I am a career changer and have just completed my SQE Preparation and Law Foundations Masters which I did part time. I am contemplating sitting SQE 1 in January (self funded as I do not yet have a training contract offer).
My perceived benefit of sitting it early would be that I could potentially start a training contract sooner. My concern is juggling revision with training contract applications- I also have a full time job!
Should I wait to obtain an offer to start the SQE exams or would it benefit my applications to be sitting them already?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Hi KickenK5
Congratulations on finishing your SQE Prep Course and Masters! This is a really great question, and one that a lot of people are considering at the moment. I think that there are pros and cons either way, and ultimately, what matters most is whether you feel comfortable sitting the SQE exams in January. As you mentioned, it will be a lot to juggle revision, applications, and a full-time job! From what I've heard, firms don't expect candidates to have sat the SQE already. However, if you feel confident managing the workload, it could be a plus for other reasons.
Speaking from my own experience, there was a candidate on my vacation scheme who had already completed the SQE. Whilst this wasn't necessarily an explicit benefit to his application, he had an excellent understanding of the law. Therefore, he did well on the assessments on the scheme as he was able to explain complex legal concepts in a concise and clear way, particularly in presentations and group tasks.
However, I'd also note that if you are looking to apply to vacation schemes and DTC, firms won't necessarily assess the law (as there will be non-law students), and so it will be very firm-dependent on whether this aspect is useful. Additionally, it may not mean that you can start a training contract sooner, as it will depend on the firm's capacity. Drawing on my previous example again, this candidate did receive a training contract offer, but is still unable to start it until 2027, as that is the policy the firm has. You may be able to paralegal in the meantime, but this will also depend on whether the firm has vacancies, so it is not guaranteed.
In summary, I don't necessarily think that it would be an explicit benefit on your applications (although this depends on the firm), but sitting it earlier may assist you in other ways. However, as you are already working a full-time job and applying to training contracts, I would focus on these elements and sit the SQE at a later date if you can
Best of luck - I couldn't imagine juggling all of these aspects at once, so you should be super proud!
