The SRA has changed the structure of SQE1 from the January 2027 sitting. If you're sitting in January 2027 or later, your practice should match the new format. Here's exactly what's changing and what it means for how you revise.
What exactly is changing?
Three things change, and they apply to every candidate, including resitters:
- Fewer questions. Each Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) assessment drops from 180 to 170 questions. Each session drops from 90 to 85. Across both FLK assessments, that's 340 questions instead of 360.
- Same time. You still get 2 hours 33 minutes per session.
- Subjects grouped by session. Each session now tests a smaller group of subjects instead of drawing from the whole FLK paper.
Which subjects are in which session?
FLK1, session 1: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Legal Services.
FLK1, session 2: Tort, Contract Law, and Legal Systems (the Legal System of England and Wales, plus Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law).
FLK2, session 1: Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts (in the context of wills), Trusts Law, Land Law.
FLK2, session 2: Property Practice, Solicitors Accounts (in the context of property), Criminal Liability, Criminal Law and Practice.
Ethics and professional conduct isn't tied to a session. It can be tested in either one, so keep it running through all your practice.
What isn't changing?
- The time per session (2 hours 33 minutes).
- The assessment blueprint: the proportion of questions for each subject stays the same.
- Randomisation: within a session, questions from different subjects are still mixed, not presented in blocks.
- Single best answer format: you still choose the best of five options.
Why did the SRA make the change?
The SRA says candidates and other stakeholders told it SQE1 can feel rushed and pressured, particularly because of the time allowed per question. It reviewed data from every previous SQE1 window before making the change. Grouping subjects by session is meant to let you focus on fewer areas of law at once, while randomisation within each session is kept for security.
How much more time do you get per question?
About six seconds. With 153 minutes per session:
- Old format: 90 questions, roughly 1 minute 42 seconds each.
- New format: 85 questions, roughly 1 minute 48 seconds each.
That's helpful, but it isn't a reason to slow down. In practice, it gives you a small buffer to read each lead-in properly, which is where many marks are lost.
How should you prepare for the new format?
Practise in session-shaped blocks. Build mixed sets from the subjects in one session, for example Wills, Trusts, Land and Solicitors Accounts together, and randomise the order. That's what exam day will feel like.
Set timing checkpoints. A simple rule: about 28 questions every 51 minutes. If you're behind at a checkpoint, flag the slow question and move on.
Read the lead-in first. The last line tells you what's actually being asked: the best advice, the most likely outcome, what the solicitor should do next. Then read the facts with that question in mind.
Hunt for the nearly-right answer. In single best answer questions, two options are often both partly true. Ask which one answers this question on these facts, and which is only generally correct.
Review your mistakes by type. For every wrong answer, note whether it was a knowledge gap, a misread fact, a misread lead-in or a timing problem. Each type needs a different fix, and most candidates only fix the first one.
Keep ethics everywhere. Because ethics can appear in either session, mix ethics questions into every practice set rather than revising it as a separate subject.
What does this mean if you're resitting?
The new structure applies to resitters too, so a second attempt from January 2027 won't feel like the first one. Three practical points:
- Your old practice material still teaches the law, but its timing is now wrong. Re-time any 90-question sets you kept: 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes is the pace to practise at.
- Rank your subjects by the new sessions. Use the feedback from your previous attempt to see which session-grouping held you back. A weak FLK2 session 1 (wills, trusts, land and solicitors accounts) needs a different plan from a weak FLK1 session 2 (contract, tort and the legal system).
- Don't just do more questions. If timing was your problem, practise under the clock. If accuracy was, slow down in practice and review every wrong answer properly before speeding up again.
A sample eight-week plan for the new format
This plan assumes you've already covered the syllabus once and are moving into revision and practice. Adjust the order so your weakest session comes first.
- Week 1: sit one timed session from each FLK assessment to get a baseline. Rank the four session-groupings from weakest to strongest.
- Weeks 2 and 3: FLK1 session 1 subjects (business law and practice, dispute resolution, legal services). Short daily mixed sets, plus one full 85-question session at the end of each week.
- Weeks 4 and 5: FLK1 session 2 subjects (contract, tort, legal system, constitutional and administrative law and EU law), in the same pattern.
- Week 6: FLK2 session 1 subjects (wills, solicitors accounts in the context of wills, trusts, land law).
- Week 7: FLK2 session 2 subjects (property practice, solicitors accounts in the context of property, criminal liability, criminal law and practice).
- Week 8: full mock days. Sit both sessions of one FLK assessment back to back, with a break, at least twice. Spend the next day reviewing every wrong answer.
Keep ethics questions mixed into every week, because they can appear in any session.
Common mistakes to avoid with the new format
- Treating the extra time as permission to slow down. Six seconds per question disappears quickly if you reread every scenario twice.
- Revising subjects in isolation and never mixing them. Questions are still randomised within a session, so your brain has to switch between subjects on the day. Practise that switching.
- Leaving ethics to the end. It's tested across both sessions of both assessments, and it often decides close questions.
- Not building stamina. A session is still more than two and a half hours of concentration. Sit full-length sessions in the final weeks, not just short sets.
How hard is SQE1 at the moment?
According to SRA statistics reported in October 2026, 42% of candidates who sat both FLK assessments passed SQE1 in July 2026. That's fewer than half, which is why timed, realistic practice matters.
Where to start
Try our free SQE1 diagnostic quiz. It's 10 questions across FLK1 and FLK2, scored by subject, so you know where to focus. Then practise at the new pace with our timed online mock exams. If you want weekly structure, the SQE1 Squad runs timed sets in the new session format with a live review every week.
Frequently asked questions
When do the SQE1 changes start?
They apply from the January 2027 SQE1 sitting onwards, for all candidates, including first-time sitters and resitters.
How many questions are in SQE1 from January 2027?
Each FLK assessment has 170 questions, split into two sessions of 85, so SQE1 has 340 questions in total instead of 360.
Is there more time per question?
Yes. Each session is still 2 hours 33 minutes, so the time per question rises from about 1 minute 42 seconds to about 1 minute 48 seconds.
Will subjects still be mixed together?
Subjects are grouped by session, but within each session the questions are still randomised, so you won't get them in subject blocks.
Is the SQE1 pass mark changing?
The SRA's announcement of these changes doesn't mention any change to pass marks, results or booking.