Bold opening: The SRA now requires SQE students to disclose their exam preparation only after they have sat the test, before they can see their results.
Here’s what changed and why it matters.
What’s new
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will ask SQE candidates about how they prepared for the exams and which training providers they used, but the timing is different. Candidates must complete a dedicated training provider survey after taking the SQE, and before their results are released.
- The diversity survey remains unchanged: candidates still provide background information (age, disability, caring responsibilities, education, ethnicity, and socio-economic status) before booking the SQE. This data helps monitor diversity across the SQE cohort.
What stayed the same
- The requirement to complete the diversity survey before booking the SQE assessment continues.
- The purpose of gathering preparation data remains to understand how different preparation routes correlate with outcomes and to inform future guidance for aspiring lawyers.
What’s the practical impact
- Practical effect: no candidate will obtain any SQE result until they have completed the post-exam training provider survey. This shifts the data collection point from pre-account creation to post-exam but pre-result release.
- The change aims to improve data accuracy by collecting information after candidates have actually sat the exam, addressing prior data collection issues that hindered publishing provider-specific pass rates.
Context and future considerations
- The move comes after a data collection flaw late last year that prevented the SRA from publishing SQE provider pass rates, despite prior promises to release them.
- Going forward, the SRA is evaluating how best to contextualize and publish the data so it offers meaningful guidance to prospective lawyers when choosing their prep options.
Why this matters to you
- If you’re preparing for the SQE, be aware that your post-exam survey answers will be tied to your results, not your initial account setup. Your preparation choices could influence how your results are analyzed and interpreted when the data is published.
- For those weighing prep options, the SRA’s ongoing consideration of context means future reports may include more nuanced guidance, beyond raw pass rates, to help you evaluate different training routes.
Questions to ponder and discuss
- Do you think collecting prep data after the exam will yield more reliable insights for prospective candidates? Why or why not?
- Should the SRA provide additional context (like cohort size, exam variant, or time since course completion) when publishing provider pass rates to avoid skewed conclusions?
- How might this timing change influence your own preparation decisions or how you interpret SQE results when they’re published?
If you’d like, I can tailor this rewrite for a specific audience (students, educators, or legal professionals) or adjust the emphasis on certain points.
