If you are somewhere between the two stages of the SQE, deep in FLK revision and quietly wondering what comes after, or newly through SQE1 and sizing up the next climb, the not-knowing is its own kind of stress. So here is a straight answer to the question: is SQE2 harder than SQE1?

On pass rates alone, no, and it is not close. In April 2026, 83 per cent of SQE2 candidates passed. At the most recent fully reported SQE1 sitting, January 2026, just 53 per cent did. But that comparison hides more than it reveals, because every single person sitting SQE2 has already passed SQE1 or been exempted from it. The weakest candidates never reach the second exam. Statistically, SQE1 is the harder exam to get through. In the room, SQE2 is a different kind of hard, and it is sat by a cohort that has already proved it can pass.

This post breaks down what each assessment actually asks of you, what the pass rates really tell you, and how to weigh the difficulty of each stage when you plan your own preparation.

Quick answer: SQE1 is harder to pass. Its pass rate sits around half, while SQE2 pass rates have been around 80 per cent, but only candidates who have already passed SQE1 can sit SQE2, so the comparison flatters the second exam. SQE1 tests what you know through timed multiple choice across 13 subject areas. SQE2 tests what you can do, across 16 oral and written skills assessments over five half-days. Most candidates find SQE1 the bigger hurdle, but SQE2 needs a completely different kind of preparation.

How are SQE1 and SQE2 different?

SQE1 tests what you know. It is two closed-book exams, FLK1 and FLK2, each made up of 170 single best answer questions split across two sessions of 85 questions, with 2 hours 33 minutes per session. That works out at roughly 1.8 minutes per question. FLK1 covers business law and practice, dispute resolution, contract, tort, the legal system of England and Wales (including constitutional and administrative law and EU law), and legal services. FLK2 covers property practice, wills and the administration of estates, solicitors accounts, land law, trusts, criminal liability, and criminal law and practice. That is thirteen subject areas across the two papers, with questions fully randomised rather than grouped by subject. Your result is reported as a scaled score out of 500, and the pass mark for each paper is 300. (We have unpacked exactly how that works in How Is SQE1 Marked?)

SQE2 tests what you can do. Under the current specification, which applies to assessments from 1 September 2026, it is 16 assessments over five half-days. Four are oral, across two half-days: advocacy in Dispute Resolution and in Criminal Law and Practice, plus client interviews with an attendance note and legal analysis in Property Practice and in Wills and the Administration of Estates. Twelve are written, across three half-days, testing case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing and legal drafting across five practice areas: Criminal Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, and Business Law and Practice. It is closed book. For every assessment except legal research, you are given the materials a newly qualified solicitor would look up, such as the Standard Conditions of Sale. Assessors grade each exercise, and marks from all 16 assessments feed into one overall score with a single pass mark of 300.

Put simply: each SQE1 paper is just over five hours of high-speed multiple choice. SQE2 is the better part of a week performing as a solicitor while someone marks you doing it. “Harder” means something different in each room.

Is SQE2 harder than SQE1 on the pass rates?

Figures from the SRA’s published statistical reports for each sitting.

SQE2 pass rates have climbed steadily, from 78 per cent in October 2025 to 80 per cent in January 2026 and 83 per cent in April 2026, while SQE1 has sat around or just above half. But the two numbers are not measuring the same population. SQE2 is only sat by people who have already passed SQE1 or been exempted from it: the exam that removes almost half the field has done its filtering before anyone books an SQE2 seat. Compare like with like and the picture sharpens. The April 2026 SQE2 cohort was 2,966 candidates, nearly all of them proven exam passers, and it still failed about one in six of them.

Cohort timing matters too. January SQE1 sittings have tended to outperform July ones, which is commonly put down to more sponsored, firm-supported candidates sitting in January. The July 2025 SQE1 pass rate was 41 per cent, against 53 per cent the following January. So a single headline number never quite tells you how hard the exam will be for someone like you.

The right conclusion is not “SQE2 is easy”. It is “SQE2 is passed at high rates by people who have already survived the hardest filter in the qualification”.

Why does SQE1 fail more candidates?

Three things make SQE1 the exam that ends more journeys. The first is breadth: thirteen subject areas examined together, closed book, in fully randomised order, so there is nowhere to hide a weak subject. The second is time: at roughly 1.8 minutes per question, SQE1 punishes slow recall even when your knowledge is sound. The third is the scoring itself. In January 2026 the mean FLK1 score was 311.2 against a pass mark of 300, and the FLK2 mean was 304.3. Most of the cohort sits within touching distance of the line, so small gaps in coverage genuinely decide outcomes.

One mercy worth knowing: the SRA’s specification confirms you are not required to recall specific case names or cite statutory authorities, except where the name is the standard label for the principle itself, such as Rylands v Fletcher or CPR Part 36. SQE1 is a test of applying principles at speed, not reciting authorities.

Where does SQE2 get difficult?

Nothing about an 83 per cent pass rate makes SQE2 week feel gentle. It asks for sustained performance across five half-days, which is stamina SQE1 never demands. It puts you in front of assessors for live advocacy and client interviews, where structure, manner and composure are all being graded. And in the written assessments there is no multiple-choice scaffolding: you produce the attendance note, the research memo and the drafted clause from a blank page under the clock.

The headline number also hides sharp splits. Among first-time candidates in April 2026, 92 per cent of those with a first-class degree passed and 83 per cent with a 2:1, but only 40 per cent with a 2:2. The strongest SQE1 performers mostly go on to pass SQE2 comfortably. The candidates who scraped through SQE1 face a harder second stage.

The qualifying work experience figures are a useful warning against reading too much into any one split. In April 2026, first-time candidates who had undertaken some QWE passed at 73 per cent, against 90 per cent for those who had not. In January 2026 the pattern ran the other way: 81 per cent with QWE, 75 per cent without. The difference says more about who sits which sitting than about work experience helping or hurting. (If QWE is on your mind, our guide to whether paralegal work counts as QWE covers what qualifies.)

If you are wondering whether to be worried about SQE2, the fair summary is this: SQE1 deserves more fear, and SQE2 deserves a different kind of respect. The common trap is preparing for SQE2 the way you prepared for SQE1, with more reading and more notes, when what it rewards is rehearsal.

Which exam will be harder for you?

It depends on the shape of your strengths. If you are a strong memoriser and test-taker, SQE1 plays to you and SQE2’s performance element will stretch you. If you are confident on your feet but find the sheer breadth of multiple-choice revision punishing, the reverse is true.

Practically, treat them as two different problems. Prepare for SQE1 as a coverage-and-retrieval problem: know where you are weak across every subject, and practise questions under time until recall is fast. If SQE1 did not go your way this time, our guide to what happens if you fail SQE1 covers the resit rules and timeline. Prepare for SQE2 as a performance problem: practise the six skills under timed conditions, out loud for the orals, rather than accumulating more passive notes. If you are organising that skills-first preparation in Notion, we have built a complete SQE2 workspace around exactly that approach.

What do SQE1 and SQE2 cost, and when are the next sittings?

For assessments from September 2026 onwards, SQE1 costs £2,006 (£1,003 per FLK paper) and SQE2 costs £3,086. The January 2027 SQE1 sitting runs FLK1 on 11 to 15 January and FLK2 on 18 to 22 January, with booking closing on 23 November 2026. The January 2027 SQE2 sitting runs orals on 26 to 29 January and written assessments on 2 to 4 February, with booking closing on 4 December 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Can you sit SQE2 before passing SQE1?

No. You can only book and sit SQE2 after passing SQE1, or if the SRA has granted you an exemption from the whole of SQE1.

I passed SQE1 in July 2026. When is the earliest SQE2 I can sit?

Booking for the October 2026 SQE2 closed on 18 September 2026, so the next sitting is January 2027. Booking for that sitting closes on 4 December 2026, and results are due on 20 May 2027.

How long do you have to complete SQE1 and SQE2?

You have six years from the first day of your first SQE assessment, with up to three attempts at each of SQE1 and SQE2 within that period.

Is SQE2 open book?

No. You cannot bring books or notes into any SQE2 assessment. For every assessment except legal research, you are given the materials a newly qualified solicitor would normally look up, such as the Standard Conditions of Sale in property matters.

Do you need to memorise case names for the SQE?

Generally not. In SQE1, and in SQE2 outside the legal research assessment, you only need case names or statutory references where they are the standard label for a principle or procedure, such as Rylands v Fletcher or CPR Part 36. In the SQE2 legal research assessment, you can be expected to cite specific authorities.

Should you complete QWE before sitting SQE2?

The SRA leaves the order to you: QWE can be done before, during or after the assessments. The published pass-rate data does not point consistently either way, so the better question is whether your work experience is building the skills SQE2 tests, particularly drafting, research and client communication.

The Bottom Line

SQE1 fails more people and is, for most candidates, the harder exam to pass. The pass-rate gap flatters SQE2 because only SQE1 passers ever sit it. SQE2’s difficulty is real but different: a test of doing rather than knowing, sat over five half-days, where good preparation looks like rehearsal, not revision. Plan for each stage on its own terms and neither has to ambush you.

If you are planning either stage, our free SQE resources page is a good place to start.