SQE1 Exam Format Explained: Structure, Timing & Marking

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When I was preparing for SQE1, one of the first things I did - before touching a single piece of revision material - was make sure I completely understood the exam itself. Not just what subjects were in it, but exactly how it worked: how many questions, how long I had, how marking worked, and what score I actually needed to pass.

It sounds basic, but you'd be surprised how many candidates sit the exam without a clear picture of the format. And that matters, because knowing the mechanics of the exam changes how you prepare for it.

So here's everything you need to know about the SQE1 exam format - no jargon, no fluff.

Two Papers

SQE1 is made up of two separate written papers, known as Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 (FLK1) and Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 (FLK2). You sit them on different days, and together they make up the full SQE1 assessment.

Both papers use the same format: multiple choice questions with a single best answer (SBA). There are no essays, no written problem questions, no oral components. It is entirely multiple choice - which sounds straightforward until you actually start doing practice questions and realise how precisely the SRA has designed them.

How Many Questions

Each paper contains 180 questions, giving you a total of 360 questions across the full SQE1 assessment.

Every question presents a factual scenario followed by five possible answer options (A to E). Your job is to identify the single best answer. There are no partially correct options - it's one right answer per question.

This is worth dwelling on for a moment. 180 questions per paper is a significant number. It means you cannot afford to spend too long on any one question, and it means that your stamina and concentration on exam day are just as important as your legal knowledge.

Timing

Each paper is five hours long. That gives you an average of just under two minutes per question (approximately 1 minute 40 seconds, to be precise).

For most questions, that's enough. A well-drafted SBA question can usually be read and answered in under a minute if you know the material. But some scenarios are longer and more complex, and you'll occasionally hit a question that makes you pause. The timing discipline comes in knowing when to make your best judgment and move on, rather than losing five minutes agonising over a single question.

A practical tip I found genuinely useful: flag questions you're unsure about and come back to them. Don't let one difficult question derail your rhythm. Answer confidently where you can, flag the uncertain ones, and return to them once you've been through the rest of the paper. You'll often find that your thinking is clearer on a second pass - or that a later question gives you a nudge in the right direction.

Subjects Covered

The 14 subject areas are split across the two papers as follows:

FLK1

Business Law and Practice
Dispute Resolution
Contract
Tort
The Legal System of England and Wales
Legal Services
Constitutional and Administrative Law, EU Law Retained in UK

FLK2

Property Law and Practice
Wills and Administration of Estates
Solicitors Accounts
Land Law
Trusts
Criminal Law and Practice
Criminal Liability

The number of questions devoted to each subject area varies - some subjects carry more questions than others. The SRA publishes an Assessment Specification (available free on their website) which breaks down exactly how many questions each subject area contributes to each paper. It's worth looking at this early in your preparation so you can allocate your revision time proportionally.

Marking

This is where a lot of candidates have misconceptions, so let's be clear.

Every question carries equal weight. There's no tiered scoring where a harder question is worth more. A question on Solicitors Accounts and a question on Contract Law are worth exactly the same.

There is no negative marking. If you don't know an answer, guess. Never leave a question blank. Even a random guess on a five-option question gives you a 20% chance of being correct - a blank gives you zero.

Your raw score (the number of questions you answer correctly) is then converted through a process called standard setting to produce a scaled score. This is the SRA's mechanism for ensuring that the pass mark reflects the difficulty of a particular sitting - so if one cohort gets a slightly harder paper, the pass mark adjusts accordingly.

Pass Mark

Here's where it gets slightly nuanced. The SQE1 pass mark is not a fixed percentage. It is determined after each sitting through the standard setting process described above, and it can vary from one exam diet to the next.

That said, the SRA publishes results data and the pass marks for previous sittings, which give you a useful benchmark. Historically, the pass mark has typically sat in the region of 56-60% of questions correct, but this is not guaranteed and should not be treated as a target. Your goal should simply be to answer as many questions correctly as possible - not to aim for a specific percentage.

One important thing to understand: you must pass both FLK1 and FLK2 separately. A strong performance on one paper cannot compensate for a weak performance on the other. If you pass one and fail the other, you only need to resit the paper you failed - you do not have to resit both.

When You Can Sit SQE1

The SRA runs SQE1 twice a year, with sittings typically in January and April/May. Exact dates for each sitting are published on the SRA's website and through Pearson VUE, who administer the assessment.

Registration opens several months in advance, and there are deadlines you need to be aware of - missing the registration window means waiting for the next sitting. Keep an eye on the SRA's website and diary the key dates as soon as you know which sitting you're targeting.

Key Takeaways

To pull it all together:

SQE1 consists of two papers - FLK1 and FLK2 - each with 180 single best answer questions
You have five hours per paper, working out to roughly 1 minute 40 seconds per question
All questions carry equal marks and there is no negative marking - always answer every question
The pass mark is determined by standard setting after each sitting, not a fixed percentage
You must pass both papers; they are assessed independently of each other
SQE1 runs twice a year - check the SRA website for upcoming dates

Understanding the format is step one. Once you know what you're walking into, you can build a revision strategy around it - and that's where the real preparation begins.

Check our other blogs in the coming weeks to learn more about the SQE1 process covering topics such as how many hours you need to study for the SQE 1, how to Build a SQE1 Revision Timetable and much more! You can explore the rest of our posts on the blog page, or try the demo.