Dec 16, 2025
SQE2: exam guide and how to prepare
A complete guide to SQE2, and the practice built specifically for it.
How you'll prepare for SQE2 with Qualifico
You practise from the start rather than after the reading. Every answer is scored against the subtopic it came from, so your dashboard shows where the marks are actually going long before a mock does. Written answers come back marked against that question's own mark scheme, so the feedback is about what you wrote.
We take a data-driven approach to SQE2 and keep expanding the material behind it for this exam.
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About SQE2
If you are sitting SQE2, this page covers what the exam actually tests, where candidates lose marks and how to prepare for it around a working week. It also sets out exactly what Qualifico gives you for this paper.
Exam at a glance
Qualification: SQE
Stage or level: SQE2
Duration: Five half-days overall
Assessment style: One overall assessment comprising 16 stations: 12 written stations across three half-days and four oral stations across two half-days.
What does SQE2 test?
SQE2 is one overall assessment combining written and oral legal skills. It assesses practical legal skills through one combined set of written and oral stations, with a single overall result.
The main examinable areas are:
client interviewing and attendance note/legal analysis
advocacy
case and matter analysis
legal research
legal writing
legal drafting
application of law and professional conduct in the assessed practice areas
Use the SRA specification that applies to your assessment window, because detailed examinable law and practice can change.
What makes SQE2 challenging?
SQE2 tests usable legal work under time pressure, not essay knowledge. Candidates must combine accurate law with the requested professional format, client focus and judgement across both written and oral stations.
Most preparation for SQE2 is reading-led. You work through the material, feel like you have covered it, and still cannot say which topics would cost you marks tomorrow. Passive review hides weak areas instead of exposing them, and by the time a mock finds them there is rarely time left to fix them.
Qualifico is built the other way round. Practice comes first, progress is tracked subtopic by subtopic and written answers are marked against the question's own mark scheme, so the next study block goes where it will change your score. If time is the constraint, how to study for SQE1 around work sets out how to fit that around a working week.
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How to prepare for SQE2
How to prepare or use this guidance
Preparation for SQE2 is rehearsal rather than revision. You are not trying to hold a wide syllabus in mind. You are trying to produce usable work under time pressure, in a format someone else can rely on, which is a different skill from selecting the best option.
For the oral stations, most candidates cannot rehearse aloud as often as they need to, and so practise them least while worrying about them most. Working through them in writing first is a workable substitute, and how to practise the oral assessments in writing sets out how to do that without drifting into essay mode.
This is exactly what the Qualifico statistics tab does, so you do not have to keep the log yourself. Every answer is scored against the subtopic it came from, giving you a topic breakdown you can open down to subtopic level, a predicted score set against your target mark, and a comparison against the profile of a candidate who passed. A progress chart shows whether a weak area is actually recovering, and a weekly report lands whether or not you remember to review. See what that looks like for SQE2.
How Qualifico supports SQE2
Qualifico covers SQE2 with 318 practice questions, 204 flashcards and 34 guided lessons, one for every subtopic. 46 of those are written response tasks, marked against the question's own mark scheme with a model answer beside yours.
See plans and start studying SQE2. Use Qualifico alongside the official materials rather than in place of them.
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