Solicitor qualification cost calculator: what the SQE route costs you

How is the result calculated?

The calculator adds the SRA fees for the assessments you sit, the SRA fees on the way to admission and your own figures for preparation, living costs and travel. A resit adds its fee per paper and, once, the living costs for the months until the next sitting:

$F_1$ and $F_2$ are the SQE1 and SQE2 fees, $A$ the degree check, screening and admission fees, $P$ your preparation costs, $L$ your living costs per month over $m$ months, $T$ travel for SQE2, $r$ the number of FLK papers you resit at $F_r$ each, and $m_r$ the months a resit adds. Funding you do not repay, $G$, comes off; a Master's Loan, $D$, lowers only the cash you need now, because you repay it later:

The fees are the SRA's for 2026/27: SQE1 £2,006 (check the official website) and SQE2 £3,086 (check the official website) (SRA news release, 21 April 2026), a resit of one FLK paper £1,003 (check the official website) (SQE1 Prep, SQE costs 2026/27 (secondary source)), the degree check £36 (check the official website) for a UK or Irish degree or £54.84 (check the official website) for an international one (SRA, degree check), screening £34 (check the official website) and admission to the roll £100 (check the official website) (SRA, admission and fees). The monthly budget needs your months of preparation and is rounded up to whole pounds.

Worked example

A candidate with a UK degree keeps working while preparing, so there are no extra living costs. Their example quotes are £1,500 for SQE1 preparation and £2,000 for SQE2 preparation, and they allow £150 for travel to the SQE2 oral assessments. They want to spread the cost over 12 months.

• SRA fees: £2,006 (check the official website) + £3,086 (check the official website) + £36 (check the official website) + £34 (check the official website) + £100 (check the official website) = £5,262
• Preparation and travel: £3,500 + £150 = £3,650
• Total if both assessments are passed first time: £8,912, or £743 a month over 12 months

If one FLK paper has to be resat, the fee for that paper is added and the plan runs 6 months longer: £9,915 in total, or £551 a month over 18 months.

What does the total mean for you?

The SRA fees are fixed for everyone who books in the same fee year; the rest depends on how you prepare. A preparation course is not one of the SRA's requirements for the SQE route (SRA, SQE route), so the largest variable is your own choice. Get two or three quotes, enter the one you lean towards, and look at the scenario table to see what a resit would add on top.

Which costs are easy to miss?

• The months a resit adds. The 2027 sittings are in January and July (BPP, secondary source, accessed 24 October 2026), so a resit usually means about six more months of preparation – and of living costs if you are not working. If you pass one paper and fail the other, you normally resit only the failed paper (SRA, SQE Assessment Regulations).
• Travel for SQE2. The oral assessments take place over two half-days (SRA, SQE2 Assessment Specification); add the journey and, if needed, a night away.
• Overseas criminal record checks. If you have lived abroad continuously for 12 months or more in the past five years, each of those countries sets its own fee for the check (SRA, screening).
• A practising certificate. It has a fee of its own, separate from admission to the roll (SRA, admission and fees), and is not included here.

When can a Master's Loan help?

Only when your preparation is a master's course such as an LLM: a Postgraduate Master's Loan is not available for a postgraduate certificate or diploma, nor if you already hold a master's degree (GOV.UK, Master's Loan eligibility). It is paid to you and can be used for course fees and living costs (GOV.UK, Master's Loan), and you repay it once your income is over a threshold (GOV.UK, Master's Loan overview). The calculator therefore takes it off the cash you need now, not off the cost.

Which mistakes are common when budgeting for the SQE?

• Budgeting only for SQE1. SQE2 costs more than SQE1, and both are needed unless you are exempt.
• Counting a loan as funding. Employer sponsorship or a grant lowers your cost; a loan only moves it into the future.
• Using last year's fees. The SRA has raised its fees each year, in 2026/27 by inflation plus a small uplift towards Welsh translation (SRA news release, 21 April 2026); the figures here are for 2026/27.

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.