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

What is tested in SQE1 Tort Law?

Tort is an FLK1 subject covering negligence, defences, vicarious liability, occupiers’ liability, product liability and nuisance. SQE1 tests your ability to apply these rules to client problems through single best answer questions. (SRA, FLK1 specification) (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Build revision around identifying the claimant, defendant, alleged wrong, loss and remedy, then practise explaining why the facts support the selected answer.

This guide follows the specification applicable from September 2026. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Use it alongside the full specification and our overview of FLK1 and FLK2 subjects to plan your coverage.

What does the SRA Tort specification cover?

Negligence: duty, breach, causation and loss

The negligence syllabus includes duties of care, general and professional standards, breach, causation involving single or multiple causes, remoteness and loss. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Organise your notes around these separate questions. For each practice answer, identify the alleged failure and connect it to the damage claimed. Give professional standards their own comparison notes, and draw a timeline when several events may have contributed to the outcome. Record which part of the analysis each fact supports.

Economic loss, psychiatric harm and remedies

The specification expressly includes pure economic loss arising from negligent acts or misstatements, psychiatric harm, and remedies for personal injury and death. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Create separate revision headings for these areas. Practise classifying the loss before selecting the relevant legal test. For remedies, distinguish the person bringing the claim, the loss claimed and the basis for recovery. Include death claims in your checklist so that revision extends beyond injuries suffered by a living claimant.

Employers’ primary liability and vicarious liability

Employers’ primary liability under common law is part of negligence; the principles of vicarious liability are also expressly listed. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Revise them separately, then compare them. Make a note of whose conduct is being examined and the basis on which liability is alleged against each defendant. When reviewing workplace problems, check that you have considered the relevant route instead of choosing an answer solely because an employer appears in the facts.

Defences and their effect

The syllabus names volenti non fit injuria, contributory negligence and illegality. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Learn the requirements and consequence of each. In particular, where the damage results partly from the claimant’s fault and partly from another person’s fault, the claimant’s fault does not defeat the claim. Under section 1 of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, damages are reduced to the extent the court thinks just and equitable, having regard to the claimant’s share in the responsibility for the damage. (Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, s 1) In revision, separate the question of liability from the effect of a defence on recovery.

Occupiers’ liability

Study claims involving visitors under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 and non-visitors under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984, together with defences and exclusion of liability. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Begin your practice analysis by identifying the claimant’s status and the applicable Act. Keep a comparison sheet for the requirements under each regime. When checking an explanation, locate the facts about permission, the danger and any warning, then identify their relevance to the rule being applied.

Product liability

Product liability covers negligence principles and the Consumer Protection Act 1987. (SRA, FLK1 specification)Practise identifying the legal route before working through its requirements. Compare the potential defendants, the alleged problem with the product, the damage claimed and available defences. Record why an explanation uses a particular route; the presence of a product alone is not a sufficient explanation for your answer.

Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher

The syllabus includes public and private nuisance, the rule in Rylands v Fletcher, damages, injunctions and defences. (SRA, FLK1 specification) Build comparison notes around who may claim, what interference or escape is alleged, the relevant conditions and the remedy sought. Practise distinguishing a request for compensation from a request to stop an activity. Keep each cause of action’s requirements visible when reviewing a mixed set.

How is Tort assessed in FLK1?

SQE1 is closed book and uses single best answer questions with five options and one correct answer. The questions require application to realistic client situations at the level of a competent newly qualified solicitor. Ethics and Professional Conduct can be examined across all subjects. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification)

Tort has a blueprint allocation of 14–20% of FLK1. Classification follows a question’s main focus, so tort knowledge may also be needed in questions classified elsewhere. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) Use the range to plan broad coverage; it does not provide a question count for individual tort topics. From the January 2027 sitting, Tort questions appear in FLK1 session 2, mixed in random order with Contract Law and Legal System; the blueprint proportions do not change. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)

Specific case names and statutory references generally need not be recalled. An exception applies where a name or reference is the usual way to describe a principle, area of law, rule or procedural step; the SRA gives Rylands v Fletcher as an example. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Connect that name to its requirements when revising, rather than treating case-name recall as the main task.

What pitfalls should you watch for?

Use these checks when reviewing your answers:

• Stopping at breach. Check whether you addressed causation, the particular loss and the remedy the question asks about.
• Choosing a regime too quickly. Identify the parties and their status before choosing between occupiers’ liability provisions or product liability routes.
• Combining distinct issues. Keep employers’ primary liability and vicarious liability separate in your notes, and distinguish the different categories of loss.
• Missing the effect of a defence. Check both its requirements and what it changes about the proposed outcome.
• Selecting a familiar rule. Read every option against the facts and the client’s actual question. Explain why the closest alternative fails.

How should you revise Tort Law?

Use this practice routine and adjust it to the gaps your answers reveal:

1. Map the syllabus. Turn the headings above into a checklist. For each topic, record the requirements, exceptions, defences and remedies you need to retrieve without notes.
2. Attempt focused questions. Start with a specific area, such as causation or occupiers’ liability. Commit to an answer and a short reason before reading the explanation.
3. Check the explanation and authority. Locate the decisive fact and the source supporting the rule. Review uncertain correct answers as well as mistakes.
4. Write a useful correction. Record whether you missed a requirement, misclassified the loss, overlooked a fact or misunderstood the remedy. Turn that correction into a short retrieval prompt.
5. Return and mix topics. Revisit difficult material after a gap, then practise mixed questions under time pressure. Compare your reasoning across attempts before deciding what to study next.

Our single best answer guide provides a reading routine. The guide to revision with spaced repetition explains how to organise later reviews.

Where can you start practising?

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

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