How to revise for SQE1 with spaced repetition and single best answer questions

Key facts

Testing yourself improves long-term retention more than rereading the same material.
Feedback after multiple-choice questions increases the benefit and reduces the risk of remembering a wrong option.
Spreading reviews over time produces better retention than massing them together.
Interleaving related topics helps learners tell similar concepts apart – and each 2027 SQE1 session mixes three or four subjects.
The research is general, not about SQE1: these methods tend to improve long-term retention, but no method guarantees a result.

How should you revise for SQE1?

Revise SQE1 by answering exam-style questions before you reread anything, reading the explanation for every option, and letting each topic come back at growing intervals – in mixed sets that mirror the sessions you will sit. That combines three of the best-supported findings in learning research: testing yourself, spacing your reviews and mixing related topics.

A caveat first: the studies below were run with students and other learners, not with SQE1 candidates. They show what tends to improve long-term memory and the ability to tell similar ideas apart. No method can promise a result in the exam.

Why answering questions beats rereading

Taking a test on material improves long-term retention more than studying it again – the “testing effect”. (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006) A large review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and distributed practice as the most useful, and rereading and highlighting as low utility. (Dunlosky et al., 2013) Rereading feels productive because the text becomes familiar; answering a question shows whether you can actually retrieve and apply the rule.

Single best answer questions: the benefit and the risk

Every SQE1 question is single best answer: five options, one correct answer. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Used for practice, multiple-choice questions produce a testing benefit, but they carry a risk: learners who see plausible wrong options sometimes later reproduce those wrong answers. (Roediger and Marsh, 2005) Feedback after the question increases the benefit and reduces that negative effect. (Butler and Roediger, 2008) Questions with competitive, plausible alternatives can also help learners recall information related to the incorrect alternatives. (Little et al., 2012)

The practical rule: never leave a practice question without knowing why the right answer is right and why each wrong option is wrong. SQE1 distractors are built from plausible law – our guide to single best answer questions shows the common traps.

A five-step loop for every revision session

Retrieve. Answer a set of questions before you look at notes. Commit to one answer each time, and mark whether you were sure, unsure or guessing.
Check every option. Read the rule, why it applies to these facts and why each other option fails. When a rule surprises you, look at its source – the section, case or SRA rule.
Schedule. Wrong answers and guesses come back soon; secure answers come back later, at growing intervals. A scheduler such as FSRS, an open-source algorithm, does this from your answers. (FSRS project)
Log the cause of each error. Was it a gap in knowledge, a misread fact, the right rule applied wrongly, or time pressure? Each cause needs a different fix.
Re-test, do not reread. Errors return as questions a few days later, not as a page of notes.

The confidence mark in step 1 matters because a lucky guess and a secure answer look the same on a score sheet. Treat correct guesses as items still to learn.

Spacing: why reviews should be spread out

Spreading study over time produces better retention than massing the same amount of study together. (Cepeda et al., 2006) For SQE1 this matters twice over: you prepare over months, and the exam samples fourteen subject and practice areas, including ethics, at once. (SRA blog, 24 September 2026) A spaced schedule keeps early subjects alive while you learn new ones, instead of finishing one subject and forgetting it by the exam.

Keep sessions short and daily rather than long and occasional. Spaced repetition only works if reviews happen when they are due; a skipped week turns into a backlog.

Interleaving: mix the subjects of each session

Mixing related topics during practice – interleaving – helps learners tell similar concepts apart, even though blocked practice often feels more effective at the time. (Kornell and Bjork, 2008) (Rohrer, 2012) That maps directly onto SQE1: from January 2027, each session mixes the questions from its group of subjects in random order. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)

Once a subject has been introduced, practise it mixed with the other subjects of its session. Good pairs to interleave are concepts that look alike across subjects in the same session – remoteness in Contract and in Tort (FLK1 Session 2) (SRA, FLK1 specification), or co-ownership in Land Law and trusts of the family home in Trusts Law (FLK2 Session 1). (SRA, FLK2 specification) Our guide to FLK1 and FLK2 lists what each subject covers.

Decide where time goes with the blueprint

Most subjects carry 14–20% of their paper and Legal Services 12–16%; ethics and money laundering together can make up to 20% of the questions. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) No subject is small enough to skip. Track accuracy per subject, send new questions to the weakest ones, and keep the strong ones on spaced review.

When to add the clock

In the exam you have about 1.8 minutes per question on average, and SQE1 questions average about 206 words. (SRA, SQE1 sample questions) Learn the reasoning untimed first. Then move to timed sets at that pace, and in the final weeks to full sessions: 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)

Common revision mistakes

Recognising instead of recalling. Cover the options, name the rule, then check. Spotting the right answer among five is not the same as being able to state the rule yourself.
Memorising questions. Repeating the same items until you remember the answer letter is not learning – in the exam the order of options is randomised. (SRA, SQE1 sample questions) Make sure you can explain the rule.
Skipping explanations after correct answers. That is where guesses hide.
Favourite subjects first. Comfortable subjects feel productive; weak ones move the result.
Cramming at the end. Massed review just before the exam is the pattern spacing research argues against. (Cepeda et al., 2006)

For a week-by-week structure, see our SQE1 study plan. To start with retrieval right away, take the free SQE1 quick test. Our SQE1 course runs this loop for you: FSRS scheduling, explanations for every option with sources, an error log and progress per subject.

Frequently asked questions

Does spaced repetition work for SQE1?

Spacing and self-testing are among the best-supported techniques in learning research, and SQE1 requires you to retain a large syllabus over months. The studies were not run on SQE1 candidates, so no specific outcome can be promised.

Should I read the explanation if I got the question right?

Yes. A lucky guess and a secure answer look the same on a score sheet, and feedback is what reduces the risk of remembering a plausible wrong option.

Are single best answer questions better than flashcards?

Both are retrieval practice. Single best answer questions train the exam format and the application of rules to facts; flashcards suit definitions, elements and time limits. A sensible split is questions as the core and cards for the details.

When should I start timed SQE1 practice?

Once the reasoning in a subject is secure. Then practise at about 1.8 minutes per question, and in the final weeks sit full sessions of 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes.

Should I revise one subject at a time?

Introduce subjects one at a time, then practise them mixed with the other subjects of the same exam session. From January 2027 each session mixes its subjects in random order.

Sources

Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D., Psychological Science 17(3), 249–255: Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention (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).
Roediger, H. L. & Marsh, E. J., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 31(5), 1155–1159: The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing (2005).
Butler, A. C. & Roediger, H. L., Memory & Cognition 36(3), 604–616: Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing (2008).
Little, J. L., Bjork, E. L., Bjork, R. A. & Angello, G., Psychological Science 23(11), 1337–1344: Multiple-choice tests exonerated, at least of some charges (2012).
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).
Kornell, N. & Bjork, R. A., Psychological Science 19(6), 585–592: Learning concepts and categories: Is spacing the “enemy of induction”? (2008).
Rohrer, D., Educational Psychology Review 24(3), 355–367: Interleaving helps students distinguish among similar concepts (2012).
Open Spaced Repetition: FSRS – Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler (open-source project). Accessed 23 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Assessment Specification (applicable for assessments from 1 September 2026). Accessed 21 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: Understanding SQE1: what employers need to know (24 September 2026). Accessed 24 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: Important changes to SQE1 for January 2027 onwards (10 September 2026). Accessed 21 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge – FLK1 (from 1 September 2026). Accessed 21 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge – FLK2 (from 1 September 2026). Accessed 21 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Annex 4 – Functioning Legal Knowledge blueprint. Accessed 21 October 2026.
Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 sample questions. Accessed 21 October 2026.

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.