SQE1 resit and six-year window checker: attempts left and your deadline

How is the result calculated?

The SRA’s Assessment Regulations give you six years from the day you first sat an SQE assessment to sit the remaining ones, and three attempts at each of FLK1, FLK2 and SQE2 within that period (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations). The checker counts:

$d_1$ is the day of your first assessment, $T$ the end of the period (the sixth anniversary of $d_1$; a 29 February becomes 28 February), $n_k$ your attempts so far and $r_k$ the attempts left. A passed assessment has none left, because it cannot be resat to improve the mark.

What to book next follows the regulations in this order:

1. Every assessment passed: done.
2. Three attempts used at FLK1, FLK2 or SQE2 without a pass: wait until $T$ before reapplying; previous passes are not carried forward.
3. Today on or after $T$ with assessments left: reapply; previous passes are not carried forward.
4. SQE1 passed (FLK1 and FLK2): SQE2, which you can only enrol for after passing SQE1.
5. One FLK paper passed: resit only the other one. Neither passed: take both in the same window.

The table of sittings shows the SQE1 windows with published dates that start after today and before $T$. The checker assumes no extension: the SRA can extend the period only in exceptional circumstances, on application (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations). Check the exact end date with the SRA if you plan close to it.

Worked example

Three candidates first sat SQE1 on the first FLK1 day of the January 2027 sitting (FLK1: 11–15 January 2027 (check the official website)), so each six-year period ends on 11 January 2033.

• Passed FLK1, failed FLK2. Only FLK2 is resat, with 2 attempts left; the FLK1 pass stands. The next window is July 2027 (FLK2: 19–23 July 2027 (check the official website)), and one paper costs £1,003 (check the official website).
• Failed both. Both papers are retaken in the same window, with 2 attempts left at each, for £2,006 (check the official website).
• Passed FLK1, then failed FLK2 three times. All three FLK2 attempts are used, so this candidate must wait until 11 January 2033 before reapplying – and the FLK1 pass will not be carried forward.

What does your result mean for you?

Attempts left are time, not a verdict. A failed paper hurts, especially when you have worked for months, but the rules give you room to come back: two further attempts at each paper and years in which to use them. The question is how to use them well, not whether you are good enough. Our guide failed SQE1? What to do next covers the first days after a result, and the pass mark and results guide explains how to read your score.

How should you plan the attempts you have left?

1. Write down your record. The day of your first assessment, each attempt and its result. That is everything this checker needs.
2. Pick the next window by preparation, not by panic. Booking the very next sitting only helps if you can change how you prepare in the time. The FLK revision planner shows whether your weeks are enough.
3. Keep SQE2 inside the period. SQE2 has to fit before the same end date, with its own three attempts, so leave room for a further SQE2 sitting rather than planning it for the last months.
4. Act quickly if illness or an incident affected you. Mitigating circumstances are claimed under the SRA’s SQE Mitigating Circumstances Policy, to which the regulations refer (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations). Read it straight after the assessment so you do not miss any time limit it sets.

Which mistakes are common?

• Counting three resits. Three attempts include the first one: after a failed first attempt there are two more.
• Expecting a new clock after SQE1. Passing SQE1 does not restart the six years; SQE2 must be sat within the same period.
• Relying on unused attempts. Attempts left do not keep passes alive after the period ends; you would have to reapply without them.
• Resitting a passed paper for a better mark. The regulations do not allow it under any circumstances (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.