Solicitors&#x27; Qualifying Exam Part 1-without enrolling into a Course

OP

Original post by EU Yakov

genuine question: do u think that materials for self-study will be available to purchase online?

I doubt that for the first round there would be enough self-study materials. I have seen courses already for both the parts of the exam that cost twice as much as the exam. Sorry for being so crude, but I feel the course providers will give a fair fight before they give people cheaper and more accessible material. The SRA has taken away from many course providers their money-making LPC; they will try tooth and nail to monetise this one before they allow it to become cheaper.

If you are all up for an honest exchange of information and suggested material in order to pass this exam, this is your place to be. If you feel like keeping information to yourself, then we can all go at it alone. This is an honest offer; for the lawyers, I am just waiting for an honest acceptance. Let's start brushing up our knowledge

Reply 4

999tigger

19

What were your UG and postgrad degrees?
Cant gauge if its common sense or foolhardy.

Reply 5

OP

Original post by 999tigger

What were your UG and postgrad degrees?
Cant gauge if its common sense or foolhardy.

LLB and LLM, both from a Russell Group Uni

Reply 6

999tigger

19

Original post by Lowrypaintings

LLB and LLM, both from a Russell Group Uni

Is it just part 1 you are going to try and do on your own?

Reply 7

OP

Original post by 999tigger

Is it just part 1 you are going to try and do on your own?

I will be taking one at a time. If I pass the 1st one, I will attempt the 2nd as well. If I fail the 1st part, obviously I won't repeat my mistake and I will fork out for the course. I am just wondering, are you simply curious or are you enquiring in order to join a study group?

Reply 8

999tigger

19

Original post by Lowrypaintings

I will be taking one at a time. If I pass the 1st one, I will attempt the 2nd as well. If I fail the 1st part, obviously I won't repeat my mistake and I will fork out for the course. I am just wondering, are you simply curious or are you enquiring in order to join a study group?

Just curious about your strategy as I like to keep abreast of what goes on, on the forum and the complete qualification process. GL .

Reply 9

Jessie Yang

4

Original post by Lowrypaintings

Hi,

This is a thread for people who will attempt to take the S.Q.E. without enrolling into a course.

I have been unable to get onto a graduate scheme in my field and I was unable to stop working or work part-time in order to do the LPC. Now with the SQE, I feel it is more realistic that I can pay £4K for both parts of the exam, rather than paying £17K for the LPC.

My University contacted me, telling me they have specialist courses for the first part costing £3K. I am not sure I want to pay this kind of money right now, so I am planning to study alone. If it goes south, it will be a waste of £2K for the first part of the exam, but I still want to give it a try. I am not keen on spending similar amounts I would have paid under the LPC scheme, only now having to do that remotely.

I know it sounds like there is no winning with me, but, it is not that; I paid a lot for my degree and master's. Why can't I just put the hours, use my notes and just take S.Q.E? If I still need to fork out more money, I should have gone and done something I actually enjoyed at Uni, rather that paying all that money for the 'right' to pay even more money to my Uni to prepare me for an exam!!!

So, if anybody else is thinking of studying alone and would like to share notes, ideas, guidance in an open a fair manner, this is the place to be.

Hi there! I am planning to take the SQE1 this year (Nov 2021). I am not sure if I should enroll onto a course. I did some research just as you did and found the fee was not cheap. However, I realized that some topics such as Business Law and Dispute Resolution (which will be tested in the exam) are something I have never studied in my LLB or LLM course. I wonder whether the prep course would cover these topics. If not, I'd rather just buy textbooks online and study on my own. I will be here to discuss any ideas with you if you wish. :smile:

but haven't really started to do anything yet.

Reply 10

EU Yakov

15

Original post by Jessie Yang

Hi there! I am planning to take the SQE1 this year (Nov 2021). I am not sure if I should enroll onto a course. I did some research just as you did and found the fee was not cheap. However, I realized that some topics such as Business Law and Dispute Resolution (which will be tested in the exam) are something I have never studied in my LLB or LLM course. I wonder whether the prep course would cover these topics. If not, I'd rather just buy textbooks online and study on my own. I will be here to discuss any ideas with you if you wish. :smile:

but haven't really started to do anything yet.

prep courses cover everything lol... why wouldn't they?

you peepz are in a tricky position because there's no info/experience on how good textbooks and self-studying are in comparison to the course. especially when the enormous price difference is taken into account. it also depends on your risk appetite. someone who can tolerate more risk can decide to self-study in the knowledge that they only need to pass the SQE and that the number grades they get (afaik - correct me if i'm wrong!!!!) will not need to be disclosed in their apps

Reply 11

hihi202

Hi there - I am currently in my final year of studying French and Spanish at a Russell Group university, interested in becoming a solicitor. I'm looking to follow the SQE route but have no legal background at all - is it a stupid idea to do a GDL anyway to get some legal knowledge and cover my bases? I've been looking at BPP's courses and they offer their PGDL and are working on creating an SQE 1 2 prep course for the near future, so I was wondering if this would be a waste of money to do both the prep course AND a GDL? I'm quite new to this as you can probably tell! Any help is much appreciated :smile:

Reply 12

OP

Original post by hihi202

Hi there - I am currently in my final year of studying French and Spanish at a Russell Group university, interested in becoming a solicitor. I'm looking to follow the SQE route but have no legal background at all - is it a stupid idea to do a GDL anyway to get some legal knowledge and cover my bases? I've been looking at BPP's courses and they offer their PGDL and are working on creating an SQE 1 2 prep course for the near future, so I was wondering if this would be a waste of money to do both the prep course AND a GDL? I'm quite new to this as you can probably tell! Any help is much appreciated :smile:

Hi, not quite sure, however, as far as I understand you have to have a qualifying law degree or a GDL before you take the SQE exam. I would suggest that you confirm this on the Solicitors' Regulation Authority's website. I never had to check this because I have a law degree, so I am sorry I cannot be more specific. Please confirm that before you start thinking about the SQE.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Jessie Yang

Hi there! I am planning to take the SQE1 this year (Nov 2021). I am not sure if I should enroll onto a course. I did some research just as you did and found the fee was not cheap. However, I realized that some topics such as Business Law and Dispute Resolution (which will be tested in the exam) are something I have never studied in my LLB or LLM course. I wonder whether the prep course would cover these topics. If not, I'd rather just buy textbooks online and study on my own. I will be here to discuss any ideas with you if you wish. :smile:

but haven't really started to do anything yet.

Hi, from looking at a few prep courses, it requires about 10 months of studying if you have been away from Law for sometime. I have, so I need to start by February. I made a plan, but I am struggling a bit with the material. Business Law is a bit of Contract/Tort/Company Law, all combined and tailored for businesses, as far as I remember. If you were at the law School, you would have separate modules, but now they all go under one umbrella. Please correct me if I am wrong. Dispute Resolution- I did an Arbitration Course, so I feel a bit comfortable about it; not that I know anything by hard, but I do not think is so alien from the legal mindset. I will be buying the books as well, however, not sure about which ones. What is your plan? If you do not want to provide that info publicly, care to share it in a message?

Reply 14

17Student17

16

My sons are both taking the GDP with BPP this year which is partly I think preparing people who might instead choose to go down the SQE route. It has about 40% of the marks for multiple choice questions for each module. There may be some GDL preparation books being updated commercially available based on this year's course (last year's would be no good as it is not for SQE and did not then cover company law whereas this year academic year does)., So may be buying the latest editions of those. I have not bought nor seen and nor have my sons the following but it might for law graduates/ undergraduates be enough to pass SQE1 in Nov 2020.
https://lawanswered.com/blog/update-on-new-editions

Reply 15

aspiringlawyerNW

14

Original post by Lowrypaintings

Hi, not quite sure, however, as far as I understand you have to have a qualifying law degree or a GDL before you take the SQE exam. I would suggest that you confirm this on the Solicitors' Regulation Authority's website. I never had to check this because I have a law degree, so I am sorry I cannot be more specific. Please confirm that before you start thinking about the SQE.

The SQE is replacing the GDL *AND* the LPC - you do not need a qualifying law degree under this pathway. However, somebody being able to self-teach law completely from scratch would rather be a mammoth achievement!

As for the OP - it's hard to say whether you'd feasibly be able to do it. The original idea of the SQE was supposed to be to make the qualification process cheaper and more flexible - which would suggest to me that it would be possible to prepare without having to enroll onto an expensive prep course. Whether it's worked out that way in practice remains to be seen...

As far as I'm aware, you do get three 'resits' for each exam. So it may be worth a go? I would just check whether there are time limits between sits though. So, if you failed and decided you wanted to do a prep course, would there be sufficient time to do so before resitting?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 16

jy1998

I'm also planning to self study but unsure as to which textbooks I should use. But looking at OUP Concentrates.

Reply 17

jy1998

Or previous LPC notes.

Reply 18

plutology