The new Solicitors Qualifying Examination could mean that prospective solicitors miss out on key aspects of legal work experience, the Junior Lawyers Division has warned.

Plans for a new ‘super exam’ for all qualifying solicitors have been approved by the Legal Services Board, meaning that the Solicitors Qualifying Exam is now certain to go ahead in some form.

The decision on whether or not to approve plans for a new solicitors’ ‘super exam’ has been delayed once again by the Legal Services Board.

The solicitors’ profession is diversifying and increasingly reflects the makeup of the general UK population, data collected by the Law Society shows.

The solicitors’ profession is slowly becoming more diverse, while the number of students starting law degrees continues to rise, according to the Law Society’s latest annual statistics report.

New statistics revealed in The Solicitors’ Charity Big Report highlighted that in 2022 the charity helped 50% more new clients.  

Solicitors representing young people in the youth courts are to receive specialist support from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to help them meet the needs of their young clients. 

Solicitors could face new competence checks as the Legal Services Board published fresh expectations for regulators to ensure lawyers stay up to date on the knowledge, skills and behaviour required to be a solicitor and provide good quality legal services. 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales. 

Solicitors in magistrates' courts and police stations across the country began refusing new legal aid cases yesterday, in protest at the government’s latest 8.75% cuts to legal aid fees.

A new study, published by the Department for Education, found that of the occupations most exposed to AI, solicitors ranked 12th on the list when considering exposure to all AI applications and second for exposure to large language modelling.

The new centralised ‘super exam’ for qualifying solicitors which will replace the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course (LPC) does not amount to a “robust and effective measure of competence” and may end up costing students more than the current system, the University of Law has said.

Following on from its stage one pilot of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is looking for candidates to take part in a trial run of SQE stage two in December.

The Association of Law Teachers has criticised the Solicitors Regulation Authority over the regulator’s “disingenuous” reporting of the widespread criticism of its plans to introduce a new Solicitors Qualifying Examination.  

The coronavirus pandemic has so far not led to any delay in plans to change legal education and training in 2021 with the introduction of the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). Here is everything we know about the new exams, from the syllabus, to the format of the exams themselves, to the possible cost for candidates, to the response of law firms, universities, law schools and junior lawyers.

The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) will not achieve its aim of widening access to the legal profession because it does not address the “inequalities inherent in the higher education system”, two respected legal academics have warned.

The planned Solicitors Qualifying Exam stage one skills assessment will be changed or abandoned after the results of a pilot showed that it disadvantaged BAME candidates.

The new Solicitors Qualifying Exam that all candidates will have to pass to become solicitors will not be introduced until 2021, while fees to take the assessment could range from £3,000 up to £4,500, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed.

The final decision on whether to approve or reject plans for a new Solicitors Qualifying Exam has been delayed by the Legal Services Board (LSB) following heavy criticism of the proposals by legal educators and the Law Society.