Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), England & Wales
How to sit SQE1 in January 2027 — the complete step-by-step route from India
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination is the single route to qualifying as a solicitor of England and Wales. It has two stages. SQE1 tests functioning legal knowledge through two papers called FLK1 and FLK2, each of 180 single-best-answer questions. SQE2 tests practical legal skills. You may sit SQE1 without any prior qualification, but a degree or its equivalent, two years of qualifying work experience and a character and suitability assessment are all required before you can be admitted as a solicitor.
Checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026. Always confirm dates and fees on the authority’s own site before you act.
Where this cycle stands right now
The January 2027 SQE1 booking cycle is already running. Seat-reservation forms for this sitting were issued on 22 September 2026 and close on 24 September 2026, and you must already be registered with the SRA to receive one. If you have not registered yet, speak to the SRA before assuming January 2027 is still open to you, and plan for the next sitting in the meantime.
Key dates
- Seat-reservation forms issued
- 22 September 2026, 6.00 pm UK time
- Seat-reservation forms close
- 24 September 2026, 5.00 pm UK time
- Payment requests issued
- 19 October to 18 November 2026
- Payment deadline
- Within 48 hours of your payment request, or the seat is released
- Rescheduling window
- 19 to 23 November 2026
- Booking window closes
- 23 November 2026
- FLK1 assessment days
- 11 to 15 January 2027
- FLK2 assessment days
- 18 to 22 January 2027
- Results expected
- 9 March 2027 — confirm the exact date with the SRA
Fees
- SQE1 assessment fee
- £2,006
- SQE2 assessment fee
- £3,086 for bookings made from October 2026
- Individual SQE2 exemption application (qualified lawyers)
- £265
These are the authority’s own examination fees and are paid to the authority, not to ZELVU Education. Course fees are separate and are shown on the programme page.
Who can take it
- No prior qualification is needed simply to sit SQE1. Candidates from any background may register and sit.
- A degree or an accepted equivalent is required for admission as a solicitor, not to sit the assessments. Accepted routes include a UK level 6 or higher degree, CILEX level 6, an approved apprenticeship, an equivalent overseas qualification, or, case by case, equivalent work experience.
- An Indian LLB must be shown to be equivalent to a UK degree through a formal comparability process before it can be relied on at admission. This is commonly evidenced by a statement of comparability from Ecctis, formerly UK ENIC.
- Two years of full-time-equivalent qualifying work experience is needed before admission. It may be gained before, during or after the SQE, across up to four organisations, and must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or by a firm's compliance officer for legal practice.
- Character and suitability disclosure — covering criminal, integrity, financial, regulatory and health matters — is made when you apply for admission. You may request an early assessment at any time if you are worried about something in your history.
- An enrolled Indian advocate counts as a qualified lawyer for the SRA's exemption route, because an Indian enrolment confers rights to practise in another jurisdiction.
The steps, in order
- 1
Decide which stage you are actually applying for
Almost every Indian candidate sits SQE1 first and SQE2 afterwards. Only an already-enrolled advocate can apply for an exemption, and the SRA's list of pre-agreed exemptions does not name India, so an Indian advocate must file an individual application rather than relying on an automatic exemption. Do not delay your SQE1 registration while an exemption application is pending unless the SRA tells you to.
- 2
Create your SRA account and complete SQE registration
Before any booking is possibleRegistration is separate from booking an assessment. You verify your identity, complete the diversity survey and answer the reasonable-adjustments questions. Use the exact name printed on the photo identification you will carry to the test centre, because a mismatch on the day can cost you the sitting.
- 3
Ask for reasonable adjustments if you need them
At registration, well before the booking windowAdjustments for a disability or a health condition must be applied for with supporting evidence and approved before your assessment can be scheduled around them. This is the single most common reason candidates lose a sitting, because the evidence takes time to obtain.
- 4
Submit your seat-reservation form
22 to 24 September 2026 for the January 2027 sittingRegistered candidates are sent a seat-reservation form at the opening of the window. You submit it, and any reasonable-adjustment plan must be accepted, before the window closes. Missing this window normally means waiting for the next sitting.
- 5
Pay when your payment request arrives
19 October to 18 November 2026The SRA issues payment requests across this period. You must pay within 48 hours of receiving yours or your seat is released to someone else. Keep the card you intend to use ready and make sure it is enabled for international payments in pounds sterling, because an Indian card declining at this stage has cost candidates their seat.
- 6
Book, or reschedule, your test centre and dates
Rescheduling 19 to 23 November 2026; the booking window closes 23 November 2026FLK1 and FLK2 must normally be booked and sat in the same assessment window. Separate windows are permitted only after a partial fail, approved mitigating circumstances or approved reasonable adjustments. After 23 November 2026 nothing further can be booked for January 2027.
- 7
Sit FLK1 and then FLK2
FLK1 on 11 to 15 January 2027; FLK2 on 18 to 22 January 2027Each paper is 180 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions, split across two sessions on separate days. You choose one option from five. Ethics and professional conduct are not a separate paper: they are assessed across both FLK1 and FLK2.
- 8
Collect your result and plan the next stage
Results expected 9 March 2027If you pass both papers you move to SQE2. If you fail one paper only, the SRA's rules on resitting that paper separately apply. Plan your SQE2 booking against the result date rather than assuming you can book immediately.
- 9
Sit SQE2
SQE2 assesses practical skills — client interviewing with an attendance note, advocacy, case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing and legal drafting — set in five practice contexts. The written assessments are available at Indian Pearson VUE centres. The oral assessments are held only in person in England and Wales, so budget for that travel.
- 10
Complete qualifying work experience and apply for admission
Two years of qualifying work experience, your degree or equivalence evidence, and the character and suitability assessment all come together in the admission application. Qualifying work experience can be running alongside your SQE study, so start recording and confirming it early rather than at the end.
Where you can sit it in India
SQE1 is delivered at Pearson VUE test centres. In India those centres are in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. SQE2 written assessments are offered at the same Indian centres. SQE2 oral assessments are held only in person in England and Wales and are not available in India.
Questions callers ask
I am a final-year LLB student. Can I sit SQE1 in January 2027?
Yes, you may sit SQE1 without holding any qualification. The degree requirement applies when you apply for admission as a solicitor, not when you sit the assessment. You will still need your degree, or an accepted equivalent, before admission.
I am an enrolled advocate in India. Do I still have to sit SQE1?
Unless the SRA grants you an exemption, yes. India is not on the SRA's list of pre-agreed exemptions, so an Indian advocate must file an individual application. The published individual route is for SQE2 exemption: the fee is £265, the decision can take up to 180 days, and approval is not guaranteed. Whether SQE1 exemption is available on an Indian qualification is not published, so ask the SRA before you rely on it.
Do I need two years of work experience before I can sit the exam?
No. Qualifying work experience is needed before admission, not before sitting SQE1 or SQE2. It may be gained before, during or after the assessments, across up to four organisations, and must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or by a firm's compliance officer for legal practice. Qualified lawyers who are granted an exemption do not need it.
Do I have to travel to England for the exam?
Not for SQE1, and not for the SQE2 written assessments — both are available at Pearson VUE centres in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. The SQE2 oral assessments are held only in person in England and Wales, so plan and budget for that trip when you reach that stage.
What does the whole route cost?
The assessment fees alone are £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2 for bookings from October 2026. Preparation, the Ecctis comparability statement, travel for the SQE2 orals and the admission application are all separate. Fees are reviewed annually, so confirm the current figure on the SRA's site before you budget.
Is there negative marking in SQE1?
SQE1 uses single-best-answer questions where you choose one option from five. Answer every question rather than leaving any blank, and confirm the current marking rules in the SRA's assessment specification before your sitting.
What does ZELVU Education actually provide?
Structured preparation for the assessments: the full FLK1 and FLK2 syllabus taught in depth, ethics running across both papers, assessment-technique labs, mock papers, and SQE2 skills and station work. Preparation is separate from the regulator's own qualification requirements. We do not book your seat, apply for your exemption or guarantee a result.
Not yet published by the authority
- The exact publication date of the law cut-off for the January 2027 sitting — the date after which new law is not examinable — should be confirmed on the SRA's own assessment pages.
- SQE fees are reviewed annually around the start of the academic year in September. Any increase applying to a 2027 sitting has not been published.
- An SQE1 exemption route exists for qualified lawyers, but the SRA publishes no India-specific criteria for it. Treat SQE1 exemption for an Indian qualification as unconfirmed and ask the SRA directly.
ZELVU Education does not invent examination dates. When the authority publishes, this page is updated and the date is shown above.
Official sources
- SRA — who can take the SQE
- SQE — booking windows and assessment dates
- SQE — booking the January 2027 SQE1
- SQE — test centres
- SRA — qualifying work experience
- SRA — degree equivalence
- SRA — SQE exemptions for qualified lawyers
- SRA — character and suitability
Preparing is the part we do.
Registration, fees and admission are between you and the authority. SQE Complete Programme covers the syllabus, the technique and the practice — taught lesson by lesson, with the reading material written out in full. Preparation support is not itself a qualification and no result is guaranteed.