How I managed working as a paralegal alongside SQE1

When did you start and complete SQE1?​

January - July 2022

Who was your SQE provider?​

College of Legal Practice

Why did you choose the provider you did?​

The main factors were the following:

1. Cost - this was by far one of the cheapest providers and this was a big factor for me as I needed to self-fund my course.

2. Flexibility - this course was incredibly flexible in the sense that I could study whenever I wanted and did not need to be available at specific times (out of choice). I studied while also working full-time, so having this flexibility was crucial for me. The biggest downside of this is obviously that you are more reliant on pre-recorded seminars and the course becomes mainly self-taught, which may not be suitable for someone who learns better with direct and regular contact with teachers. As a caveat, there were weekly seminars available which you could join in a group setting and get more direct learning, however I was unable to attend these due to work commitments.

3. Recommendation - the course was also recommended by my QWE provider, so I trusted that there had been some sort of screening process to ensure that the content was up to a suitable standard.

What kind of support did your provider offer during the SQE?​

The course provided weekly seminars to discuss particular topics in-depth, monthly 1-1 catch ups with your designated supervisor to discuss the course/general feelings or concerns, discussion boards to pose subject-specific questions and pastoral/mental health support.

Please explain the structure of the SQE programme in your own words​

In terms of structure the course was purely online and covered all the modules assessed in the SQE1 exam (Criminal law and practice, Business law, Conduct and Ethics, Contract Law, Tort, Disputes, Land Law, Legal Services, EU and Public Law, Property Law, Trusts and Wills).

Each module would be split into sub-categories, i.e for Contract Law there would be 'Formation' and then "Terms" etc. The course has a built-in calendar on the online dashboard which sets out which module and sub-category you need to study for that week. You would then be required to read the materials provided for that sub-category and then complete 10 multiple choice questions (in the style of the SQE 1 exam) based on what you have just read. This was the main 'learning' element of the course and is primarily self-taught and required about 10-15 hours of work per week. In addition, there was a weekly seminar on a specific topic where you could directly ask a tutor question and they would go over areas that the students had scored the lowest on the multiple choice questions.

Throughout the course there were also 3 mini exam weeks, in which you would be required to complete a mock multiple-choice exam under timed conditions (25 questions/ 50 questions). I found this one of the most beneficial parts of the course, as it allowed me to engage how ready I was to sit the SQE1 and track my progress throughout the course.

After the final mock-exam at the end of the course you would have a meeting with your 1-1 supervisor to discuss whether you were ready to sit the real SQE1 exam.In the buildup to the end of the course, there are seminar sessions to discuss exam technique and what to expect in the actual SQE1 exam.

How did you study for SQE1?​

In terms of studying while working full-time, I would either do a few hours before or after work depending on how busy I was that day. During the buildup to the mini-mock exam weeks I would also work on weekends to get additional revision. For the exam itself, I was fortunate enough to be given 3 weeks of study leave and revised for roughly 10 hours a day during the entire 3-week build-up.

In terms of additional resources, the example questions provided by the SRA are a must for any candidate, as this will be the closest exam you will get to the real thing. I also purchased additional multiple-choice questions from Oxford University Press, as I found answering multiple choice questions was the most effective way for me to study.

I used my course providers platform mainly for the multiple-choice questions provided, so that I could develop my exam technique and track what areas I had underperformed in and focus my revision on those topics. The course had lots of ways to easily view your stats for each topic, so this was easy to track. I also used the written materials provided for each core module to create revision cards, which I personally find helpful as a way to remember all the key bits of information for each topic.

Maths. A more practical tip I found for the exam itself was to leave all the math's questions for the end. This way my brain did not need to constantly switch in and out of 'math's mode' during the exam and I found I was able to answer the questions much more quickly this way.

Now that you have completed SQE1, what advice would you have for passing the exam?​

I think the following advice would be helpful for anyone planning to sit the exam:

1. Understand the exam technique from an early stage and practice it throughout the entirety of your course/build-up. The biggest thing I found out while preparing for the SQE1 is how important exam technique is for answering these type of multiple-choice questions, as often there are multiple options that are technically correct and you need to figure out what is the best possible option (all in very timed conditions). I would recommend reviewing the sample SRA questions as soon as possible to get a good idea of what the exam will actually be like.

2. Understanding the difficulty of the exam. One of the hardest and most stressful things to gauge when preparing for SQE1 is how difficult it will actually be, as no prep-course is actually endorsed by the SRA and the difficulty of your course providers multiple-choice questions may not be reflective of the actual exam. Again, the best thing here is to review the questions provided from the SRA, as this will be the closest to what the actual exam would be like. From my personal experience, I heard many candidates say that the actual SQE1 exam was significantly harder than the sample questions, but I personally found it to be quite reflective of the actual exam, albeit some questions on the real exam were significantly harder than what was provided in the sample questions. In regard to my course providers multiple choice questions, they were slightly easier than what came up in the actual exam.

3. Tracking weak areas. If your time is limited due to work commitments etc, one of the most important things you can do is to identify what are your weakest areas from an early stage and focus more/time resources covering these topics. For me, I was able to do this using the results from the multiple-choice questions provided by my course. I then input all this data into an excel spreadsheet and highlighted anything in red I scored 6/10 or less in to focus my time on.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently to study or revise for the exam?​

I would have tracked my progress from the very beginning of my prep course, as I only started doing this about halfway through when I realized I needed to be more efficient with my time. I would also of reviewed the SRA sample questions at an earlier stage, so that I knew from the outset what to expect from the exam/what would be required from me.

Were you employed alongside the SQE?​

I did the SQE1 while working as a paralegal full-time. I balanced this by working in the mornings/after work, generally finishing by 9:00pm. I found that if I did a few hours each day this was much more manageable than leaving it all to do on Thursday night. I was also able to remain social most weekends and only needed to work on Saturdays when I was revising for mock assessments. It helped that the hours requirements from my course were on the lower side (10-15).I would recommend this option to anyone who is comfortable with predominately self-studying, as from my experience it is difficult to find a part-time course that offers a lot of direct teaching with the flexibility required to do alongside a full-time job.

 

[College of Legal Practice team]

When did you start and complete SQE1?​

January - July 2022

Who was your SQE provider?​

College of Legal Practice

Why did you choose the provider you did?​

The main factors were the following:

1. Cost - this was by far one of the cheapest providers and this was a big factor for me as I needed to self-fund my course.

2. Flexibility - this course was incredibly flexible in the sense that I could study whenever I wanted and did not need to be available at specific times (out of choice). I studied while also working full-time, so having this flexibility was crucial for me. The biggest downside of this is obviously that you are more reliant on pre-recorded seminars and the course becomes mainly self-taught, which may not be suitable for someone who learns better with direct and regular contact with teachers. As a caveat, there were weekly seminars available which you could join in a group setting and get more direct learning, however I was unable to attend these due to work commitments.

3. Recommendation - the course was also recommended by my QWE provider, so I trusted that there had been some sort of screening process to ensure that the content was up to a suitable standard.

What kind of support did your provider offer during the SQE?​

The course provided weekly seminars to discuss particular topics in-depth, monthly 1-1 catch ups with your designated supervisor to discuss the course/general feelings or concerns, discussion boards to pose subject-specific questions and pastoral/mental health support.

Please explain the structure of the SQE programme in your own words​

In terms of structure the course was purely online and covered all the modules assessed in the SQE1 exam (Criminal law and practice, Business law, Conduct and Ethics, Contract Law, Tort, Disputes, Land Law, Legal Services, EU and Public Law, Property Law, Trusts and Wills).

Each module would be split into sub-categories, i.e for Contract Law there would be 'Formation' and then "Terms" etc. The course has a built-in calendar on the online dashboard which sets out which module and sub-category you need to study for that week. You would then be required to read the materials provided for that sub-category and then complete 10 multiple choice questions (in the style of the SQE 1 exam) based on what you have just read. This was the main 'learning' element of the course and is primarily self-taught and required about 10-15 hours of work per week. In addition, there was a weekly seminar on a specific topic where you could directly ask a tutor question and they would go over areas that the students had scored the lowest on the multiple choice questions.

Throughout the course there were also 3 mini exam weeks, in which you would be required to complete a mock multiple-choice exam under timed conditions (25 questions/ 50 questions). I found this one of the most beneficial parts of the course, as it allowed me to engage how ready I was to sit the SQE1 and track my progress throughout the course.

After the final mock-exam at the end of the course you would have a meeting with your 1-1 supervisor to discuss whether you were ready to sit the real SQE1 exam.In the buildup to the end of the course, there are seminar sessions to discuss exam technique and what to expect in the actual SQE1 exam.

How did you study for SQE1?​

In terms of studying while working full-time, I would either do a few hours before or after work depending on how busy I was that day. During the buildup to the mini-mock exam weeks I would also work on weekends to get additional revision. For the exam itself, I was fortunate enough to be given 3 weeks of study leave and revised for roughly 10 hours a day during the entire 3-week build-up.

In terms of additional resources, the example questions provided by the SRA are a must for any candidate, as this will be the closest exam you will get to the real thing. I also purchased additional multiple-choice questions from Oxford University Press, as I found answering multiple choice questions was the most effective way for me to study.

I used my course providers platform mainly for the multiple-choice questions provided, so that I could develop my exam technique and track what areas I had underperformed in and focus my revision on those topics. The course had lots of ways to easily view your stats for each topic, so this was easy to track. I also used the written materials provided for each core module to create revision cards, which I personally find helpful as a way to remember all the key bits of information for each topic.

Maths. A more practical tip I found for the exam itself was to leave all the math's questions for the end. This way my brain did not need to constantly switch in and out of 'math's mode' during the exam and I found I was able to answer the questions much more quickly this way.

Now that you have completed SQE1, what advice would you have for passing the exam?​

I think the following advice would be helpful for anyone planning to sit the exam:

1. Understand the exam technique from an early stage and practice it throughout the entirety of your course/build-up. The biggest thing I found out while preparing for the SQE1 is how important exam technique is for answering these type of multiple-choice questions, as often there are multiple options that are technically correct and you need to figure out what is the best possible option (all in very timed conditions). I would recommend reviewing the sample SRA questions as soon as possible to get a good idea of what the exam will actually be like.

2. Understanding the difficulty of the exam. One of the hardest and most stressful things to gauge when preparing for SQE1 is how difficult it will actually be, as no prep-course is actually endorsed by the SRA and the difficulty of your course providers multiple-choice questions may not be reflective of the actual exam. Again, the best thing here is to review the questions provided from the SRA, as this will be the closest to what the actual exam would be like. From my personal experience, I heard many candidates say that the actual SQE1 exam was significantly harder than the sample questions, but I personally found it to be quite reflective of the actual exam, albeit some questions on the real exam were significantly harder than what was provided in the sample questions. In regard to my course providers multiple choice questions, they were slightly easier than what came up in the actual exam.

3. Tracking weak areas. If your time is limited due to work commitments etc, one of the most important things you can do is to identify what are your weakest areas from an early stage and focus more/time resources covering these topics. For me, I was able to do this using the results from the multiple-choice questions provided by my course. I then input all this data into an excel spreadsheet and highlighted anything in red I scored 6/10 or less in to focus my time on.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently to study or revise for the exam?​

I would have tracked my progress from the very beginning of my prep course, as I only started doing this about halfway through when I realized I needed to be more efficient with my time. I would also of reviewed the SRA sample questions at an earlier stage, so that I knew from the outset what to expect from the exam/what would be required from me.

Were you employed alongside the SQE?​

I did the SQE1 while working as a paralegal full-time. I balanced this by working in the mornings/after work, generally finishing by 9:00pm. I found that if I did a few hours each day this was much more manageable than leaving it all to do on Thursday night. I was also able to remain social most weekends and only needed to work on Saturdays when I was revising for mock assessments. It helped that the hours requirements from my course were on the lower side (10-15).I would recommend this option to anyone who is comfortable with predominately self-studying, as from my experience it is difficult to find a part-time course that offers a lot of direct teaching with the flexibility required to do alongside a full-time job.

This is such a helpful review and the guidance in particular will ring true for many students, thanks for sharing Ollie

 

[Law1099]

Thanks for this! I’ve been freaking out because people are saying you can’t even fit in a part time job during the sqe, so it’s great to see you can do it (albeit very hard - understandable!) with a full time job

 

[Jaysen]

Thanks for this! I’ve been freaking out because people are saying you can’t even fit in a part time job during the sqe, so it’s great to see you can do it (albeit very hard - understandable!) with a full time job

Agreed! I would say I spoke to quite a few candidates who worked alongside the SQE (both full and part time). It did sound very intense, but it does happen.

 

[Sarai]

I work 4 days a week as a trainee and do the SQE 1 day a week with BPP. I find this hard to fit around work as the BPP course content is a lot, it's not really tailored to multiple choice questions for 10+ modules and seems to be almost identical to the LPC material (which has much less modules). It's nice to know you can pass whilst working full time as I need to do that too.