SQE exam fees rise as SRA launches fund to support disadvantaged students sitting assessments
updated on 26 March 2025
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A third increase will be applied to the fees associated with the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) assessments from September 2025, taking the costs to £1,934 for SQE1 and £2,974 for SQE2.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said the 2.3% rise aligns with its “contractual agreements” with Kaplan, the SQE exam provider. Inflation and costs required to translate the assessments into Welsh are the reasons cited for the uplift in fees.
Check for updated fee information via the SRA’s website and for more information on the SQE, visit LawCareers.Net’s SQE hub, sponsored by The University of Law.
Meanwhile, the regulator has also launched a new fund – SQE Access and Reinvestment Fund – to support the schemes that help aspiring solicitors facing significant barriers to qualify. Financial penalties that have been incurred by Kaplan have been paid into the fund, which now sits at around £360,000.
The SRA explained that “organisations with a track record of running schemes helping aspiring solicitors are invited to apply”. These organisations must “support candidates who have the commitment and ability to qualify, and whose means to do so are limited by significant personal barriers” – for example, the candidates have no or limited access to other means of funding the SQE assessments and have “faced exceptional circumstances in pursuing their studies”, such as a disability or having spent time in local authority care.
Further details on how to apply can be found on the SRA’s website and can be made only by organisations, not by candidates. The SRA has recommended that applicants read its guidance for making applications before applying.
The closing date for applications is 30 April 2025.
For more on the work the legal profession is doing to increase diversity and inclusion, head to LawCareers.Net’s Diversity hub, sponsored by Gowling WLG (UK) LLP.
