SQE2 mock: how to run one that helps

You can take a free SQE2 mock client interview on SQE Mock with no sign-up: an AI client answers you by voice or text for the whole interview, then you write the attendance note and get estimated A to F grades for each published criterion. Full timed SQE2 mocks, with the 4 oral and 12 written stations in exam order, come with a pass from £19. A useful SQE2 mock copies the real timings, uses all six skills, hides the ethics point and is marked against the published criteria. This page shows how to run one, how to mark it and how to learn from it.

What a good SQE2 mock must do

Many people buy mock papers and read the model answers. That feels like practice but it is not. A mock is only useful if you produce a full answer to time, with no notes, and then compare it with criteria.

• Realistic timing. Use the typical timings: interview 25 minutes after about 10 minutes of reading, attendance note 25 minutes, advocacy 45 minutes of preparation then 15 minutes, case and matter analysis 60, research 60, writing 30, drafting 45.
• Both formats. The real assessment has four oral tasks and twelve written. A mock that is only written leaves your speaking untested.
• No labels on the ethics point. In the real tasks ethics questions are not flagged. Your mock should not flag them either.
• Criteria-based marking. Each criterion is graded A to F. A bare score tells you nothing about what to change.
• Original material. The SRA publishes sample questions on its SQE site. Use those once, early, to learn the style. Be careful with anyone who says they sell real exam content: the assessments are confidential.

A written half day, step by step

A written half day has four tasks: case and matter analysis, legal research, legal writing and legal drafting. Their typical timings add up to 195 minutes, or three hours and fifteen minutes of task time. Run it like this.

Take a short break only where the real half day would have one. Do not pause the clock to look up law. If you would not have the source in the real task, you cannot use it in the mock.

An oral half day

An oral half day has one advocacy task and one interview with an attendance note. That is about two hours of timed work: advocacy is 45 minutes of preparation and 15 of performance, and the interview is 10 minutes of reading, 25 with the client and 25 for the note. Ask a friend to play the client or judge, or use an AI role-player. Record yourself. Listen back once for content and once for delivery.

How to mark your own mock

Mark each task against the criteria for that skill. Be hard on yourself. For every criterion, write the grade you would give and the evidence in your answer. If you cannot point to evidence, the grade is low.

The log above is an example. Keep your own for every mock. After four or five mocks, patterns appear: the same missed rule, the same weak structure, the same habit under time pressure. Those patterns are your revision plan.

A four-week mock schedule

1. Week 1: one task per skill, untimed first, then timed. Learn the structures from the skill pages.
2. Week 2: two timed written half days, one in each of two areas. Mark them and update your error log.
3. Week 3: one oral half day and one written half day in your two weakest areas. Re-do any task where you scored D or below.
4. Week 4: a full run of one oral and one written half day under exam conditions, then rest.

You can start with our free taster: an AI client interview with no sign-up, with estimated marking against the published criteria. The task list shows all tasks, and pricing shows what a full set costs.

Mistakes people make with mocks

• Doing a mock untimed and calling it practice.
• Reading the model answer before writing your own.
• Only doing the areas you like. The real assessment uses all five.
• Never re-doing a failed task. Repeat it a week later; the improvement shows you the habit has changed.
• Ignoring delivery in oral tasks. Pace, tone and eye contact affect how the client or judge receives you.

Mock checklist

• Timer set to real timings.
• No notes or phone.
• Full written answer or full spoken answer.
• Self-marked by criterion, with evidence.
• Error log updated.
• One ethics check done per task.
• Weakest area scheduled again.

Questions

Related

• SQE2: what it tests and how to prepare
• SQE2 pass mark: how it works

Sources: SRA presentation: The SQE2 assessment; Law Society: SQE1 and SQE2 assessments; SRA: SQE2 marking and overall pass marks explained; SRA: SQE site. Checked 10 November 2026.