aspiring solicitors have the full range of practical legal knowledge needed to work competently and safely and in England and Wales.

This covers all core areas of legal practice, including business law, civil and criminal litigation, advocacy, conveyancing and probate. And protects the public by making sure that everyone who qualifies as a solicitor can advise clients properly, handle legal procedures and deliver a reliable standard of service.

The same standard applies to those seeking an exemption from SQE1. This means:

• you can only be granted an SQE1 exemption if you demonstrate that your qualification and/or experience covers all the areas assessed in SQE1
• your qualifications and/or experience must cover not only legislation and case law, but the processes and procedures used in legal practice, and their application to real-life situations. This is ‘functioning’ legal knowledge, at the standard of a newly qualified solicitor of England and Wales.

What you will need to provide as part of your application:

Explain how your qualification covers the required areas of functioning legal knowledge tested in SQE1.

• You can also use another qualifications or professional work experience as evidence. For example, an area of law in your jurisdiction is different from that of England and Wales.
• You can also use relevant experience you have gained working in England and Wales to demonstrate equivalence in that area.

Demonstrate that the law you studied or practised is not substantially different from the law of England and Wales.

• For each area, you must set out the content of law and legal practice in your jurisdiction, it must be detailed enough so we can consider if it is equivalence to English and Welsh law and legal practice.
• There are significant differences between the law of England and Wales and the laws of all jurisdictions reviewed to date. This means all other legal system, even if based on English and Welsh law, would not, on its own, sufficient to justify an SQE1 exemption.

Provide supporting evidence, such as references, work samples, or other relevant documentation.

• For each area, you must submit evidence demonstrating what you have personally done. This includes:
  • professional legal assessments – for example, components of your legal qualification or any additional assessments or certifications you have completed
  • relevant work samples, appropriately redacted, such as attendance notes, client correspondence, or similar documents
  • detailed references from your supervisor(s) confirming and corroborating all the work experience you have described.

References

Detailed supervisor references confirming all relevant experience, tasks and competence and must: 

• be provided for each period of experience claimed
• be written for the purposes of this application and be dated within the last three months
• be submitted on letterheaded paper. If this is not possible, provide an explanation why not.

Referees must:

• confirm the dates they supervised you and total hours worked per week
• have supervised you directly and make it clear what the supervision arrangements were
• provide a summary of your role and description of the standard of your work which includes:
  • you have been employed in your capacity as a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction
  • the level of work completed is at level 3 of the SRA Threshold Standard.
• give us information on their qualification if they are legally qualified. If they are regulated by us, they need to give us their SRA number. If they are not, we will need one of the following:
  • a copy of their certificate of good standing
  • their admissions certificate
  • a letter from a law society/bar confirming they are qualified in their jurisdiction.
  • have read your application and reviewed all supporting evidence before confirming your experience and stating that they have done so in their reference.

• You do not complete all relevant sections.
• You have not provided work samples or your references do not collaborate work samples.
• You have duplicated information – you must provide specific evidence for each area. 
• You rely on an academic qualification such as the Legal Practice Course without post-qualification work experience where this has been applied in practice.
• Your experience is pre‑qualification (as this automatically below threshold level) and was not part qualification requirements.
• You have used AI to provide explanations that are not individual to you.
• You expect the SRA to assess partial equivalence – you must meet the full Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 or Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 content requirements.

Stage 1

• Your application will be reviewed by us.
• We will ask you for any missing information or more evidence where necessary. If it cannot be provided, the application will be rejected.

Stage 2

• Your application will be assessed by us.
• Where applicable, it may also be assessed by an external assessor.

Stage 3

• You will have a decision within 180 days of us receiving your fully completed application.
• If required, you can ask for review of our decision if an application is refused (28 day deadline).

 The application fee is £265 for one or both SQE exemptions.

• Before applying:
  • If you choose to apply, you will need to create a mySRA account.
  • You can then add your jurisdictions – you do this in the 'My profile' section under 'Jurisdiction'. Please click 'add jurisdiction', select your professional title, and add the date you qualified.
• Complete the application
  • Once logged into mySRA, select 'Start new applications' on the homepage. The application is called 'Apply for qualified lawyer exemption from the SQE assessments'.
  • Once started, you will find your draft application in 'My profile' under 'Applications and documents'.
  • You must give us certified translations for any documents not in English. These cannot be AI‑generated or self‑certified translations.
• What to expect after submission
  • You will have a decision within 180 days of us receiving your fully completed application.
  • You cannot apply for another exemption under the same application once submitted. For example, if you apply for SQE2, you cannot use the same application and fee to then apply for SQE1 later.