1. What’s your background, and why did you decide to do the SQE?

I was incredibly lucky to start my Training Contract in 2022 and my firm sponsored us to take our SQE exams alongside it. Doing the exams alongside long hours and learning how to actually be a lawyer was incredibly stressful but it did allow me to save a year in comparison to the standard route to qualification.

2. How did you prepare, and what made the biggest difference in your Success?

Consistency over cramming. Start early and be smart about it. Find what works for you and trust the process.

As for me, I didn’t do my own notes of the material (I relied on the free resources online and a set of notes we inherited from the year above). I decided instead to create my own flashcard decks and rely on question banks.

It’s true that there are various ways to go about it but I found that flashcards and question banks mimic the exam best and would highly recommend it.

3. What was the hardest part, and how did you push through it?

For me, it was becoming okay with failing at questions. It was hard to sit down and commit to doing questions everyday because it was hard to see the 30%- 50% averages.

There is always that underlying anxious thought of there being no point to doing questions because ‘I don’t know everything’. The hard pill to swallow is that you will never know everything on the syllabus. Trust me I tried. Treat questions as a study method in itself, not just to test your knowledge but actively use it as a tool to learn. It’s not intuitive and it’s really scary to begin with but it works.

Being good at MCQs is a skill not a talent; the more hours you put in, the better your judgment will become and in no time you will be scoring 70-80% in your mocks.

4. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?

I would probably decide to not do it alongside a training contract. Would not recommend the experience.

But on a more serious note, I sacrificed months of my life, working weekends, mornings and evenings on top of a full time job and worrying too much about retention and qualifications later down the line. SQE is hard, there is no denying it but there is no point to it all if it’s costing you your health. Take a break, go on that European city break and let yourself breathe a little easier from time to time.

5. Any final piece of advice for SQE candidates?

Gather your tribe around you; SQE is a hell of a ride but it’s much less daunting if you have company. I was incredibly lucky to be surrounded by wonderful fellow trainees at my firm and it really felt like we were in this together come hell or high water.