SQE fees rise from September, taking the first-attempt total past £5,000 for the first time. The SRA is also reviewing the Statement of Solicitor Competence, which sets the benchmark for every annual competence declaration. LawCare has begun turning its Life in the Law findings into resources that firms can use.
How much will the SQE cost from September?
The SRA has agreed its annual increase in candidate fees. It takes effect from the start of the 2026/27 academic year in September and applies to anyone booking from October 2026. SQE1 rises from £1,934 to £2,006 and SQE2 from £2,974 to £3,086, taking the first-attempt total from £4,908 to £5,092.
That is an increase of £184, which the SRA attributes to inflation plus a small uplift towards translating the assessments into Welsh. It is the fourth increase since the SQE launched in 2021.
For anyone weighing a July sitting against an October one, £184 is small against the cost of failing. Resits are charged separately, and an SQE2 resit attracts the full fee. Booking early to beat an increase is a poor reason to sit before you are ready. Our guide to what SQE1 actually tests is the better place to start that judgement.
What is the SRA reviewing in the competence statement?
The SRA is reviewing the Statement of Solicitor Competence and the SQE Functioning Legal Knowledge specification to check both remain current. Online focus groups facilitated with Kaplan ran in February and March 2026, with outputs expected later in the year.
The review reaches further than candidates. The Statement defines the skills, knowledge and behaviours the SRA assesses before admission by any route. It is also the benchmark behind the annual competence declaration every practising solicitor makes at renewal. That declaration confirms an up-to-date understanding of relevant legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, and that identified learning needs have been addressed. The SRA monitors those declarations and can restrict practice where it has concerns.
Nothing has been published yet. Anyone building a training plan for the coming year should expect the specification to move.
LawCare turns Life in the Law into a programme
LawCare has said it will run a programme of engagement through 2026. It will develop resources and training to help leaders act on the recommendations in Life in the Law 2025.
That report drew on a survey run between January and March 2025. It found 59.1% of participants reporting poor mental wellbeing, and 32% saying they could leave the sector entirely within five years. Its recommendations are aimed at organisations rather than individuals. They centre on managing work intensity at its root, and on treating people management as a skill worth valuing.
The programme is the part worth watching. Survey findings have been in circulation for years. Material a supervisor can actually pick up and use is the thing that has been missing.
Two of these land on practising solicitors rather than candidates. The competence statement is the benchmark behind the declaration every solicitor signs at October renewal, so a revision reaches the whole profession rather than the next intake. The LawCare recommendations put the work on supervisors and firm leaders, not on individuals managing their own resilience.