The shape of the route
If you are already a qualified lawyer, cross-qualifying in England and Wales comes down to four things: the assessments, any exemptions from them, your work experience, and the SRA's checks on you as a person. They are separate requirements. Clearing one says nothing about the others.
Step 1: Confirm you count as a qualified lawyer
Everything downstream depends on this. The SRA means someone holding a professional legal qualification that confers rights to practise, in England and Wales, elsewhere in the UK, or abroad. If what you hold is an academic degree rather than a licence to practise, the qualified-lawyer route is not open to you and you are on the standard route.
Step 2: Work out which assessments you can be exempted from
You may apply for an exemption from SQE1 and/or SQE2. There are two routes — an agreed exemption and an individual assessment exemption — and they require different evidence. We cover the difference in agreed exemption or individual assessment exemption.
The SRA decides. It will do so within 180 days of a complete application. You cannot seek an exemption from an assessment you have already failed.
Step 3: Sit whatever is left
Most cross-qualifying lawyers are exempted from one stage and sit the other. If SQE1 remains, you are facing Functioning Legal Knowledge across thirteen subjects, in single-best-answer format, at roughly a minute and three quarters per question.
Being an experienced practitioner does not make SQE1 easy. It tests breadth across subjects most practitioners have not touched since university, in a format that rewards recall speed over judgement.
Sitting SQE1? Our course covers all thirteen FLK1 and FLK2 subjects with a citation behind every rule, and the free tier needs no card — LexVerity Academy.
Step 4: Qualifying work experience
You need two years' full-time equivalent qualifying work experience, confirmed by a solicitor or COLP. Experience gained in your home jurisdiction can count. This requirement is not removed by an exemption — exemptions remove assessments, not the rest of the route.
Step 5: Character and suitability
The SRA assesses every applicant for admission against its character and suitability requirements. Declare anything disclosable early. Late disclosure is treated far more seriously than the underlying matter usually is.
What about the QLTS?
The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme is gone. Qualified lawyers now go through the SQE, applying for exemptions where their existing qualification justifies it. Older guidance describing the QLTS is out of date, and there is a lot of it still online.
Not sure how your own qualification reads against the criteria? We advise on SQE exemptions — we assess your position and help you evidence the application you make. The SRA decides the outcome.
Last reviewed 2 August 2026. This guide is general information about the SQE qualification process, not legal advice, and not advice on your individual circumstances. LexVerity Legal Ltd is not authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Only the SRA can decide an exemption. Always check the current position on the SRA's own website before you act.