The Qualified Lawyers Assessment

Solicitors wishing to requalify into Scotland must pass the Law Society's Qualified Lawyers Assessment ("the QLA").  Candidates will be entitled to sit the QLA only once they have been granted a Certificate of Eligibility. 

The Law Society does not provide any tuition or teaching/learning materials for the QLA.  Candidates must undertake their own personal study in preparation for the exams, using the syllabus, reading list and past papers as a guide.

The QLA Exams and Syllabus

Candidates sitting the QLA must pass the following exams.  Candidates may sit the exams in any order that they choose.

  1. Legal system and legal method
  2. Public Law
  3. Obligations
  4. Criminal Law
  5. Evidence
  6. Procedure
  7. Conveyancing
  8. Trusts and Succession
  9. European Law and Institutions
  10. Professional Conduct
  11. The Accounts Rules

For information on applying for exemptions from these exams, including exemptions granted "by right", please see our Exam Policies and Processes webpage.

A syllabus and reading list for the QLA is in the document below.  

 Syllabus and reading list

Please note the QLA exams are currently being held remotely. However, they will return to “in person” exams. We will give candidates at least 6 months notice that this is happening.

Enrolling in and sitting the exams

There are two exam diets per year (May and November). The current exam calendar is below.

Details of an exam diet will also be emailed to candidates who have enrolled on an exam, around two weeks before the exam date. It is therefore important that candidates contact the Society with any change in circumstances or if contact details change

Please note the QLA exams are currently being held remotely. However, they will return to “in person” exams. We will give candidates at least 6 months notice that this is happening.

Enrolments for an exam should be made no later than six weeks prior to the date of an exam.  Late enrolments may not be accepted. 

Any candidate who enrols for an exam and either fails to give at least seven days’ notice that they will not attend or does not have extenuating circumstances or cannot show reasonable cause for non-attendance, will be treated as having failed the exam.

The enrolment fee is £115 per exam.  If a resit is required, another enrolment fee must be paid. Once your enrolment form has been processed, you will receive an invoice shortly after, including payment instructions. Payment must be made within seven days of receipt of the invoice.

When enrolling for their first exam, candidates must also sign and submit the disclaimer at the end of the form.  This disclaimer is applicable to all future exams.  Candidates who don't return a signed disclaimer before the date of their first exam, will not be allowed to sit that or any other exam until a disclaimer is signed and returned.

Completed enrolment forms should be submitted to exams@lawscot.org.uk.

    Enrol for an exam now

Candidates must sit their first exam or exams within 12 months of the date on their Certificate of Eligibility. Starting with the first exam diet, candidates then have four consecutive exam diets to sit each exam at least once.  This means candidates will have to attempt each exam, at least once, within a two-year period.

Candidates then have three attempts to pass each QLA exam.

Any candidate who enrols for an exam and either fails to give at least seven days’ notice that they will not attend, or does not have reasonable cause for non-attendance, will be treated as having failed the exam.

Further clarification on numbers of attempts:

  1. Any candidate who does not have a first attempt at an exam within the relevant two-year time period will be deemed to have failed their first attempt at that exam or exams.
  2. Any candidate who fails to pass all of their exams within the relevant time period, must attempt all outstanding exams at the next available diet.  This will be the case until a candidate has used up all three of their attempts for each outstanding exam.

Note: This means that where a candidate does not have a first attempt at an exam within the relevant time period and is deemed to have failed their first attempt at that exam (as noted in paragraph 1 above), the “next available diet” noted in paragraph 2 above will be the candidate's second attempt at that exam.

Further important information in relation to these exams

The Law Society has a number of exam policies and processes that apply to all of its exams.  These include:

  • Exam exemptions – guidance and applications;
  • Exam procedures including remote exam diet guidance, the Society’s Marking Scale and Descriptors and information on the intimation of results and feedback; and
  • Exam policies relating to:
    • oral exams,
    • extenuating circumstances and reasonable cause
    • the use of AI; and
    • a candidate’s right of appeal

All of this information can be found on our Exam Policies and Processes webpage.

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