In Person Exam FAQs

The exams will move back to being in person from the November 2026 Qualified Lawyers Assessment diet onwards. The timetable for that diet is on the Law Society’s website. For the pre-PEAT and non-PEAT 1 diets, the timetable will be posted on the relevant Law Society webpage.

The Law Society moved to remote examinations, following the Covid pandemic. Our intention was always to return to in person exams and our decision to do so was (and is) based on ensuring the integrity of the exams. 

Across professions and academia, society is seeing an increasing use of artificial intelligence and there are significant concerns over the way in which this can be abused for remote exam diets. There are also concerns about how remote exam diets can allow for collusion and other forms of cheating.  Returning to in person exams is not the only way in which an organisation can protect against this challenge but it a significant step.

The Law Society has a duty to the public, the profession and to all candidates to ensure that its exams are robust and that those qualifying through this route have the required knowledge to be a Scottish solicitor.

The exams will take place at two or three city locations in Scotland. These are likely to be Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and possibly Glasgow.  We are currently finalising the exact locations and more information will follow soon.

We do not currently intend to alter the proposed exam timetable, in terms of dates and times. However, if it becomes apparent that an exam date or time must change, in order to accommodate the move back to in person exams, we will inform candidates as soon as possible.

The expectation is that candidates will attend one of the stated locations to sit the exams.  However, where there is a legitimate reason why someone cannot attend one of those locations, the Law Society will consider those circumstances on an individual basis. In some limited exceptional circumstances, it may be possible for a candidate to apply to be allowed to sit the exams at an agree different location, provided the Society can be reassured as to that candidate’s supervision during the exams.

Candidates have a number of attempts to sit their exams (these vary, depending on the exact route to qualification that they are pursuing but information on this is available on the relevant exam webpage – pre-PEAT and non-PEAT 1 and QLA).  Candidates who cannot attend the next available diet will therefore likely have further diets that they can attend in the future.

Candidates cannot choose to continue sitting exams remotely. 

As noted, the Law Society has a duty to the public, the profession and to all candidates to ensure that its exams are robust and that those qualifying through this route have the required knowledge to be a Scottish solicitor.  The Law Society is returning to in person exams for everyone.

You will not be entitled to a refund by right.  Despite moving back to in person exams, the Law Society believes its exam policies are flexible enough to cater for individual challenges faced by candidates, to allow them to attempt any remaining exams.

Exams will take place in a centralised exam hall/venue, with invigilators.

It is likely that the time given to candidates to complete any given exam will be shorter. This is because our current remote exams have additional time added to them.  This was to reflect the additional complexity of an online exam, when we introduced them following the Covid pandemic.  It is anticipated that we will return to the previous amount of time given but this will be clearly stated to candidates in the months before an exam diet.

No, they will be closed book. 

The Law Society previously ran closed book exams, when exams were held in person, and we will be returning to this format from November 2026.  Our examiners take account of whether an exam is open or closed book, when setting exam questions.

Candidates will only be permitted to take published versions of statutory materials into the exam hall.  Each exam subject will have a list of relevant materials that are permitted in the exam hall and this will be published on the Society’s exam webpages.

Candidates’ own material will not be permitted. Downloaded materials will not be permitted.

No electronic devices will be permitted in the exam hall.  Exams answers will be handwritten

Oral assessments are only relevant to those sitting our pre-PEAT exams.

At the moment, the expectation is that orals will still take place remotely.  The first oral assessment after moving back to in person exams will not take place until February 2027 and if our initial decision to conduct oral assessments remotely changes, candidates will be informed by the end of 2026.