What does your SQE1 score mean? Score and quintile explainer

How is the result calculated?

The SRA’s slides on scaled scoring set out the steps (SRA, scaled scoring slides, 2024): the passing standard of each paper is set as a number of correct answers; that pass mark becomes 300 (check the official website) on the scale; one straight line converts the correct answers below it to the scale from 0 (check the official website) up to the pass mark, a second line converts those above it to the rest of the scale up to 500 (check the official website); and anyone at the pass mark or above passes the paper. The explainer reads your score back along the same two lines:

$s$ is your scaled score, $P$ the pass mark and $s_{\min}$, $s_{\max}$ the ends of the scale. $g$ is the distance from the pass mark in points. Below the pass mark, $a$ is the share of the correct answers the pass mark required; above it, $b$ is the share of the marks between the pass mark and full marks. In correct answers, with the paper’s pass mark $R_P$ and full marks $R_{\max}$:

The explainer does not know $R_P$ for your paper, because it is set separately for each paper in each sitting to allow for differences in difficulty (SRA, 31 March 2026). So it gives the distance in correct answers only on the SRA’s own illustration: pass marks of 90, 100 and 110 correct answers out of 180 (SRA, scaled scoring slides, 2024), rounded to whole answers.

The quintile is a separate reading. Quintiles are five equal groups of the candidates who sat the same FLK paper in the same sitting, from quintile 1 (the highest-scoring 20%) to quintile 5 (the lowest-scoring 20%) (check the official website), as preparation websites describe them (SQE1 Prep, scaled score and quintiles (secondary source)) (Law Drills, SQE1 pass mark and quintiles (secondary source)). Quintile $q$ means that roughly $20(q-1)\%$ to $20q\%$ of the candidates on that paper scored higher than you. Compare the wording with your results page.

Together, SQE1 is passed when both FLK1 and FLK2 are passed. If you passed one paper, you resit only the other; if you failed both, you retake both in the same assessment window; and a passed paper cannot be resat to improve the mark. Resits must fit within six years of your first SQE assessment, and after a third failure of a paper you wait until those six years are over, with earlier passes not carried forward (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations).

Worked example

The SRA’s own example: a paper of 180 marks whose pass mark is 100 correct answers (SRA, scaled scoring slides, 2024). On the two lines, its correct answers become these scaled scores:

• 240: 60 points below the pass mark. That is 80% of the way up the lower line, so 80% of the correct answers the pass mark required – 80 of 100 on this paper. Across the SRA’s pass marks of 90 to 110, the same score is 18 to 22 correct answers short.
• 350: 50 points above the pass mark. That is 25% of the way from the pass mark to full marks – 20 correct answers more than needed on this paper, 18 to 23 across the SRA’s three pass marks.
• Not a percentage. The pass mark of 100 out of 180 is 56% of the marks, yet it becomes 300 (check the official website) on a scale up to 500 (check the official website) – which would read as 60% if you took the score as a percentage.

These are the scores the explainer opens with. Enter your own above; with a quintile added, it also shows where your score stood among the other candidates.

What does your score mean for you?

A result is a reading of one sitting, not a verdict on you. Whatever the number, it measures how many questions you answered correctly on one paper, on the days you sat it. It does not decide whether you can become a solicitor, and it does not forecast your next attempt.

• If you passed: for qualifying, the margin does not matter. A pass by one point counts exactly like a pass by a hundred, and the quintile does not change it. If both papers are passed, SQE2 is next – our guide to SQE1 and SQE2 explains how they differ.
• If you missed by a few points: this is often the hardest result to take, because it feels so close. The distance is real but small in correct answers – the explainer shows roughly how small. Use it to plan a targeted resit rather than a full restart.
• If you missed by a lot: the gap is information, not a judgement. It says the plan needs to change, not just to be repeated. Our guide failed SQE1? What to do next covers the first days and the rebuild.

What should you do in the week after your result?

1. Write both readings down. Score and quintile for FLK1 and FLK2, and the distance from the pass mark that this explainer shows.
2. Open the breakdown by practice area. The SRA’s slides show results pages with a full breakdown by practice area (SRA, scaled scoring slides, 2024). It tells you where the marks went, which a single score cannot.
3. Read the statistical report for your sitting. Kaplan, the assessment provider, publishes one for each sitting (SRA, 1 April 2025); the reports are on the SRA’s SQE website (SRA, SQE statistical reports).
4. Check your attempts and deadline. The resit and six-year window checker shows what you have left and when the period ends.
5. Plan the next window by preparation, not by panic. The FLK revision planner shows whether the weeks before a sitting are enough for the work you now know you need.

Which mistakes are common?

• Reading the score as a percentage. The pass mark is a point on the scale, not a share of questions; in the SRA’s example, a pass mark of 100 out of 180 correct answers becomes 300 (check the official website).
• Reading quintile 1 as the bottom. Quintile 1 is the top group of candidates, quintile 5 the lowest.
• Treating the quintile as the distance from the pass mark. The quintile compares you with the other candidates on the paper; how far you were from passing is the scaled score.
• Expecting to need the same number of correct answers next time. The pass mark is set independently for each paper to allow for differences in difficulty (SRA, 31 March 2026); the scale makes results comparable, not the raw requirement.
• Resitting a passed paper for a better mark. The regulations do not allow it (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations).

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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.