Hi everyone,
During SQE1, I was lucky to try out BARBRI, ULaw, and QLTS. I also tried additional resources like ReviseSQE and The100. I know it can be hard to decide which provider to go with, especially if you're self-funding, so I'm going to review the ones I tried, and I'll try be as detailed as possible. Today I want to discuss QLTS!
When I was studying, I'd heard QLTS had the most difficult mock tests. I had seen this on Reddit's SQE subreddit. A friend of mine had also separately purchased QLTS while studying with his firm's provider.
This was particularly important to me given I'd self-funded by paying for BARBRI. I'd heard their tests were too easy compared to the real thing, and I was worried that I would find myself in a situation where I practised questions that didn't reflect the test. This was also reflected in my brief time seeing the lectures on the BARBRI platform. It felt too passive, and I was conscious that I didn't have much time to study.
The GOOD
The SRA's pre-tested questions, QLTS, ULaw and ReviseSQE had the best mocks of the ones I tried. QLTS were certainly the hardest. I felt the SRA's pre-tested questions and ReviseSQE's mocks were the most accurate.
QLTS has 15 mock tests available for FLK1 and FLK2, and I think this is what the provider nails really well. No other provider I could find had the sheer number of well-constructed mocks compared to QLTS.
I think what makes SQE1 hard is that you can convince yourself that you understand the content well, but if you've never practised a mock, you won't realise how close the answer options can be, or how hard it can be to work out which of the two final answer options a question comes down to. QLTS excelled here because I became very used to questions, as well as the format of the exam. I'm also glad I started these early: I sometimes felt bad that I'd go on Reddit and see people had tried 4,000+ questions from the University of Law, whereas I'd hardly done any. But I think doing mocks consistently caught me up on the difficulty and volume of questions I could be exposed to.
As I alluded to earlier, QLTS have difficult questions. I completed 8 FLK1 mocks, and you can see my scores below. I consistently averaged in the low to mid 50s and ended up passing in the first quintile, so I hope this gives you comfort if you struggle with the QLTS mock tests. You're not doing bad; the tests are just hard!
What I also really liked was the design of the mock tests. QLTS has an option to format the exam like the Pearson Vue simulation, which is designed to replicate the exam format as closely as possible. I found this very helpful when it came to the real thing: I became comfortable with the style of question, all the way up to the styling of the timer to not seeing the answer options.
You also have the option to see the answer options after each question, but I'm glad I didn't use this option. Just like th exam, I became used to the feeling of answering questions without being able to check if I was right, and I also wasn't able to cheat or delude myself into thinking I 'could' have got a score if only I'd known X. The reality is I got used to confronting myself with scores in the 50s right up until the exam.
To anyone studying SQE1 with QLTS, I'd highly recommend doing mocks early, especially if you haven't finished the content. It really helped me to understand what I knew and didn't know. It's also very helpful to get used to the amount of time you need to concentrate and the time pressure. In the actual exam, even though I knew I had to be fast, I ran behind on every test, to the point where I only had 1 minute to answer each question in the second half of each exam. I'm not sure what happened there, but if I was to do it again, I would have developed a better system to track whether I on time.
After completing the QLTS mock, you get a really detailed feedback report, which breaks down each question according to each section. I found this very helpful! One of the most useful things I think I did when studying SQE was to build a flashcard system for every question I got wrong. In the lead up to the exam, I drilled as many of these 'wrong' questions, and many of them came up.
One other benefit to having many mock tests is that I quickly developed a sense of the 'topics' each exam tests. For example, you'll see in my pre and post exam write-up that certain topics of each module tend to come up in the practice tests and the real thing, like the Consumer Protection Act in tort or calculating the dates of deemed service in disputes. What was really nice about QLTS's mocks is that I'd have a routine where I'd set myself one 90-question mock in the morning, study the answers, and then go to work. It was easier (and quite fun!) to just wake up and do a mock, as it felt like a clear, concrete activity I had to do.
Finally, I think the QLTS questions were helpful for getting used to the harder-style questions in the exam. Some of the questions in the real thing were very hard, but I never felt that I was not used to the style of question.
I signed up to QLTS for the mock exams, so I'm not sure how this would compare my experience to that of a full student.
I will say that I found the site navigation a little outdated. I was presented with different modules in 'tiles' and had to frequently navigate between 'Not Started', 'In Progress' and 'Completed' modules and scroll to find the module I wanted.
It also felt it was a little messy at times, especially when it came to updates and technical information which show up as tiles on the page. This made the site harder to navigate. Once you're in a section though, like the mock tests, I felt this was very well organised.
QLTS offers digital PDF textbooks and summary notes for each SQE1 module. The summary notes are a condensed version of the textbooks, which break down what you actually need to know for the exam.
My first reaction to the Summary Notes was 'wow, this is so clear!' and I considered switching from the ULaw textbooks I was using to these. To QLTS's credit, I think they are very well organised and from a post-exam review, they seem to cover much of what you'd be expected to know from the exam.
My problem is that there was information in here that wasn't in the ULaw textbooks and vice versa. This is not QLTS's fault, but I had to make a decision between where I wanted to learn information from, and, ultimately, I felt I could trust ULaw as a more reliable provider to give me the information I need. This is the case even though it was often long-winded.
I would also say this is a personal view: I realised I was much more likely to remember something if I understood it, and I could only understand something if I took my time to make my own flashcards from the textbook. Trying to memorise content from the summary notes felt too limited.
A few other points here: I found the ULaw textbooks to be very wordy at times, but they were also written with an enjoyable narrative. Compared to this, from a brief look at the summary notes and textbooks, they were dry to read.
QLTS offers digital flashcards where you can practise your understanding of each topic. I really like the structure of these. You have the topics, based on the curriculum on the left hand side, and you can flip to see the answer. You are then supposed to rate how you did.
The only reason I didn’t use this much is again personal: I think it’s very hard to use someone else’s flashcards, and I’m a big believer that you should write your own if you actually want to remember information.
In this case, I think QLTS's answers could be too wordy at times to be effective flashcards. It would be hard to remember the amount of text that is a correct answer on many of these flashcards, but I understand why that might be useful as a quick refresh.
The AI Chatbot
One feature QLTS offers is an AI Chatbot that allows you to ask it questions based on the material you have studied. I think this an okay feature! My only problem with this is I felt it was an inferior version of what I could get from a back and forth with ChatGPT.
The BAD
It feels a bit wrong to write ‘bad’ here, as I chose to use QLTS for a specific reason (the mocks) for which it did well, and it was my decision to use a different provider to study the material.
Studying the SQE is a bet that your provider gives you the information you should know to pass the exam. And what I find generally odd about the SQE setup is that each provider teaches a different set of information. This makes it hard to know what you should know.
After a certain number of mock tests, I felt frustrated by QLTS’s mocks because many of the questions tested me on information that hadn’t been covered by the University of Law. At times, I felt like I was being tested on very niche bits of information or it felt like the set of questions were trying to trick me out. I think this explains the lower mock scores people receive compared to the scores they receive on the test.
I’d compare this to ReviseSQE or the SRA’s pre-tested questions, which felt more balanced, and more closely related to the real thing. This is because the real thing had a mix of moderate questions, and I only saw a few questions that I had not studied before.
Ideally, I wish the QLTS mocks were more balanced. One day I'd hope the providers also converge to cover the same information, so you can reliably know you'll pass no matter the provider you have.
One thing I especially noticed with QLTS is the extent to which the organisation makes a point to make sure you don’t share information.
I will say that it’s very obvious when using it: from the copyright stamped textbooks to the inability to copy and paste information in a document, the terms of use, and the decision to remove the free mock at the time of the exam.
As a user, this was a less than ideal experience.
In my view, QLTS nails one thing really well: giving you many mock exams. These mock exams are well organised, with clear feedback, and a simulation so you can experience the real thing.
At the time of writing, you can buy 5 mock exams for FLK1 and 5 for FLK2 for £1,990. If you’re in a comfortable financial situation, I think this is worth it purely for the practise.
If you’re with another provider, like The University of Law and you’re not in a comfortable financial situation, I don’t think you need to sign up to QLTS like I did. The University of Law has many practice questions: I only wished they provided mocks that more closely simulated the real thing.
If you're debating which provider to choose, I'd be comfortable recommending QLTS. Albeit a bit dry, they covered the materials well, and the mocks are very good.
During SQE1, I was lucky to try out BARBRI, ULaw, and QLTS. I also tried additional resources like ReviseSQE and The100. I know it can be hard to decide which provider to go with, especially if you're self-funding, so I'm going to review the ones I tried, and I'll try be as detailed as possible. Today I want to discuss QLTS!
Why I chose QLTS
When I was studying, I'd heard QLTS had the most difficult mock tests. I had seen this on Reddit's SQE subreddit. A friend of mine had also separately purchased QLTS while studying with his firm's provider.
This was particularly important to me given I'd self-funded by paying for BARBRI. I'd heard their tests were too easy compared to the real thing, and I was worried that I would find myself in a situation where I practised questions that didn't reflect the test. This was also reflected in my brief time seeing the lectures on the BARBRI platform. It felt too passive, and I was conscious that I didn't have much time to study.
The GOOD
The Mock Exams
The SRA's pre-tested questions, QLTS, ULaw and ReviseSQE had the best mocks of the ones I tried. QLTS were certainly the hardest. I felt the SRA's pre-tested questions and ReviseSQE's mocks were the most accurate.
QLTS has 15 mock tests available for FLK1 and FLK2, and I think this is what the provider nails really well. No other provider I could find had the sheer number of well-constructed mocks compared to QLTS.
I think what makes SQE1 hard is that you can convince yourself that you understand the content well, but if you've never practised a mock, you won't realise how close the answer options can be, or how hard it can be to work out which of the two final answer options a question comes down to. QLTS excelled here because I became very used to questions, as well as the format of the exam. I'm also glad I started these early: I sometimes felt bad that I'd go on Reddit and see people had tried 4,000+ questions from the University of Law, whereas I'd hardly done any. But I think doing mocks consistently caught me up on the difficulty and volume of questions I could be exposed to.
As I alluded to earlier, QLTS have difficult questions. I completed 8 FLK1 mocks, and you can see my scores below. I consistently averaged in the low to mid 50s and ended up passing in the first quintile, so I hope this gives you comfort if you struggle with the QLTS mock tests. You're not doing bad; the tests are just hard!
What I also really liked was the design of the mock tests. QLTS has an option to format the exam like the Pearson Vue simulation, which is designed to replicate the exam format as closely as possible. I found this very helpful when it came to the real thing: I became comfortable with the style of question, all the way up to the styling of the timer to not seeing the answer options.
You also have the option to see the answer options after each question, but I'm glad I didn't use this option. Just like th exam, I became used to the feeling of answering questions without being able to check if I was right, and I also wasn't able to cheat or delude myself into thinking I 'could' have got a score if only I'd known X. The reality is I got used to confronting myself with scores in the 50s right up until the exam.
To anyone studying SQE1 with QLTS, I'd highly recommend doing mocks early, especially if you haven't finished the content. It really helped me to understand what I knew and didn't know. It's also very helpful to get used to the amount of time you need to concentrate and the time pressure. In the actual exam, even though I knew I had to be fast, I ran behind on every test, to the point where I only had 1 minute to answer each question in the second half of each exam. I'm not sure what happened there, but if I was to do it again, I would have developed a better system to track whether I on time.
After completing the QLTS mock, you get a really detailed feedback report, which breaks down each question according to each section. I found this very helpful! One of the most useful things I think I did when studying SQE was to build a flashcard system for every question I got wrong. In the lead up to the exam, I drilled as many of these 'wrong' questions, and many of them came up.
One other benefit to having many mock tests is that I quickly developed a sense of the 'topics' each exam tests. For example, you'll see in my pre and post exam write-up that certain topics of each module tend to come up in the practice tests and the real thing, like the Consumer Protection Act in tort or calculating the dates of deemed service in disputes. What was really nice about QLTS's mocks is that I'd have a routine where I'd set myself one 90-question mock in the morning, study the answers, and then go to work. It was easier (and quite fun!) to just wake up and do a mock, as it felt like a clear, concrete activity I had to do.
Finally, I think the QLTS questions were helpful for getting used to the harder-style questions in the exam. Some of the questions in the real thing were very hard, but I never felt that I was not used to the style of question.
The NEUTRAL
Navigating the site
I signed up to QLTS for the mock exams, so I'm not sure how this would compare my experience to that of a full student.
I will say that I found the site navigation a little outdated. I was presented with different modules in 'tiles' and had to frequently navigate between 'Not Started', 'In Progress' and 'Completed' modules and scroll to find the module I wanted.
It also felt it was a little messy at times, especially when it came to updates and technical information which show up as tiles on the page. This made the site harder to navigate. Once you're in a section though, like the mock tests, I felt this was very well organised.
The Summary Notes
QLTS offers digital PDF textbooks and summary notes for each SQE1 module. The summary notes are a condensed version of the textbooks, which break down what you actually need to know for the exam.
My first reaction to the Summary Notes was 'wow, this is so clear!' and I considered switching from the ULaw textbooks I was using to these. To QLTS's credit, I think they are very well organised and from a post-exam review, they seem to cover much of what you'd be expected to know from the exam.
My problem is that there was information in here that wasn't in the ULaw textbooks and vice versa. This is not QLTS's fault, but I had to make a decision between where I wanted to learn information from, and, ultimately, I felt I could trust ULaw as a more reliable provider to give me the information I need. This is the case even though it was often long-winded.
I would also say this is a personal view: I realised I was much more likely to remember something if I understood it, and I could only understand something if I took my time to make my own flashcards from the textbook. Trying to memorise content from the summary notes felt too limited.
A few other points here: I found the ULaw textbooks to be very wordy at times, but they were also written with an enjoyable narrative. Compared to this, from a brief look at the summary notes and textbooks, they were dry to read.
The Flashcards
QLTS offers digital flashcards where you can practise your understanding of each topic. I really like the structure of these. You have the topics, based on the curriculum on the left hand side, and you can flip to see the answer. You are then supposed to rate how you did.
The only reason I didn’t use this much is again personal: I think it’s very hard to use someone else’s flashcards, and I’m a big believer that you should write your own if you actually want to remember information.
In this case, I think QLTS's answers could be too wordy at times to be effective flashcards. It would be hard to remember the amount of text that is a correct answer on many of these flashcards, but I understand why that might be useful as a quick refresh.
The AI Chatbot
One feature QLTS offers is an AI Chatbot that allows you to ask it questions based on the material you have studied. I think this an okay feature! My only problem with this is I felt it was an inferior version of what I could get from a back and forth with ChatGPT.
The BAD
The Question Difficulty
It feels a bit wrong to write ‘bad’ here, as I chose to use QLTS for a specific reason (the mocks) for which it did well, and it was my decision to use a different provider to study the material.
Studying the SQE is a bet that your provider gives you the information you should know to pass the exam. And what I find generally odd about the SQE setup is that each provider teaches a different set of information. This makes it hard to know what you should know.
After a certain number of mock tests, I felt frustrated by QLTS’s mocks because many of the questions tested me on information that hadn’t been covered by the University of Law. At times, I felt like I was being tested on very niche bits of information or it felt like the set of questions were trying to trick me out. I think this explains the lower mock scores people receive compared to the scores they receive on the test.
I’d compare this to ReviseSQE or the SRA’s pre-tested questions, which felt more balanced, and more closely related to the real thing. This is because the real thing had a mix of moderate questions, and I only saw a few questions that I had not studied before.
Ideally, I wish the QLTS mocks were more balanced. One day I'd hope the providers also converge to cover the same information, so you can reliably know you'll pass no matter the provider you have.
User Limitations
One thing I especially noticed with QLTS is the extent to which the organisation makes a point to make sure you don’t share information.
I will say that it’s very obvious when using it: from the copyright stamped textbooks to the inability to copy and paste information in a document, the terms of use, and the decision to remove the free mock at the time of the exam.
As a user, this was a less than ideal experience.
The VERDICT
In my view, QLTS nails one thing really well: giving you many mock exams. These mock exams are well organised, with clear feedback, and a simulation so you can experience the real thing.
At the time of writing, you can buy 5 mock exams for FLK1 and 5 for FLK2 for £1,990. If you’re in a comfortable financial situation, I think this is worth it purely for the practise.
If you’re with another provider, like The University of Law and you’re not in a comfortable financial situation, I don’t think you need to sign up to QLTS like I did. The University of Law has many practice questions: I only wished they provided mocks that more closely simulated the real thing.
If you're debating which provider to choose, I'd be comfortable recommending QLTS. Albeit a bit dry, they covered the materials well, and the mocks are very good.
