Thanks to @Jaysen for inviting me to share some of my experiences studying for the SQE.
I’ll share a bit of background, how I ended up on an SQE course, and then my best study tip. I hope this is interesting / useful, and I'd be happy to hear other's stories, too...
My Background
In 2024, I decided to retrain as a solicitor. It had been a long time coming. Back in 2009, when choosing my A Levels, my plan was to enter the law. But a very rewarding time at university studying creative industries encouraged me to consider an academic pathway. After receiving a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship from the University of Southampton in 2016, I completed a PhD and began teaching. Over the next 8 years or so, I wrote a number of books for Bloomsbury and Edinburgh University Press. I also did a bit of employment law policy and leadership research advisory work and secured my first NED role.
Unusually for an academic, I discovered that I enjoyed the more administrative side of the job: committees, examinations, policy review, governance, global team leadership. By the time COVID came along and destabilised the academic job market, I had established a strong professional profile (including leading an international research team of 20 people from the UK, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the USA) and developed many transferrable skills that could now perhaps be put to better use in commercial law. After finishing my fourth book, I undertook the career move that had been on my mind, on and off, since about 2009.
SQE 1 Prep Course
The first important choice was whether to complete a conversion course / LLM or go directly to SQE 1 Prep. I spoke with several Law academics, and they confirmed my choice to dive into the deep end with SQE prep. I already had three degrees and the necessary discipline to undertake self-directed study. After researching several options (balancing practicality with reputation), I signed-up for a 40-week part-time SQE 1 Prep course with BARBRI, for the July 2026 exam.
My decision to self-fund SQE 1 was strategic. A training contract is equally important, of course, but given the fact that I had limited commercial legal qualifications on my CV (just one week of work experience at a mid-sized regional firm, and a few other bits and pieces), I wanted to start SQE under my own steam so that law firms could see that I was committed to the new career. And, if it might take longer than planned to receive a TC offer, then I would be taking at least one practical step forward in 2026.
The BARBRI course included an Introduction to Law module. This established some of the key principles of legal study, giving me the confidence to catch up with fellow students who might have completed a Law degree or conversion course. BARBRI encourages students to manage their own “PSP” (Personal Study Plan), organising their revision around work and planning study days to suit their schedule. Nevertheless, it is very common for students to create independent study plans alongside the PSP, including flashcards and additional readings (such as the Revise SQE book series by Amy and David Sixsmith).
Preparing for SQE 1 is very different to writing a PhD thesis, and so I had to adopt a new kind of study plan. Although they are not for everyone, I found that flashcards were very effective tools. A typical study day for me involves completing a few hours on the PSP, reading a chapter or two of Revise SQE, and creating a handful of flashcards based on any information that is not quite going in. I regularly put a handful of cards in my pocket and go out for a walk in the countryside, reading and memorising information as I go.
Those activities account for about 90% of my study method. Flashcards are not to everyone’s taste, of course, but here is one tip that has worked well for me…
Study Tip
Try to come up with silly but memorable ways of retaining information. SQE 1 requires you to cram a large number of different dates, facts, figures and time periods. A lot of the data is very dry, and it is easy to get a little mixed up. When studying, I try to find a way of recontextualising that information by assigning it a cultural reference or narrative function.
For example, take the rule about survivorship: if a spouse or civil partner dies and their partner does not survive for 28 days, their partner does not inherit under their estate. If you can find a way to anchor that number in a scenario that is easy to recall – perhaps for the simple reason that it is a bit silly – that will greatly improve your chances of recalling that information during an MCQ.
I found that I could make the rule memorable by thinking about the zombie film 28 Days Later (2002). All I needed to do was create an association between the rule on survivorship and the word “zombie”. This is an effective method because a study flashcard that says “Survivorship, zombies” is far more memorable (I would hope!) than a flashcard saying “Survivorship, 28 days”. It’s about introducing an element of colour and uniqueness into the study process – giving a jolt of electricity to a rather dry procedural rule. Once the connection to survivorship has been formed, you’ll never forget that period of “28 days”, because its right there in the film’s title. The rule will be contained within that bizarre connection you have forced your brain to make.
This can be surprisingly effective, especially if you manage to align form and content, as in the example above. It might not be enough to give you the “single best answer” every time, but it will be a useful tool to guide your judgement when interpreting a question and the answer choices that are on offer.
I’ll share a bit of background, how I ended up on an SQE course, and then my best study tip. I hope this is interesting / useful, and I'd be happy to hear other's stories, too...
My Background
In 2024, I decided to retrain as a solicitor. It had been a long time coming. Back in 2009, when choosing my A Levels, my plan was to enter the law. But a very rewarding time at university studying creative industries encouraged me to consider an academic pathway. After receiving a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship from the University of Southampton in 2016, I completed a PhD and began teaching. Over the next 8 years or so, I wrote a number of books for Bloomsbury and Edinburgh University Press. I also did a bit of employment law policy and leadership research advisory work and secured my first NED role.
Unusually for an academic, I discovered that I enjoyed the more administrative side of the job: committees, examinations, policy review, governance, global team leadership. By the time COVID came along and destabilised the academic job market, I had established a strong professional profile (including leading an international research team of 20 people from the UK, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the USA) and developed many transferrable skills that could now perhaps be put to better use in commercial law. After finishing my fourth book, I undertook the career move that had been on my mind, on and off, since about 2009.
SQE 1 Prep Course
The first important choice was whether to complete a conversion course / LLM or go directly to SQE 1 Prep. I spoke with several Law academics, and they confirmed my choice to dive into the deep end with SQE prep. I already had three degrees and the necessary discipline to undertake self-directed study. After researching several options (balancing practicality with reputation), I signed-up for a 40-week part-time SQE 1 Prep course with BARBRI, for the July 2026 exam.
My decision to self-fund SQE 1 was strategic. A training contract is equally important, of course, but given the fact that I had limited commercial legal qualifications on my CV (just one week of work experience at a mid-sized regional firm, and a few other bits and pieces), I wanted to start SQE under my own steam so that law firms could see that I was committed to the new career. And, if it might take longer than planned to receive a TC offer, then I would be taking at least one practical step forward in 2026.
The BARBRI course included an Introduction to Law module. This established some of the key principles of legal study, giving me the confidence to catch up with fellow students who might have completed a Law degree or conversion course. BARBRI encourages students to manage their own “PSP” (Personal Study Plan), organising their revision around work and planning study days to suit their schedule. Nevertheless, it is very common for students to create independent study plans alongside the PSP, including flashcards and additional readings (such as the Revise SQE book series by Amy and David Sixsmith).
Preparing for SQE 1 is very different to writing a PhD thesis, and so I had to adopt a new kind of study plan. Although they are not for everyone, I found that flashcards were very effective tools. A typical study day for me involves completing a few hours on the PSP, reading a chapter or two of Revise SQE, and creating a handful of flashcards based on any information that is not quite going in. I regularly put a handful of cards in my pocket and go out for a walk in the countryside, reading and memorising information as I go.
Those activities account for about 90% of my study method. Flashcards are not to everyone’s taste, of course, but here is one tip that has worked well for me…
Study Tip
Try to come up with silly but memorable ways of retaining information. SQE 1 requires you to cram a large number of different dates, facts, figures and time periods. A lot of the data is very dry, and it is easy to get a little mixed up. When studying, I try to find a way of recontextualising that information by assigning it a cultural reference or narrative function.
For example, take the rule about survivorship: if a spouse or civil partner dies and their partner does not survive for 28 days, their partner does not inherit under their estate. If you can find a way to anchor that number in a scenario that is easy to recall – perhaps for the simple reason that it is a bit silly – that will greatly improve your chances of recalling that information during an MCQ.
I found that I could make the rule memorable by thinking about the zombie film 28 Days Later (2002). All I needed to do was create an association between the rule on survivorship and the word “zombie”. This is an effective method because a study flashcard that says “Survivorship, zombies” is far more memorable (I would hope!) than a flashcard saying “Survivorship, 28 days”. It’s about introducing an element of colour and uniqueness into the study process – giving a jolt of electricity to a rather dry procedural rule. Once the connection to survivorship has been formed, you’ll never forget that period of “28 days”, because its right there in the film’s title. The rule will be contained within that bizarre connection you have forced your brain to make.
This can be surprisingly effective, especially if you manage to align form and content, as in the example above. It might not be enough to give you the “single best answer” every time, but it will be a useful tool to guide your judgement when interpreting a question and the answer choices that are on offer.
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