22-05-2025
Law firms threaten to claw back fees for exam failures
Fees for the solicitors qualifying examination are set to rise slightly next year, meaning the two-part gateway into legal practice will set students back nearly £5,000. Seeking help from firms by getting a training contract could, however, be a risky business.
The four-year-old exam, which triggered palpitations among old guard lawyers when regulators first mooted the change after about nine years of consultation, has just had a clean bill of health from an independent reviewer.
Bigger problems with solicitor training have emerged not from the exam, but from law firms and their alleged approach to students who fail it. More on that in a moment. First, it should be noted that the latest review described last year's delivery of the SQE as 'good', with clear
