legalEASE.
SQE 1 can feel extremely daunting. When I first started preparing, I searched everywhere for practical advice and honest tips from people who had been through it themselves and passed.
Below are a few tips and tricks that genuinely worked for me. Everyone is different and learns differently, but I hope these tips make the process a little more manageable.
1. Start revising black letter law as soon as possible:
If you can, begin revising the black letter law before your prep course actually starts. I began revising in August, ahead of my course starting in September and found this gave me a solid foundation when I started. Having some baseline knowledge meant I wasn’t trying to learn everything from scratch while also juggling the practical modules, which significantly reduced the feeling of being overwhelmed as it is 50% black letter law.
2. Do as many SBAQs as you can
SBAQs are essential. I started small, doing around 10 questions at a time, focusing on understanding the content and the exam style wording. As I understood the content more and the exam approached, I gradually increased the number and focused on my time. By the end of my revision, I was completing around 100 questions in one sitting to build stamina and get used to the pace of the exam.
3. Use the SRA mock exams
The SRA does not provide many mock exams, and they are generally easier than the real thing, they are still very useful and can build your confidence. They also help you familiarise yourself with how the questions are structured and how the SRA expects answers to be approached.
4. Take your prep course mock exams seriously
If you are enrolled in a prep course, make the most of the mock exams. I completed my LLM Legal Practice at the University of Law, and I found their mocks to be very similar in difficulty to the actual SQE 1 exam. Treating these as real exam conditions helped me identify gaps in my knowledge and build confidence.
5. Take breaks
It can be tempting to revise non-stop as you feel very overwhelmed, but taking regular breaks is essential for your physical and emotional health. Not feeling 100% will only slow you down and make your revision less effective. Going for a walk, going out for lunch or dinner or meeting your friends can help you clear your head and have better focus.
6. Celebrate the small wins
SQE 1 is a long process. It can feel never ending. So, it is important to acknowledge your progress as you go. Whether it is improving your SBAQ score average or time, finishing a long and boring topic or sticking to your revision plan for the week, celebrating the small wins can keep motivation high and remind you of the progress you have made.
7. Keep yourself organised
Organisation makes a huge difference during SQE 1 prep. Having a clear timetable for the 4 or 5 months of prep you are about to do, keeping track of topics covered and noting areas that needed more work helped me stay on top of everything. Being organised reduced stress and made my revision time far more efficient.
I treated revision and the prep course as a 9-5 job, 7 days a week which helped me keep on top of everything and meant I was able to rest or see friends in the evening.
8. Make flashcards or find what makes you tick
Flashcards worked very well for me, especially for black letter law and tricky areas which you need to go over again and again. But everyone works and learns differently. Whether it is flashcards, mind maps, using a whiteboard or teaching the content to someone else, the key is to find what works for you and sticking to it.
Finally, it is important to remember this is simply what worked for me. There is no one size fits all approach to SQE 1. Take these tips and look around for more, adapt them to your learning style and be kind to yourself throughout.