How to Build an SQE Revision Timetable That Actually Works

Most SQE revision timetables look great on paper and fall apart within two weeks. This guide explains why, and how to build one that holds up across the full preparation period.

If you want to skip straight to generating yours, you can use our free SQE revision timetable generator. But if you want to understand the thinking behind it, read on.

Why Most SQE Revision Plans Fail

The failure mode is almost always the same. A candidate downloads a generic 12-week plan, fills it with unrealistic daily targets, and then misses a few days because life got in the way. The plan stops feeling achievable, so they quietly abandon it and wing the rest of their preparation.

The fix is not more discipline. It is a more honest plan.

A realistic SQE revision timetable accounts for:

• The hours you can actually study, not the hours you wish you had
• The 12 SQE1 topics and their different difficulty levels
• A structured progression from learning to applying to reviewing
• The fact that Solicitors Accounts needs daily practice, not a last-minute cram

How Many Hours Do You Need to Study for SQE1?

This depends on your background. Here are realistic ranges based on candidate outcomes:

No legal background: 500 to 700 hours. That is 12 to 18 months studying part-time, or longer if you are working full-time in a non-legal role.

Law degree or GDL: 350 to 500 hours. You have the doctrinal foundation but the MCQ format and Accounts Rules still need deliberate preparation.

Practising paralegal or lawyer: 250 to 400 hours. Your practice area gives you depth in some topics, but SQE1 tests breadth across all 12 areas regardless of what you do day to day.

One factor worth knowing: January sittings have historically outperformed July ones. The January 2026 pass rate was 53%, the July 2025 rate was 41%. If you have flexibility on timing, that gap is worth thinking about.

The Four-Phase Structure

A good SQE revision timetable is not just a list of topics. It is a progression through four distinct phases of preparation.

Phase 1: Foundation (40% of your total study time)

This is where you build your knowledge base. You are covering every SQE1 topic systematically, going through the rules and principles for the first time or consolidating what you already know.

The goal at this stage is coverage, not mastery. You are not ready to do timed practice questions yet. You are building the mental scaffolding that makes those questions answerable later.

Solicitors Accounts gets extra time in this phase. Its pass rate is the lowest of any SQE1 topic, and it requires daily reinforcement rather than periodic revision.

Phase 2: Development (35% of your total study time)

Now you start applying what you know. MCQ practice, problem questions, ledger entries for Accounts. The shift from knowing the rule to being able to use it under exam conditions is where most candidates either gain or lose significant ground.

Track the topics you get wrong. Not just which subjects, but which specific rules and scenarios catch you out. That information is what your Consolidation phase should be built around.

Phase 3: Consolidation (15% of your total study time)

Mixed practice and targeted weak-area revision. You are not going back to cover everything again. You are spending your time where your Development phase data tells you it is needed most.

Past paper questions and full-length practice sessions belong here. So does working through any topic where your MCQ accuracy is still below where you need it.

Phase 4: Final Review (10% of your total study time)

Light revision of key rules, high-frequency MCQs, and confidence-building. No new material at this stage. The point is to stay sharp and go into the exam settled, not to cover ground you have not prepared.

SQE1 Topics and How to Weight Them

SQE1 covers 12 areas of Functioning Legal Knowledge across two papers. FLK1 covers Business Law and Practice, Property Practice, Contract Law, Criminal Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Tort Law, Legal Ethics and Conduct, and Constitutional and Administrative Law. FLK2 covers Wills and Administration of Estates, Trusts, Land Law, and Solicitors Accounts.

Not all topics deserve equal time. Business Law and Practice carries around 15% of the exam weight. Constitutional and Administrative Law is closer to 2%. A timetable that splits study time evenly across all 12 topics is not the right approach.

The SQE revision timetable generator distributes your hours using SRA exam weightings and historical pass rate data, so heavier topics get proportionally more time without you having to do the maths yourself.

The Solicitors Accounts Problem

Almost every candidate underestimates Solicitors Accounts. It sits in FLK2 and it consistently produces the lowest topic-level pass rates in SQE1. Candidates who work in litigation or corporate or property often have limited day-to-day exposure to the SRA Accounts Rules. And even those who do work in accounts sometimes know their firm's specific processes without knowing the rules in their regulatory form.

The rules themselves are learnable. The three-way split, client money obligations, prohibited uses, interest requirements. But they require repetition to stick.

A candidate who does 10 minutes of Accounts practice every single study day for six months is in a substantially better position than one who does a 20-hour intensive the week before the exam. The timetable treats it accordingly: Accounts appears throughout every phase, not just at the start.

Studying for SQE2 Alongside SQE1

If you are preparing for SQE2 as well, the structure is different. SQE2 assesses five practical skills: Legal Drafting, Client Interviewing and Advising, Advocacy, Legal Research, and Case and Matter Analysis.

The development-heavy model that works for SQE1 does not translate directly to SQE2. Less MCQ drilling, more practical exercise work. The skills are assessed in scenario-based assessments, so your preparation needs to simulate those scenarios rather than build theoretical knowledge.

Most candidates complete SQE1 first and move to SQE2 preparation after their results. If you are running both in parallel, keep them structurally separate.

Practical Advice for Sticking to the Plan

A timetable is only useful if you actually follow it. These are the things that separate candidates who complete their revision plan from those who abandon it.

Block study time as fixed appointments. The biggest difference between candidates who stick to their timetable and those who do not is treating study as a committed slot rather than something to fit around everything else. Put it in your calendar the same way you would a work meeting.

Use active recall, not passive re-reading. Reading your notes creates a sense of familiarity that you can mistake for learning. MCQ practice and problem questions force you to retrieve knowledge, which is what the exam requires. Active recall also tells you what you actually do not know.

Expect disruption and plan for it. A 12 to 18 month preparation period will include illness, travel, work deadlines, and unexpected life events. If you miss a week, adjust and continue. Do not treat a missed period as a reason to restart from scratch.

Log your QWE in parallel if you are working. If you are studying for SQE1 while working as a paralegal or in any qualifying role, make sure your QWE is being documented properly as you go. The QWE Tracker handles this. The exam and the work experience requirement run simultaneously and both need to be in order before you can qualify.

January vs July: Which SQE1 Sitting to Target

The January sitting consistently outperforms July in pass rates. January 2026 was 53%, January 2025 was 56%. July 2025 was 41%. Part of this reflects candidate mix: July picks up more resit candidates and those who may not have been fully prepared.

If you are starting preparation now and have a choice, January gives you a slight edge statistically. July is fine if you need the time or if your preparation is on track. What matters more than sitting choice is starting your timetable properly and following it through.

Use the Timetable Generator

Rather than building your timetable manually, you can generate one in about 60 seconds using the SQE revision timetable generator.

You enter your exam date, your available study hours per day, which exam or exams you are preparing for, and your legal background. It produces a day-by-day timetable using the four-phase structure and topic weighting described above.

You can view it as a calendar, a day-by-day list, or print it to PDF. If you save it by email, you get 14 days of free access to your timetable link. After that, keeping permanent access costs £4.50 a month on the Standard plan. If you generated a timetable before pricing launched, you get a lower founding rate.

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Related reading:

• SQE pass rates by sitting - official SRA data updated quarterly
• How much does the SQE cost? - full breakdown including resit fees
• SQE1 and SQE2: what is the difference?
• Can you pass the SQE without a course?