The SQE1 January 2026 overall pass rate was 53%. First-time candidates passed at 58%. FLK1 passed at 62% and FLK2 at 57%. Of the 7,863 candidates graded, 14% were resitters.
The SRA published the January 2026 SQE1 results in March 2026. Of the 7,918 candidates who sat, 7,863 received a grade. The overall pass rate was 53%. This page sets out the full breakdown by FLK, sitting history, and candidate background, followed by what the historical trend looks like and what it implies for July 2026 preparation.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Candidates who sat | 7,918 |
| Candidates graded | 7,863 |
| Overall pass rate | 53% |
| First-time pass rate | 58% |
| Resitter pass rate | 14% |
| FLK1 pass rate | 62% |
| FLK2 pass rate | 57% |
| Category | Pass rate |
|---|---|
| By ethnicity | |
| White | 67% |
| Asian / Asian British | 47% |
| Black / Black British | 38% |
| By degree classification | |
| First class | 79% |
| 2:1 | 57% |
| 2:2 | 20% |
| By parental education | |
| Parent attended university | 62% |
| Parent did not attend university | 50% |
| By first language | |
| English first language | 62% |
| English not first language | 46% |
The SRA publishes these breakdowns across each sitting. The gaps shown above have appeared consistently across previous results reports.
FLK1 passed at 62% and FLK2 at 57%. The five-percentage-point gap between them is consistent with previous sittings, where FLK2 has regularly underperformed FLK1. FLK2 covers Property Practice, Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, Trusts, and Criminal Law and Practice. The combination of procedural complexity and the volume of rules to retain in property and probate subjects likely contributes to the gap.
For any candidate sitting July 2026, FLK2 deserves proportionally more preparation time. The data across multiple sittings points to it as the harder paper for the average candidate.
The FLK1 and FLK2 topic breakdown lists every subject tested in each paper, along with what the SRA Assessment Specification says about relative coverage.
The resitter pass rate of 14% in January 2026 follows a pattern seen across every sitting where the SRA has published this breakdown. Resitters pass at a significantly lower rate than first-time candidates. In January 2026, first-time candidates passed at 58%; resitters passed at 14%. That is a 44-percentage-point difference.
For a structured resit preparation framework, including a nine-week plan and diagnostic approach, see the SQE1 resit guide.
The reasons behind the resitter rate are not published by the SRA. Possible contributing factors include preparation time, the psychological effect of a previous fail, and the composition of the resitter cohort. Candidates who failed narrowly and candidates who scored well below the pass mark are grouped together in the resitter figure.
| Sitting | Candidates graded | Overall pass rate | Resitter pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | 7,863 | 53% | 14% |
| July 2025 | 5,851 | 41% | 19% |
| January 2025 | 6,782 | 56% | — |
| July 2024 | 5,006 | 44% | — |
| January 2024 | ~4,500 (est.) | 56% | — |
| July 2023 | 3,475 | 53% | — |
January sittings outperform July. Across every year with data for both sittings, the January pass rate has been higher than the preceding July. January 2026 (53%) outperformed July 2025 (41%) by 12 percentage points. January 2025 (56%) outperformed July 2024 (44%) by 12 points. The gap is consistent enough to be a structural feature rather than noise.
Candidate volume is growing. July 2023 had 3,475 candidates. January 2026 had 7,863. The SQE1 cohort has more than doubled in under three years. This reflects the pipeline of candidates transitioning from the LPC route and new cohorts entering via SQE-specific preparation programmes.
July 2025 was the record low. A 41% overall pass rate in July 2025 was the lowest recorded. The SRA has not published a detailed analysis of that result. Whether the July cohort composition, the paper difficulty, or some combination accounts for the result is not known from published data.
FLK2 underperforms FLK1 across sittings. The January 2026 figures (FLK1 62%, FLK2 57%) continue a pattern visible across reported sitting data. FLK2 has not outperformed FLK1 in any published sitting.
The January 2026 pass rate of 53% is a recovery from the July 2025 low of 41%. It sits in the middle of the historical range (41%–56%). July sittings have consistently come in lower than the preceding January. Preparing for a July 2026 pass rate in the 40s is a reasonable planning assumption. The paper may be harder; the cohort may be different. The pass mark itself is set by the SRA's standard-setting process and is not fixed in advance.
Three things the data supports for July 2026 preparation:
The SRA publishes results data for each sitting at sqe.sra.org.uk. This page will update when July 2026 results are published.
SQETrack tracks your topic confidence and MCQ results across FLK1 and FLK2 separately, so you can see exactly which paper needs more work before July.
See SQETrack plans