Articles – Law Academia

Articles & Insight

Writing from people who practise.

Long-form analysis on the SQE, legal education, the UK regulatory landscape, and the realities of qualifying as a solicitor today. No clickbait. Written by our faculty between client matters.

LLB Foundations

Public law for SQE candidates: thedepth question

Public law sits awkwardly between LLB depth and SQE1 breadth. The right preparation depth depends on which exam you’re sitting first.

SQE Strategy

Single-best-answer MCQs: howexaminers write the distractors

The wrong answers in an SQE MCQ are not random. Once you understand the distractor logic, you can dismantle them in seconds.

Exam Technique

Why timed mocks work — and whythey ruin some candidates

Mocks are the highest-yield study activity in the SQE prep arsenal. They are also the most commonly mishandled. A reset.

Career Strategy

QWE: what counts, what doesn’t, andthe trap most candidates fall into

Qualifying Work Experience is more flexible than candidates realise — and more fragile. The signed-off requirement catches people out.

LLB Foundations

Reading cases properly: the IRACmethod, refined

Most LLB students read cases the way they read textbooks — linearly, passively. The IRAC method changes that. Here’s the refined version.

SQE2 Skills

The client interview station: whatassessors actually want

SQE2 client interview is not a roleplay. It’s a structured competency test against published criteria. Pass it by understanding the rubric.

Exam Technique

How to mark your own mock paperswithout lying to yourself

Self-marking is the difference between candidates who improve and candidates who plateau. A protocol developed across four cohorts.

Industry Analysis

The SQE has been live for five years.The market hasn’t caught up.

Most firms still recruit as if the LPC era hadn’t ended. Trainees who understand the gap have a measurable career advantage.

SQE Strategy

Why most SQE1 candidates fail FLK2(and what to do about it)

The SRA’s published pass rates show FLK2 trailing FLK1 by 6–11 points across every assessment window. The reasons are predictable. So is the fix.