SQE qualifying work experience (QWE)

SQE qualifying work experience is two years' full-time (or equivalent) real legal work, which can be spread over up to four organisations and confirmed by a solicitor or COLP. You can gain it before, during or after the exams. Read the SRA's QWE page alongside this plan.

What the SQE qualifying work experience rules say

The SRA asks for two years' full-time experience, or the part-time equivalent. It does not define "equivalent" and expects a common-sense view. If you work three days a week, that is three fifths of full time, so two years full-time equivalent takes about three years and four months of calendar time. Be ready to explain your sums to the person who signs you off.

You can spread the two years over up to four organisations. The work can be paid or voluntary. It can be done in England or Wales or abroad, and it does not have to be in English and Welsh law. It must be real work for real clients or users. Simulated exercises do not count. The work must involve legal services as the Legal Services Act 2007 defines them, so a purely administrative role does not qualify.

You need not finish QWE before you sit SQE1 or SQE2. You must have it registered by the time you apply for admission. Past work can be claimed later, and the SRA sets no limit on how far back you can go.

What counts as QWE: examples

The SRA gives these examples of places where QWE can be gained: a placement during a law degree, a law clinic, a law centre or other voluntary or charitable organisation, paralegal work and a training contract. The job title matters less than what you actually did.

• Counts: a paralegal in a conveyancing team who drafts documents, takes client instructions and reports to a supervising solicitor.
• Counts: volunteer casework at a law centre, with a solicitor reviewing your advice.
• Counts: in-house legal work, if it gives you real experience of legal services and someone qualified can confirm it.
• Does not count: a mock trial, a moot or a university simulation.
• Does not count: a role with only one competence on offer. The confirmer must say you had the chance to develop at least two.

Who can sign off your QWE

A solicitor of England and Wales or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) must confirm your QWE. They do not need a current practising certificate. A barrister or a lawyer qualified only abroad cannot confirm it, unless they are also a solicitor or COLP.

If nobody senior in your organisation is a solicitor, a solicitor from outside can confirm, but only if they have reviewed your work and received feedback from your supervisor. The confirmer states the length of the experience, that you provided legal services, that you had the chance to develop some or all of the competences for solicitors (at least two), and that no concern about your character and suitability arose. They are not certifying that you are suitable. That check happens at admission.

The competences come from the Statement of Solicitor Competence. Read it on the SRA site and map your tasks to it as you go, not at the end.

A worked QWE plan for a paralegal

Take Amira, a paralegal at a high street firm. She has 14 months full-time in a residential property team. She also did four months of volunteering at a law clinic as a student, supervised by a solicitor who can confirm it. She plans to sit SQE1 in July and SQE2 the following year.

1. Count what she has. 14 plus 4 gives 18 months across two organisations. She needs 6 more.
2. Ask early. She asks her supervising solicitor to confirm the 14 months now, while the details are fresh, rather than at the end.
3. Fill the gap with range. Her property work is narrow. She asks to work on wills and probate files, under supervision, for the next 6 months, so her record shows a second practice area. Watching is not enough: she must actually do the work.
4. Keep a log. For each month she notes three tasks, the client type and the competence it shows, such as "drafted a lease report, advised on a client's options".
5. Register. She records each period with the SRA and checks that her confirmers are solicitors or COLPs.

Common QWE mistakes

• Waiting until the last month to ask for confirmation. Supervisors move jobs and forget details.
• Counting a role where a barrister or foreign lawyer is the only supervisor, with no solicitor or COLP available.
• Counting simulated work, such as moots or mock interviews.
• Assuming part-time work is half the time. Work out your equivalent and be ready to explain it.
• Ignoring the four-organisation limit when you have had many short placements.

QWE and the exams are separate. Strong QWE helps you with the SQE2 skills, which test client interviewing and legal drafting. It does not replace practice. Qualified lawyers do not need QWE at all, see SQE exemptions.

Questions

Related

• SQE exemptions for qualified lawyers
• How to prepare for SQE1 and SQE2
• SQE2: what it tests and how to prepare
• SQE without a law degree: what you need
• SQE vs LPC: which route applies to you

Sources: SRA: Qualifying work experience; SRA: Becoming a solicitor through the SQE; SRA: Pathways to qualification. Checked 10 November 2026.