SQE2 attendance note template

An SQE2 attendance note template needs eight headings: client and meeting details, instructions, key facts, issues and advice, client decisions, next steps, ethics and risk points, and open questions. Use the same order every time so you can write fast. See the full attendance note guide and an annotated example.

The template

Copy these headings into your answer. Keep each one short. The assessor reads for facts recorded, advice given and clear next steps.

1. Header. Client name, date, who attended, matter, your name and role.
2. Instructions. What the client wants, in one or two lines, in their terms.
3. Key facts. Only facts that matter to the legal question. Use short bullet points. Include dates, figures, names.
4. Issues and advice. One short paragraph per issue: the rule, how it applies, what you told the client.
5. Client decisions. What the client chose or will think about.
6. Next steps. Action, who does it, by when.
7. Ethics and risk. Identity checks, conflicts, confidentiality, costs information, any warning you gave.
8. Open points. Documents to collect and facts you could not confirm.

What goes under each heading

Record what the client said and what you advised. Do not copy the whole conversation. Do not add facts the client did not give. If something is unclear, say so under open points.

Under advice, state the law with its source where you know it, then apply it to this client. A bare rule scores less than a rule applied. Keep the client in view: say what the law means for their goal, their family or their money.

Mini example: a wills client

This is a shortened note. A real answer would cover more facts.

Header. Mr Daniel Okafor, 54. Meeting 3 March. Present: DO and trainee. Matter: new will.

Instructions. DO wants his wife Grace to have the home for life, then his children to share it. He wants to appoint his brother as executor.

Key facts.

• Married to Grace. Two children: Ben, 27 (from a previous relationship) and Maya, 15.
• Home owned jointly with Grace. DO does not know if it is held as joint tenants or tenants in common.
• Existing will from 2009 leaves everything to his first partner.

Issues and advice. A life interest for Grace needs a trust, so the home must pass under the will. That only works if the home is held as tenants in common. If it is held as joint tenants it passes to Grace by survivorship, unless DO first severs the joint tenancy by written notice to Grace (Law of Property Act 1925, s 36(2)). I advised a check of the Land Registry title. I explained that his marriage to Grace may already have revoked the 2009 will (Wills Act 1837, s 18), but a new will removes any doubt. I also explained that some family members, including his children, can claim reasonable financial provision from his estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, so the reasons for the split should be recorded.

Client decisions. DO will think about trustees. He agreed to a new will to revoke the 2009 will.

Next steps. Trainee to obtain the title register this week. DO to send ID and a list of assets within 14 days. Trainee to draft the will for the supervising solicitor to review.

Ethics. ID checked. Client care letter and costs information to follow. We act for DO only, not Grace.

Open points. Value of pension death benefits. Whether Ben has been told.

Mistakes that lose marks

• Writing a transcript instead of a note.
• Leaving out next steps or giving none with a person and a time.
• Stating law without applying it to the client.
• Missing the ethics point: ID, conflict between spouses, costs information, confidentiality.
• Inventing facts to fill a heading.
• Running out of time on heading 4. Write headings 6 and 7 before polishing heading 4.

Checklist before you stop

• Every heading present, in order.
• Each fact useful to a legal point.
• Each issue has rule, application and advice.
• Each action has an owner and a date.
• At least one ethics or risk line.

You can practise the whole sequence of interview then note with a free AI client interview, with no sign-up. Compare your note with the wills and probate guide.

Questions

Related

• SQE2 attendance note: how to write a strong one
• SQE2 attendance note example
• SQE2 client interview: how to structure it
• SQE2 wills and probate: what the tasks look like
• SQE2 mock: how to run one that helps

Sources: SRA presentation: The SQE2 assessment; Law Society: SQE1 and SQE2 assessments; SRA: ethics and professional conduct changes for SQE2 after 1 September 2026; Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Checked 10 November 2026.