If you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance the training contract maths never worked in your favour: hundreds of applications chasing a handful of seats, while you sit there already doing real legal work every day. So let’s answer the question in the title immediately: yes, paralegal work very often counts as Qualifying Work Experience, and some candidates are quietly accumulating their two years right now without realising it.

For decades, the answer to “how do I become a solicitor?” ended at the same bottleneck: get a training contract. Thousands of capable candidates stalled at that gate every year, not because they lacked ability, but because training contracts were scarce, concentrated in large firms, and fiercely competitive. The SQE route removed that gate. In its place sits Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), a far more flexible requirement that most candidates only half understand.

That half-understanding is exactly why this guide exists. The SQE rewards structure over guesswork, and QWE is no different. The rules are more generous than most people assume, but only if you know them precisely and keep records. Here is what QWE actually is, what counts, who signs it off, and how to record it properly, based on the SRA’s own rules, not folklore.

Quick answer: Yes. Paralegal work counts as Qualifying Work Experience if it involves providing real legal services, gives you the opportunity to develop at least two of the SRA’s solicitor competences, and is confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice. You need two years’ full-time equivalent in total, across no more than four organisations, and it can be completed before, during or after the SQE assessments.

What is Qualifying Work Experience?

To qualify as a solicitor of England and Wales through the SQE route, you must complete at least two years’ full-time (or equivalent) Qualifying Work Experience. It is one of four requirements, alongside passing SQE1 and SQE2, holding a degree or equivalent qualification or experience, and meeting the SRA’s character and suitability requirements.

The headline differences from the old training contract model:

• It does not have to be a training contract. Any experience meeting the SRA’s criteria counts.

• It can be gained in up to four organisations. You are not locked into one employer.

• It can be completed before, during, or after your SQE assessments. The two years must simply be complete before you apply for admission.

• It can take place anywhere in the world, provided it meets the SRA’s requirements and is confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP.

• Part-time experience counts on an equivalent basis. The SRA deliberately does not prescribe what “full-time” means and expects employers to take a common-sense view.

What counts as QWE, and what does not?

This is where most confusion lives, so let’s be precise. For experience to count as QWE, it must satisfy two substantive tests.

First, it must involve providing legal services. The SRA points to the definition of legal activity in section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007. Real legal work (drafting, research, advising under supervision, managing case files) sits comfortably inside this. Purely administrative tasks with no legal application generally do not, and simulated legal work does not count either: it must be real client work.

Second, it must give you the opportunity to develop at least two of the competencies in the SRA’s Statement of Solicitor Competence, for example obtaining relevant facts, or developing and advising on options and strategies. You do not need to cover the full competency framework in any single role; the minimum is two. But a role involving only a single competence will not count, even if it technically involves legal services.

In practice, this means a wide range of experience qualifies:

• Paralegal and legal assistant roles, the single most common source of QWE. The Law Society notes explicitly that the flexibility of QWE means many paralegals will find their existing work counts towards qualification.

• Work in unregulated organisations. Your employer does not need to be an SRA-regulated firm.

• Pro bono and voluntary legal work. QWE can be paid or unpaid.

• Placements during a law degree, law clinic work, and in-house roles, where the work is real legal work rather than simulated, and supervised.

And yes, experience can be claimed retrospectively. If you spent eighteen months in a paralegal role before you had ever heard of the SQE, that time may still count, provided the substantive tests are met and someone appropriate can confirm it. This is why keeping records matters even for past roles. More on that below.

Who confirms your QWE?

Every period of QWE must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP). A few details here catch candidates out:

• The confirming solicitor does not need to hold a practising certificate.

• They do not have to work at your organisation. If your employer has no solicitor on staff, which is common in unregulated firms and international roles, an external solicitor can confirm your experience, provided they have reviewed your work during the relevant period and received feedback from whoever supervised you.

• A barrister cannot confirm QWE, and neither can other types of UK or international lawyer, unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP.

What the confirming solicitor is signing off is factual: the length of the experience, that it involved providing legal services and gave you the opportunity to develop at least two competences, and that nothing arose during it that raises a question over your character and suitability. They are not assessing whether you are competent. That is what SQE2 is for.

You register each completed period of QWE in your mySRA account, the same system you will later use to apply for admission, and the confirming solicitor or COLP is then contacted to confirm it. You only need the full two years registered by the time you apply for admission.

How should you record your QWE?

The SRA does not mandate a particular record-keeping format, but it publishes a template for mapping your experience to the solicitor competencies, and both the SRA and the Law Society recommend keeping clear, dated records throughout. This matters for two reasons.

First, retrospective confirmation is much harder without evidence. If you approach a former employer two years after leaving, a dated log of your work and the competencies it developed transforms that conversation.

Second, a competency log protects you if anything is queried. The discipline is simple: for each role, keep a running record of the matters you worked on, the tasks you performed, and which competencies each one touched. Fifteen minutes a week is enough.

If you are tracking your SQE preparation systematically, treat QWE the same way. It is a two-year project with a defined evidence requirement, and it rewards exactly the kind of structured tracking that good exam preparation does. The most common regret among candidates who reach admission is not having started the record earlier. Start the log this week, even if qualification feels years away.

When should you do QWE: before, during or after the SQE?

Because QWE can sit before, during, or after your assessments, candidates have real strategic choices the training contract never offered:

• Working candidates can bank QWE in their current paralegal role while preparing for SQE1, qualifying without ever leaving employment.

• Career changers can pass SQE1 first to strengthen their applications for paralegal roles, then accumulate QWE while preparing for SQE2.

• Recent graduates can combine shorter placements across multiple organisations, up to four, rather than waiting for a single two-year seat.

If you are resitting SQE1 in January 2027, the months in between are the natural time to get QWE moving. Our guide to what happens if you fail SQE1 covers the resit timeline.

There is one honest caveat: flexibility cuts both ways. Because QWE is not a structured training programme, the breadth of your experience is your own responsibility. The SRA only requires exposure to two competencies, but you will be assessed on the full range in SQE2, and your first qualified role will demand more still. Choose experience that stretches you, not just experience that counts.

Frequently asked questions

Does paralegal work count as QWE if my firm is not SRA-regulated?

Yes. The SRA does not require the organisation to be regulated. What matters is that the work involves providing legal services and that a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP can confirm it. If nobody at your organisation qualifies, a solicitor outside it can confirm your experience, provided they reviewed your work during the period and received feedback from your supervisor.

Can I claim paralegal experience from before I started the SQE?

Yes. QWE can be claimed retrospectively for any past job, placement or volunteer role, and the SRA sets no limit on how far back you can go. The practical limit is evidence: your former employer needs enough records to confirm it, so the longer ago it was, the more your own dated log matters.

Does part-time paralegal work count?

Yes, on an equivalent basis. The SRA does not define full-time and expects employers to take a common-sense view. As a rough guide, three days a week for about three years and four months adds up to two years’ full-time equivalent.

Does the person confirming my QWE need a practising certificate?

No. They need to be a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP, but a practising certificate is not required. A barrister or a lawyer qualified in another jurisdiction cannot confirm unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales.

When do I need to register my QWE with the SRA?

Only by the time you apply for admission. You register each completed period in mySRA, entering an end date that is not in the future, and the confirming solicitor or COLP is then asked to confirm it. Registering each period as you leave a role is easier than doing it all at the end.

Does QWE have to be in England and Wales?

No. QWE can be gained overseas and does not need to cover English and Welsh law, provided it meets the SRA’s criteria and is confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP.

The Bottom Line

QWE is the most under-appreciated feature of the SQE route. The training contract bottleneck is gone; in its place is a requirement that rewards candidates who understand the rules and keep good records. Two years of real legal work, up to four organisations, confirmed by a solicitor or COLP, recorded in mySRA: that, plus the assessments, is the whole path.