SQE1 has 360 multiple-choice questions. FLK1 has 180 and FLK2 has 180, each sat across two 90-question sessions on consecutive half-days. Ethics and professional conduct accounts for 10–20% of both papers, embedded within subject questions.
SQE1 consists of 360 multiple-choice questions split equally across two papers: FLK1 and FLK2, each with 180 questions. Each question is worth one mark. You sit each paper across two consecutive half-days, with 90 questions per session.
The SRA does not publish exact question counts per subject. There is no official table showing "40 questions on Contract" or "25 questions on Tort." The SRA Assessment Specification confirms the subjects tested but leaves the precise weighting undisclosed. Any source claiming specific per-subject question counts is presenting estimates, not official figures.
The specification does confirm one ratio: ethics and professional conduct accounts for 10–20% of both FLK1 and FLK2. That means between 18 and 36 questions per paper carry an ethics or professional conduct dimension. These questions are not grouped into a separate ethics section; they appear embedded within substantive subject questions throughout both papers.
FLK1 covers six subject areas drawn from transactional and civil practice:
| Subject | Notes |
|---|---|
| Business Law and Practice | One of the larger FLK1 subjects. Covers company law, partnerships, insolvency, business taxation, and financial services regulation. |
| Dispute Resolution | One of the larger FLK1 subjects. Covers Civil Procedure Rules, pre-action conduct, litigation stages, evidence, and enforcement. |
| Contract | Formation, terms, vitiating factors, discharge, and remedies. |
| Tort | Negligence, occupiers' liability, nuisance, and vicarious liability. |
| Legal System of England and Wales | Court structure, sources of law, precedent, statutory interpretation. |
| Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services | Parliamentary sovereignty, judicial review, human rights, and retained EU law. Also covers legal services regulation and the role of the SRA. |
Across all sitting cohorts, Business Law and Practice and Dispute Resolution appear to carry the greatest question volume in FLK1. Contract and Tort are substantial subjects with wide topic coverage, and both require detailed knowledge at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. The Legal System and Constitutional Law subjects are smaller in scope and are generally assigned fewer questions, though the SRA has not confirmed any of these relative proportions officially.
FLK2 covers six subject areas drawn from private client, property, and criminal practice:
| Subject | Notes |
|---|---|
| Property Practice | One of the larger FLK2 subjects. Freehold and leasehold conveyancing, commercial property, and property taxation. |
| Criminal Law and Practice | One of the larger FLK2 subjects. Substantive criminal offences, Criminal Procedure Rules, evidence, and sentencing. |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Valid wills, intestacy rules, executors, grant of probate, and estate administration. |
| Solicitors Accounts | SRA Accounts Rules, client money, ledger entries, and accounting calculations. |
| Land Law | Freehold estates, leases, easements, covenants, mortgages, and registration. |
| Trusts | Express trusts, resulting and constructive trusts, charitable trusts, breach of trust, and fiduciary duties. |
Property Practice and Criminal Law and Practice are the largest subjects in FLK2 by scope. Solicitors Accounts is distinctive: the SRA tests it at the level of a practicing solicitor applying the SRA Accounts Rules, with questions that often involve calculations and ledger analysis rather than pure recall. Many candidates underweight it during revision and lose marks they could have secured.
Ethics and professional conduct is not a standalone section you revise separately and then move on from. The SRA embeds professional conduct questions within the subject questions in both FLK1 and FLK2. A question about a contentious probate dispute might also test your understanding of a solicitor's duty of confidentiality. A company law question might turn on a conflict of interest scenario.
The 10–20% figure (18 to 36 questions per paper) means ethics could account for as many as 72 of your 360 marks across both sittings. Candidates who treat ethics as a discrete module to check off tend to underperform on these questions because they do not recognise the ethical dimension embedded in substantive fact patterns.
The SRA does not announce a pass mark before each sitting. The pass mark is set after each sitting using the modified Angoff method, a standard-setting approach where subject-matter experts estimate the difficulty of each question and calculate the minimum score a borderline competent candidate would achieve.
Your result arrives as a score out of 180 per FLK, not as a percentage. Historical pass marks have ranged from approximately 56% to 63%, which corresponds to roughly 101 to 113 correct answers out of 180. The exact threshold shifts with each cohort depending on assessed question difficulty.
The January 2026 results breakdown gives the full historical pass rate data across six sittings, including the consistent gap between FLK1 and FLK2.
The practical implication: aiming to answer approximately 65–70% of questions correctly gives you a reasonable buffer above the historical range. Candidates who target 55% because it sits above the apparent floor take unnecessary risk given that the threshold can shift upward.
The SRA Assessment Specification is the definitive document for understanding what FLK1 and FLK2 test. You can download it from the SRA website and sets out the functioning legal knowledge expected for each subject, including the specific topics and sub-topics examinable at the level of a day-one solicitor.
The specification is detailed. For Business Law and Practice alone it lists company formation, directors' duties, share capital, partnership law, insolvency procedures, and business taxation among the testable areas. Working through the specification subject by subject and checking your knowledge against each listed area is one of the most productive things you can do before your first practice paper.
Given the absence of official question counts per subject, your revision strategy should focus on the breadth of the specification rather than guessing which subjects carry the most marks. A few principles hold regardless of the exact weighting:
Your MCQ practice scores by subject are the most reliable signal you have about where your preparation is weakest. Use them to direct revision time rather than dividing your time proportionally across all subjects by default.
For an assessment of how mock scores from different providers translate to real exam performance, see the mock score calibration guide.
SQETrack maps your confidence and MCQ results to every FLK1 and FLK2 subject area, so you can see at a glance where you're prepared and where you're not.
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