Top law firms say SQE graduates lag behind LPC counterparts in key legal skills
updated on 16 May 2025
Reading time: two minutes
Trainees who qualified via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) are said to be underperforming in core legal skills compared to those who completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC), according to new research by Legal Cheek.
The survey of 40 graduate recruitment and learning and development professionals from top City, national and US law firms revealed a concern over SQE graduates’ readiness. Only 7.5% of respondents believed SQE-qualified trainees possessed more legal knowledge than LPC graduates.
Drafting and legal writing were cited as particular areas of concern. When the survey respondents were asked whether SQE trainees had more advanced legal writing and drafting skills than LPC trainees at the same stage, they overwhelmingly disagreed. Not a single participant agreed with the statement; 45% disagreed and 12.5% strongly disagreed. One learning and development professional noted: “Our SQE trainees generally do not have the same written abilities as our LPC trainees.” Meanwhile, only 5% said that SQE trainees were better equipped to do legal research than their LPC counterparts.
One graduate recruiter said: “We have found that the SQE trainees are not considered Day One solicitor ready from our firm’s point of view, despite the SQE2 supposedly measuring this. There’s clearly a large gap between what the SRA [Solicitors Regulation Authority] deems as a Day One solicitor and what our firm does.”
Despite these shortcomings, SQE trainees were praised in several responses for their “resilience” and being able “to cope better with the transition to the training contract, in terms of workload and effort needed”.
The research also raised concerns about mental health due to the demanding nature of the SQE. Respondents cited the “strain of taking the SQE” and “the pressures that come with the format of the exams and the impact that can have on our future trainees’ mental wellbeing”. One respondent linked this to lower pass rates compared to the LPC: “Failing exams has had a considerable impact on mental health.”
