Key facts
- One preparation site estimates 300–400 hours for SQE1 and describes a 12-month route of 8–10 hours a week for people working full time or with caring responsibilities (secondary source).
- Five 30-minute nap-time blocks, one 2-hour weekend block and 10 minutes of daily reviews come to 5 h 40 min a week: 53–71 weeks for 300–400 hours (our calculation).
- The next sittings start with FLK1 on 11–15 January 2027 (check the official website) and 12–16 July 2027 (check the official website).
- All employees can request flexible working from their first day in a job and make two statutory requests in any 12 months (GOV.UK).
- You have six years from your first SQE assessment to sit the remaining assessments; the SRA can extend this in exceptional circumstances.
How do you revise for SQE1 as a parent or carer?
Build your week from short, fixed blocks you can protect, add one longer block when someone else takes over, and choose your sitting from the hours this gives you. One preparation site estimates 300–400 hours in total and describes a 12-month route of 8–10 hours a week for people working full time or with caring responsibilities. (SQE1 Prep, study hours (secondary source))
If your study time comes in pieces between feeds, school runs, appointments and medication rounds, that is not a second-rate way to prepare. Spreading practice over many sessions improves long-term retention compared with cramming the same time into one (Cepeda et al., 2006), and testing yourself works better than rereading (Dunlosky et al., 2013). On flashcards, the same preparation site puts it simply: “twenty minutes a day compounds fast”. (SQE1 Prep, study hours (secondary source)) What short blocks cannot do is hide a shortfall in total hours, so count them honestly.
How much do short study blocks add up to?
| Situation | Example week | Study a week | 300 hours | 350 hours | 400 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby or toddler at home | Five 30-minute blocks at nap time, one 2-hour block at the weekend while another adult takes over, 10 minutes of reviews every day | 5 h 40 min | 53 weeks | 62 weeks | 71 weeks |
| School-age children and a job | Three 45-minute evenings after bedtime, one 3-hour weekend block, 15 minutes of reviews on five working days | 6 h 30 min | 47 weeks | 54 weeks | 62 weeks |
| School hours free (part-time work or none) | Three 2-hour blocks in school hours, 20 minutes of reviews on the other four days | 7 h 20 min | 41 weeks | 48 weeks | 55 weeks |
| Caring for an adult relative | One 4-hour block while a sitting service or day centre takes over, four 30-minute evenings, 10 minutes of reviews every day | 7 h 10 min | 42 weeks | 49 weeks | 56 weeks |
Weeks needed = total hours ÷ hours a week, rounded up; then add buffer weeks for illness, school holidays and hospital appointments. The total hours are an estimate by a preparation provider, not an SRA figure; the site says law graduates can often aim nearer the lower end, while non-law graduates should plan for the upper end or beyond. (SQE1 Prep, study hours (secondary source)) Put your own week into the study-time budget calculator, which counts care hours, and see what ten-minute slots add up to with the commute study calculator.
Which sitting can you realistically make?
The next sittings start with FLK1 on 11–15 January 2027 (check the official website) and 12–16 July 2027 (check the official website); FLK2 follows on 18–22 January 2027 (check the official website) and 19–23 July 2027 (check the official website). From 30 October 2026, FLK1 in July 2027 is 36 full weeks away. At 6 h 30 min a week that gives 234 hours before any buffer, and at 5 h 40 min a week 204 hours (our calculation) – short of the 300–400 hours estimate unless you start with much of the law already.
- Check school holidays first. Term and holiday dates are set locally; find yours on your council’s website. (GOV.UK, school term and holiday dates) A sitting in the last week of term needs different childcare from one in the holidays.
- Plan the final weeks as the heaviest. They are when you sit full timed sessions, so line them up with the weeks your support network can help most.
- Choose the later sitting early if the hours do not fit. Moving a plan in month two is easier than in the final month.
The FLK revision planner turns a sitting and your weekly hours into phases by subject.
What should go into each kind of block?
| Block | What to do |
|---|---|
| 10–20 minutes | Due reviews and flashcards only; nothing that needs a notebook. Stop mid-card without guilt. |
| 30–45 minutes | One subtopic: start with a few questions, read only what you got wrong, add it to your error log. |
| 2–4 hours | A timed set, such as 40 questions in 72 minutes, then a full review of errors and lucky guesses. In the last six to eight weeks, a full session of 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes. (SRA, SQE1 sample questions) |
| A week that falls apart | A minimum week: 10–15 minutes of due reviews a day, no new topics. Count it against your buffer. |
From January 2027 each session covers a fixed group of subjects (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026), so give each long block to one session’s subjects. Our guide to revising with spaced repetition shows how the daily reviews work.
How do you protect study time at work and at home?
- Flexible working: all employees can request it from their first day in a job – the hours, start and finish times, days or place of work. (GOV.UK, flexible working) You can make two statutory requests in any 12 months; the employer must discuss a request with you before refusing it and decide within two months unless you agree to longer. (GOV.UK, applying for flexible working)
- Unpaid parental leave: eligible employees can take up to 18 weeks for each child before their 18th birthday, normally in whole weeks and up to 4 weeks a year for each child – useful if a school holiday falls just before the exam. (GOV.UK, Unpaid Parental Leave)
- Carer’s Leave: up to one week of unpaid leave every 12 months, from your first day, to give or arrange care for a dependant with long-term care needs, taken as half days, days or a week. (GOV.UK, Carer’s Leave) It is for care, not study, but it keeps your annual leave free for the exam days.
- Emergencies: employees can take a reasonable amount of time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, for example a child falling ill; it does not cover care you knew about beforehand. (GOV.UK, time off for dependants)
At home, agree the one long block a week with whoever can cover it, and write it into the family calendar like an appointment. For an adult you care for, the NHS explains how a carer’s assessment from your local council can lead to respite care, from a few hours of a sitting service to day care. (NHS, carer breaks and respite care)
How do you plan the exam days themselves?
FLK1 and FLK2 are sat on separate days, each with two sessions of 85 questions lasting 2 hours 33 minutes and a one-hour break between them, at a test centre. (SRA blog, 24 September 2026) That is 6 h 6 min before check-in and travel (our addition). Arrange cover for the whole of both paper days and name a back-up person in case the first arrangement falls through. If a health condition or an injury affects how you can sit the exam, ask about adjustments early: besides adjustments for a disability, Kaplan considers reasonable requests to accommodate other conditions, case by case. (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations) See reasonable adjustments for SQE1.
If an emergency at home affects your performance on the day, illness or other personal circumstances beyond your reasonable control can be mitigating circumstances. (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations) Claims for SQE1 are due by 4pm on the fifth working day after your booked assessment day, for each FLK paper separately (check the official website).
What if life gets in the way for longer?
- Time limit: you have six years from the date you first sat an SQE assessment to sit the remaining assessments; in exceptional circumstances you can apply to the SRA to extend the period. (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations)
- Qualifying work experience: the requirement is two years’ full-time or equivalent, and QWE can be gained before, during or after the SQE assessments. (SRA, qualifying work experience) Part-time work adds up over a longer period; the QWE calculator converts it.
- Pausing is a plan: a few minimum weeks keep your review schedule alive, so restarting is easier than starting again.
Common mistakes for parents and carers
- Planning to the week you hope for instead of an ordinary one, with no buffer weeks.
- Spending every short block on new topics and never reviewing.
- Booking a sitting before checking school holidays and who covers the paper days.
- Skipping full timed sessions because a long block is hard to find; plan two or three of them early.
- Cutting sleep to find study time instead of choosing a later sitting.
When should you get support?
- Your GP: if you are struggling to cope with stress, or the things you are trying are not helping. (NHS, stress)
- Your local council or carers’ centre for local support and a carer’s assessment. (NHS, carer breaks and respite care)
- LawCare if you already work in the legal profession: free, confidential support by phone, online chat and email. (LawCare, helpline, chat and email support)
- Urgent help: call 999 or go to A&E if a life is at risk; NHS 111 can tell you where to get urgent help, and Samaritans are on 116 123. (NHS, urgent help for mental health) (NHS, stress)
What this means for you
- Write down an ordinary week and the blocks it really holds, then compare it with the table above.
- Pick the sitting your hours reach with buffer weeks, after checking school holidays.
- Secure one long block a week and use your workplace rights where they help.
- Start with the free SQE1 quick test; our SQE1 course schedules short daily reviews that fit a phone and ten spare minutes.
If you also work full time, our guide to SQE1 while working full time has plans for 10, 15 and 20 hours a week. This page is general information, not legal advice on employment rights.
What this page covers
- Last updated
- Based on
- Study-hour estimates of a preparation provider (secondary source); research on spaced and retrieval practice; GOV.UK on employment rights; NHS on carer breaks; SRA rules and format
- Includes
- Four example weeks with hours and weeks needed, choosing a sitting, what to do in each block, rights at work, exam-day cover, time limits, support
- Not included
- Hours you personally need, childcare costs or funding, booking windows, legal advice on your employment
Frequently asked questions
Can you prepare for SQE1 while raising children?
Yes, if the plan fits your hours. One preparation site describes a 12-month route of 8–10 hours a week for people working full time or with caring responsibilities. Short blocks work for reviews and questions; one longer block a week covers timed practice.
How many hours a week can a parent realistically study for SQE1?
It depends on your week. Our example weeks come to between 5 h 40 min and 7 h 20 min a week, which takes 41 to 71 weeks for an estimate of 300–400 hours, before buffer weeks.
Which SQE1 sitting should a parent or carer choose?
Divide the hours you need by the hours your ordinary week gives, add buffer weeks, and check school holidays before you book. The next sittings start with FLK1 on 11–15 January 2027 (check the official website) and 12–16 July 2027 (check the official website).
Can you get time off work to study as a parent?
Not as study leave, but you can request flexible working from your first day, up to twice in 12 months, and the employer must decide within two months unless you agree to longer. Unpaid parental leave gives eligible employees up to 18 weeks per child before their 18th birthday, normally up to 4 weeks a year, which can cover a school holiday just before the exam.
What if your child is ill on an SQE1 exam day?
Employees can take reasonable time off for an emergency involving a dependant. If personal circumstances beyond your reasonable control affect your performance, they can be mitigating circumstances; claims for SQE1 are due by 4pm on the fifth working day after your booked assessment day, for each FLK paper separately (check the official website).
Does part-time work count as qualifying work experience?
The requirement is two years’ full-time or equivalent, so part-time legal work adds up over a longer period. QWE can be gained before, during or after the SQE assessments.
Related tools and pages
Sources
- SQE1 Prep, sqe1prep.co.uk (preparation website, secondary source): How Many Hours Do You Need to Study for SQE1? (2 June 2026). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T. & Rohrer, D., Psychological Bulletin 132(3), 354–380: Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis (2006).
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J. & Willingham, D. T., Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14(1), 4–58: Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques (2013).
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 sample questions. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: Important changes to SQE1 for January 2027 onwards (10 September 2026). Accessed 25 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: Understanding SQE1: what employers need to know (24 September 2026). Accessed 28 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SRA SQE Assessment Regulations (regulations 3–7, 9–13 and 15). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: Qualifying work experience (26 January 2024). Accessed 25 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: School term and holiday dates (find them on your local council's website). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Flexible working: overview (right to request from the first day in a job). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Flexible working: applying (statutory requests, decision within 2 months). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Unpaid Parental Leave: entitlement. Accessed 30 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Carer's Leave. Accessed 30 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Time off for family and dependants. Accessed 30 October 2026.
- NHS (nhs.uk): Carer breaks and respite care (1 May 2026). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- NHS (nhs.uk): Stress – symptoms, things you can try, and when to get help (GP, NHS talking therapies, NHS 111, Samaritans) (6 March 2026). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- LawCare (mental health charity for the legal sector): Helpline, online chat and email support for anyone in the legal community. Accessed 30 October 2026.
- NHS (nhs.uk): Where to get urgent help for mental health (26 April 2023). Accessed 30 October 2026.
- BPP University (training provider, secondary source): SQE exam dates 2027. Accessed 24 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: Assessment dates published for 2027 assessments (5 December 2025).
- Brigitte's FLK, brigittesflk.com (preparation website, secondary source): SQE Mitigating Circumstances: what counts, evidence and the SQE1 deadline. Accessed 30 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE Mitigating Circumstances Policy.
High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and it is not authorised or accredited by the SRA or the SQE assessment provider. The SQE and SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION trade marks are the property of and are used under licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.