SQE1 study guide
SQE1 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
SQE1 (Solicitors Qualifying Examination Part 1, also called SQE Stage 1) is the first of the two centralised assessments that form part of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination route to qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales, which the Solicitors Regulation Authority lists alongside the older Legal Practice Course route. It is aimed at anyone pursuing solicitor qualification - law graduates, non-law graduates who have completed a conversion course, apprentices and qualified lawyers from other jurisdictions - and it tests "functioning legal knowledge": the substantive and procedural law a newly qualified solicitor is expected to apply, together with the ethics and professional conduct expectations that sit behind it. The SQE1 study guide has 12 sections and about 3,706 words.
01Business Law and Practice
Private companies operate through two organs: the board (Model Article 7 requires a majority at a board meeting, or unanimous written resolution) and the members in general meeting . Members act by ordinary resolution (simple majority of votes cast) or special resolution (75% of votes cast).
317 words, about 2 min02Dispute Resolution
The Civil Procedure Rules are governed by the overriding objective (r 1.1): dealing with cases justly and at proportionate cost. Parties must actively assist the court (r 1.3) and the court manages cases actively (r 1.4).
311 words, about 2 min03Contract
Offer, acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations and certainty. Advertisements and displays of goods are generally invitations to treat ( Fisher v Bell , Partridge v Crittenden ).
316 words, about 2 min04Tort
The elements are duty, breach, causation and remoteness. Duty is established by precedent (road users, doctors, employers) or the Caparo three-stage test: foreseeability, proximity and fair, just and reasonable.
291 words, about 1 min05Legal System of England and Wales
Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court handle criminal matters; county courts and the High Court (King's Bench, Chancery, Family divisions) handle civil. Appeals run from the High Court to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and then the Supreme Court; the Crown Court appeals to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).
294 words, about 1 min06Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law
Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament can make or unmake any law and later Parliaments cannot be bound. The rule of law requires legality, certainty and fair procedures.
295 words, about 1 min07Criminal Law and Practice
Actus reus must be voluntary; omissions only attract liability where there is a duty (statute, contract, relationship, assumption of responsibility, creation of danger). Mens rea includes intention (direct and oblique - Woollin , virtual certainty), recklessness (subjective - Cunningham ) and negligence.
308 words, about 2 min08Property Practice
Instructions → seller's pack and pre-contract enquiries (TA6, TA10, leasehold LPE1) → searches (local authority, water, environmental, drainage; and a Land Charges search for unregistered land) → investigation of title → report on title to the lender and client → exchange of contracts → completion → post-completion (SDLT return and payment within 14 days, registration at HM Land Registry within 30 days of completion). Risk passes on exchange, not completion (Standard Conditions).
309 words, about 2 min09Wills and the Administration of Estates
Wills Act 1837 s 9: signed by the testator (or by someone in their presence and at their direction), in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, who attest and sign. Lack of capacity ( Banks v Goodfellow ), knowledge and approval, undue influence and fraudulent calumny are the standard challenges.
335 words, about 2 min10Solicitors Accounts
Client account holds client money; office account holds the firm's own money. Client money is money held or received for a client in connection with regulated services.
327 words, about 2 min11Land Law
Only two legal estates survive: the freehold fee simple absolute in possession and the leasehold term of years absolute (LPA 1925 s 1). Legal interests include easements, charges and rights of entry; everything else is equitable.
303 words, about 2 min12Equity and Trusts
The three certainties: intention, subject matter and objects ( Knight v Knight ). Beneficiaries must be ascertainable; a fixed trust needs a complete list, a discretionary trust needs conceptual and evidential certainty.
300 words, about 2 min