FLK revision planner: an SQE1 study plan worked back from your exam date

How is the result calculated?

The planner counts the whole weeks from your start date to the first FLK1 day of your sitting and multiplies the study weeks by your hours a week. It compares that with your target:

$W$ is the number of whole weeks, $K$ the catch-up weeks (one in eight if you work full time, never during exam practice, otherwise none), $h$ your hours a week and $T$ the target. At 100% or more the time is enough, from 80% it is tight, below that it is not enough. The default targets follow one preparation guide's benchmark of 300–400 hours of focused study: 300 for law graduates, 400 for non-law graduates and lawyers qualified abroad (SQE1 Prep, study hours (secondary source)). The default of 15 hours a week is the average QLTS School recommends, starting at least five to six months ahead (QLTS School, preparation time (secondary source)).

The study weeks are split 14 : 6 : 4 into the three phases of our SQE1 study plan: introduce, consolidate and exam practice, each at least one week. While introducing, FLK1 and FLK2 run side by side with half the hours each, so both papers progress together. Within a paper, each subject gets time in proportion to its weight times your confidence factor:

$w_i$ is the subject's weight – the middle of its blueprint range, 17 for subjects with 14–20% and 14 for Legal Services with 12–16% (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) – and our own weight of 6 for Solicitors Accounts, which the blueprint counts within Property Law and Practice and Wills and the Administration of Estates. $f_i$ is 1.5 for a subject that is new to you, 1 for some knowledge and 0.5 if you are confident; $L$ is the number of introduce weeks. New subjects come first. Consolidation then takes one exam session a week in turn, and exam practice covers every session at least once, because each session mixes a fixed group of subjects (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026).

Worked example

Two candidates start on Monday 2 November 2026 and aim for the July 2027 sitting, whose FLK1 assessment days are 12–16 July 2027 (check the official website). That leaves 36 whole weeks before the first FLK1 day.

• A law graduate studying 15 h a week has 36 × 15 = 540 h against a target of 300 h: 180%, enough time. The plan has 21 weeks to introduce, 9 to consolidate and 6 of exam practice.
• A non-law graduate with a full-time job studying 10 h a week keeps 4 catch-up weeks, so 32 study weeks give 320 h against 400 h: 80%, tight. Reaching the target takes 12.5 h a week.

What should you do if the time is not enough?

You have three levers: more hours a week, an earlier start, or a later sitting. More hours help only if you can keep them up every week, because spaced reviews depend on regular sessions. If the gap is large, the later sitting is often the better choice: a resit costs a fee, one of your three attempts at that paper (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations) and usually another six months.

How do you use the weekly plan?

• Due reviews first, then new material. The subjects in a week are its new material; reviews of earlier subjects come before them every day.
• Ethics every week. Ethics and Professional Conduct runs through both papers and, with money laundering, can make up to 20% of the questions (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4), so it is not a block of its own.
• Adjust by results. After a few weeks, set the subjects where your accuracy is lowest to “new to me” and recalculate.

Which planning mistakes are common?

• Finishing one paper before starting the other. FLK1 and FLK2 are assessed a week apart; the plan runs them in parallel so neither is months old by then.
• Planning every week at full load. Work, illness and holidays happen; catch-up weeks keep one bad week from breaking the plan.
• Starting timed sessions too late. The last phase is for full sessions under exam conditions and for learning from every mistake in them.

Study aid only – not legal, financial or careers advice. The tool runs in your browser and stores nothing.

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.