SRA Launches Consultation on SQE1 Syllabus Changes as July Pass Rate Drops to 42%, Its Second Lowest Ever

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation proposing modest changes to the SQE1 (Solicitors Qualifying Examination Part 1) syllabus, even as data shows that fewer than half of candidates who sat the July 2026 sitting passed the assessment. The consultation focuses on the Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) framework, which defines the legal principles candidates must know and apply in the multiple-choice examination. Proposed changes include removing certain anti-avoidance provisions relating to income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, and inheritance tax, alongside additions in property law, wills and probate, and criminal law. The SRA has not proposed any major restructuring of the subject areas covered. The regulator acknowledged that it has received feedback that the 'breadth and depth of the FLK is too wide' and that the core areas covered are 'too numerous.' Calls to add family law and social welfare law were noted but rejected on the grounds that expanding the syllabus could increase costs and produce longer assessments. Reducing existing practice areas, the SRA said, would risk undermining competence standards for newly qualified solicitors across reserved legal activities. The wider consultation also includes proposals to strengthen expectations around artificial intelligence, professional ethics, and supervision. Separately, the SRA published its July 2026 statistical report showing a 42% overall pass rate for SQE1, down from 53% in January 2026 and one percentage point above the record low of 41% recorded in July 2025. A total of 6,315 candidates completed both parts of the assessment in July, including 5,012 first-time sitters and 1,303 resitters. First-time sitters achieved a 47% pass rate. The July cohort contained the highest proportion of resitters recorded for any SQE1 sitting: 23.4% of FLK1 candidates and 27.8% of FLK2 candidates were resitting. Both FLK1 and FLK2 recorded 50% pass rates across all candidates in July.