Final pre-qualifying solicitor exam could be introduced in England

Solicitors intending to qualify in England & Wales could be asked to sit a final exam at the end of their training period, under proposals now being consulted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The SRA is concerned that while there are "many excellent institutions offering law degrees and professional training", there is no standard basis on which to measure the quality of students who emerge from the process – success rates at Legal Practice Course (LPC) providers vary from below 50% to more than 90%; undergraduate law schools also have widely varying entry requirements.

"With 104 institutions offering qualifying law degrees; 33 offering the Graduate Diploma in Law; 26 offering the LPC and over 2,000 firms offering traineeships, the lack of a common basis for assessing the quality of output from these bodies, or at the end of the training contract, is a cause of increasing concern", it comments.

New pathways to qualification, opening up the profession to applicants from varied backgrounds, are "welcome developments", but make it "all the more important that a mechanism is in place that ensure standards are consistent across all pathways".

As a result the SRA is proposing a common professional assessment, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), "which will ensure that all aspiring solicitors, no matter what institution they attended or pathway they took, are assessed against the same high standard of competence".

It suggests that "The SQE will facilitate the development of more flexible pathways to qualification for those who are able to meet the robust standards of the assessment. We shall be consulting further on pathways during 2016."

While the paper accepts that the SQE proposal raises questions about the entry requirements for the SQE, and the role of pre-qualification work experience, it comments that on the basis of evidence received to date, "It is likely that we shall continue to require pre-qualification workplace experience." A further consultation on these aspects will take place in 2016.

The SQE would require all intending solicitors to demonstrate a high level of legal knowledge and practice skills equivalent at least to a graduate. It would consist of a part 1 assessment of knowledge, and a part 2 assessment of skills.

Those already qualified in Scotland or elsewhere ane seeking dual qualification are also likely to be affected. The SRA asks whether respondents agree that "all intending solicitors, including solicitor apprentices and lawyers qualified in another jurisdiction, should be required to pass the SQE to qualify and that there should be no exemptions beyond those required by EU legislation, or as part of transitional arrangements".

Click here to view the consultation. Responses are due by 4 March 2016.