The total cost for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) has already seen an increase of 11 per cent in the first two years of its rollout…and that’s just the exam fees. 

Firms and candidates alike are bemoaning the hidden costs the SQE can bring on top of the price of the exam and law school. 

Law school historically hasn’t come cheap: the current cost of the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the University of Law is £19,950 in London. However, this cost is all-inclusive of the exams, the teaching, and candidates have the added benefit of being able to sit the exams at their usual university campus. 

In April, The Lawyer reported that SQE exam fees will increase from September. SQE1 will cost £1,888 and SQE2 £2,902 – a total of £4,790. 

The price for SQE preparation courses varies hugely. At the top end, the University of Law, which is the preferred provider for firms such as Clifford Chance and White & Case, charges £17,800 for its LLM SQE1 and 2. Plus the exam fee and the total per candidate reaches £22,590.

Though the SQE no longer requires candidates to have studied a law degree, it is understood that most firms will continue to require their candidates to undertake a conversion course if they have not studied a law degree – as was the norm under the LPC route. 

Remaining with the University of Law, the postgraduate diploma in law (PGDL) is a year-long conversion course that costs £14,300 which brings the total for non-law students to £36,890. 

But what are the hidden costs? The sticking point is that there is limited availability for candidates to sit their exams in their preferred locations. 

For the SQE2 oral exams which are spread over two days, candidates can currently only sit in four locations in the UK: London, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff, with spaces limited in each.

As an example, an off-peak return for the train to Cardiff from London is currently £131.10. For a student forced to go from Newcastle to Cardiff it would cost even more. Speaking to The Lawyer, one student had even logged into their SRA account to find that the only available location for their SQE2 sitting was in Dubai. 

“It’s not even just the pass rate stuff; it’s actually the availability for the exams and even getting onto them in the first place. There’s the issue we had where our apprentices had to go to Manchester to do their SQE2. We had to pay for their travel and put them in hotels. If we hadn’t funded them: how are they expected to go to Manchester every day for four days?” commented one London-based early talent head. 

SQE1 is sat over two non-consecutive days, SQE2 orals over two consecutive days and SQE2 written exams over three consecutive days. Giving candidates a modest food budget of £35 per day, a hotel allowance of £70 per day, the hidden cost of taking the SQE could be upwards of £1,200.*

In a worst-case scenario, as a non-law student looking to qualify through the SQE route, the total combination of school fees, exam fees and hidden costs could set them back up to £40,000.

What this estimation speaks to is the unpredictable nature of the SQE leaving firms unable to effectively plan and budget their recruitment strategies and talent pipelines. 

Even if self-funders can front £40,000, this does not include the cost to retake. For SQE1 the pass rate has averaged 52 per cent over the last year, meaning the prospect of failing by even a few marks is a reality for many candidates. The cost to retake is the same as the initial cost of the exams.

Potential hidden SQE costs: money can rack up for those travelling to all seven SQE exams

Removing the conversion course fees, the average total is around £24,000 – an eye-watering amount for an individual to front, even if a postgraduate master’s loan offers a short-term contribution of £12,000. 

From a firm’s perspective, for example, times £24,000 by the 110 trainees that Clifford Chance hires per year and the total reaches an investment of over £2.6m annually. 

Considering that many firms won’t charge out the cost of the work trainees undertake, this investment often won’t bear fruit until trainees reach qualification. 

The cost-benefit analysis of investment into future trainees at City firms is currently under the microscope. Firms now face several potential policy changes as a result of these new issues posed by the SQE: how to mitigate potential drop-off due to low pass rates, whether to front hidden costs for sponsored candidates and whether, after all that, firms are willing to pay for it all over again for candidates who fail on their first attempt. 

* If candidates sit their SQE exams outside of London in Cardiff.