SQE1 Contract Law (FLK1): what is tested and how to revise it

What is tested in SQE1 Contract Law?

Contract Law is an FLK1 subject covering formation, parties, terms, factors affecting validity, termination and remedies, including causation and remoteness. Revise it by tracing a contract from agreement to dispute, then applying the relevant rules to client situations through single best answer questions. The SRA specifies both the subject content and the requirement to apply it in practice. (SRA, FLK1 specification) (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification)

This overview follows the specification applicable from September 2026. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Use the full specification as your checklist, alongside our guide to what FLK1 and FLK2 cover.

What does the SRA Contract Law specification cover?

Formation: has a contract been made?

The syllabus covers offer and acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, certainty and capacity. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Organise revision around the sequence of communications and the parties’ positions. Practise distinguishing an offer from an invitation to treat, acceptance from a counter-offer, and a request for information from rejection. Keep consideration and intention as separate checks in your notes.

Parties: who can enforce the agreement?

Privity and third-party rights are expressly included. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Under section 1 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, a third party may enforce a term where the contract expressly permits it, or where the term purports to benefit them. The latter route does not apply if a proper interpretation of the contract shows that the parties did not intend that term to be enforceable by the third party. The third party must be expressly identified in the contract by name, class or description; enforcement remains subject to the Act and relevant contractual terms. (Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, s 1) In revision, identify the proposed claimant before deciding which enforcement route to consider.

Terms: what obligations were agreed?

Study express terms, incorporation, terms implied by statute and common law, exemption clauses, interpretation, classification and variation. Classification includes conditions, warranties and innominate terms. (SRA, FLK1 specification) For each clause, practise separating how it became part of the contract, what it means and how a breach should be analysed. When revising statutory terms and controls, record the type of transaction and the parties’ status before choosing the relevant legislation.

Vitiating factors: what affects validity or enforceability?

The specification includes misrepresentation, mistake, unfair contract terms, duress, undue influence and illegality. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Build comparison notes for their requirements and consequences. For misrepresentation, connect the statement, its effect on the decision to contract and the available relief. Distinguish the tests for pressure, influence and mistake, and practise explaining the difference between void and voidable when reviewing an answer.

Termination: how does the contract end?

Cover expiry or another specified event, breach and frustration. Basic restitution and unjust enrichment are included in the context of contract termination. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Keep separate notes for the event said to end the contract, any decision the client must make and the financial consequences. Link this work back to classification of terms, and compare termination for breach with rescission when reviewing explanations.

Remedies, causation and remoteness

The syllabus covers damages, liquidated sums and penalties, specific performance, injunctions, mitigation, indemnities and guarantees, as well as causation and remoteness. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Practise identifying the remedy sought before calculating a sum or selecting an outcome. For a damages problem, organise your working around the loss claimed, its connection to the breach, remoteness and mitigation. Compare guarantees and indemnities in a separate revision note.

How is Contract Law assessed?

SQE1 uses single best answer questions with five options and one correct answer, applying legal rules to realistic client problems at the level of a competent newly qualified solicitor. The assessment is closed book, and Ethics and Professional Conduct can be examined across all subject areas. Questions may ask for the legal outcome, the reason for it or advice on whether the client can achieve an objective. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification)

The SRA blueprint allocates 14–20% of FLK1 to Contract Law, classified by each question’s main focus. A question can require knowledge from more than one subject, including contract and dispute resolution. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) Treat the range as a guide to coverage, not a prediction of particular topics. From the January 2027 sitting, Contract Law questions appear in FLK1 session 2, mixed in random order with Tort and Legal System; the blueprint proportions do not change. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)

Case names and statutory references generally need not be recalled unless they are the usual way of describing a legal principle, area of law, rule or procedural step. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Use authorities to understand and check the rule; make application the centre of your practice.

What pitfalls should you watch for?

Use these checks when reviewing practice answers:

• Skipping the timeline. Mark when statements, notices, acceptance and later events occurred. Check that your chosen rule addresses the stage described.
• Ignoring who is involved. Identify the contracting parties, any third party and the person seeking relief. Check the applicable statutory regime before assessing a clause.
• Jumping from breach to remedy. Work through the term, alleged breach and requested outcome. Check the explanation for any condition or limitation you missed.
• Merging neighbouring doctrines. Keep misrepresentation, breach, frustration and restitution distinct in your reasoning. State why the facts direct you towards the chosen route.
• Choosing a familiar sentence. Read every option against the actual question. Identify which requirement or decisive fact rules out the closest alternative.

How should you revise Contract Law?

Use a repeatable practice routine, adapting the balance to your errors:

1. Map the syllabus. Make a checklist from the sections above. Under each heading, write the legal requirements, exceptions and consequences you need to retrieve without notes.
2. Attempt focused questions. Start with a topic such as formation or remedies. Commit to an answer and a reason before opening the explanation. Include uncertain correct answers in your review.
3. Check the reasoning and source. Locate the fact that changes the outcome. Explain why your answer succeeds or fails and why the nearest alternative is unsuitable.
4. Record a specific correction. Label the gap as a missing rule, overlooked fact, confused doctrine or calculation error. Write a short prompt that makes you retrieve the correction later.
5. Return and mix topics. Revisit difficult material after a gap, then combine topics in timed practice. Include related FLK1 material so that you practise identifying the legal issue yourself.

Our single best answer guide gives a reading routine; the guide to revision with spaced repetition explains how to organise later reviews. Adjust your next session to the errors you can explain, rather than simply repeating the most comfortable topic.

Where can you start practising?

Try the free SQE1 quick test for practice across subjects without an account, with explanations and sources. Use it to choose a starting point for revision, then work through the full Contract Law syllabus. The SQE1 course page shows subject coverage and sample questions. This guide is study material, not legal advice.

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