SQE1 January 2026 Results: 53% Pass Rate

The SRA published the January 2026 SQE1 statistical report on 31 March 2026. Here are the numbers, what they mean, and what you should take from them if you're preparing.

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The Key Numbers

Overall SQE1 pass rate (all candidates): 53%

First-attempt candidates: 58%

By paper:

• FLK1 (all candidates): 62% - first-attempt only: 65%
• FLK2 (all candidates): 57% - first-attempt only: 61%

Candidates graded (both papers): 7,863

Source: SRA SQE1 January 2026 Statistical Report

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How January 2026 Compares

January 2026 fits the pattern: January sittings consistently come in higher than July. 53% is essentially the same as January 2024 and slightly below January 2025. The July 2025 result of 41% was a record low - January 2026 represents a normal recovery, not an improvement.

What's notable is the candidate count. At 7,863, this is the largest January cohort on record by some distance. More candidates generally means more first-timers, which tends to drag the overall rate down. That the rate held at 53% with a bigger cohort is a reasonable sign.

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The Ethnic and Educational Breakdown

The January 2026 report includes detailed breakdowns that don't often get covered. They should.

By degree class:

• First class degree: 79% pass rate
• 2:1: 57%
• 2:2: 20%

The gap between a 2:1 and a 2:2 is 37 percentage points. If you have a 2:2, the national average doesn't tell you much about your own situation - your preparation strategy needs to account for that gap.

By ethnicity:

• White candidates: 67%
• Asian or Asian British: 47%
• Black or Black British: 38%

These are significant disparities and they persist across sittings. The SRA has acknowledged them. There's no simple explanation, but they're worth knowing if you're advising candidates or choosing how to prepare.

By religion:

• No religion: 68%
• Muslim: 35%
• Jewish: 77%

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What 53% Actually Means for You

The national pass rate is the average across everyone who sat the exam. It includes people who were barely prepared, people sitting a resit, people who enrolled with no legal background and no course. It is not a ceiling on your chances.

The question is which group you're in.

If you have a law degree (any class), a structured prep course, and at least 4 months of focused study: your realistic range is 60-70%, not 53%. If you're self-studying with no legal background and sitting in July: the number you should be thinking about is closer to 25-35%.

The pass rate is most useful as a reality check. It tells you this exam is not a formality. Around half the people who sit it do not pass. Most of those people thought they were going to pass.

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January vs July: Why the Gap Persists

January sittings have come in at 53-56% every year. July sittings have come in at 41-44%. That's a consistent 12-15 percentage point gap.

Why? A few factors:

Cohort mix. July attracts more first-time takers fresh out of law school. January tends to draw people who've been preparing carefully, including retakers with more context on what the exam requires.

Study conditions. Preparing for July means studying from roughly March to June. That's Easter, summer holidays, end-of-academic-year chaos. January prep runs September to December - better conditions for sustained study.

Retaker advantage. Candidates sitting a resit pass at much higher rates than first-timers. January has a higher proportion of retakers.

If you have flexibility on timing, the data suggests January is the better sitting. This isn't a guarantee - individual preparation matters far more than sitting timing - but the pattern is consistent enough to factor in.

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On Provider Pass Rates

The SRA still does not publish official provider-level data. All provider figures are self-reported.

The March 2026 SRA report includes a note that compulsory prep survey data is now being collected at the point candidates access their results. Clean provider-level data should be available in future publications. Until then, treat any provider's claimed pass rate with scepticism about what cohort it's measuring.

Current self-reported figures: BPP 68%, ULaw 64%, City 62%, BARBRI 58%.

The national average is 53%. All of those claims sit above it. The most likely explanation is that providers calculate pass rates for students who completed the course - excluding withdrawals and low-engagement students. A provider's full enrolled cohort rate is probably closer to the national average.

Use provider pass rates for relative comparison only. Don't treat them as your personal probability.

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FLK2 vs FLK1

FLK2 (57% all candidates) consistently underperforms FLK1 (62%). This has been true across every sitting.

FLK2 covers Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, Trusts, Wills and Administration of Estates, among others. Accounts in particular is consistently the hardest topic. Candidates who pass FLK1 but fail FLK2 can resit FLK2 alone - the FLK1 pass carries over.

If you're preparing now: don't treat FLK1 and FLK2 as equal challenges. The Accounts component alone deserves more time than most candidates give it.

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What to Do With This

If you're sitting in July 2026:

• You have time to prepare properly. Don't rush.
• Budget for the historical July rate (around 41-44%), not the January rate.
• If you're not confident by May, consider deferring to January 2027.

If you sat January 2026 and didn't pass:

• You're in the 47% who didn't. That's nearly half the cohort - you're not in unusual company.
• You can resit a single FLK paper (£967) if you passed one and failed the other.
• Work out which topics cost you points. Not which ones you found difficult - which ones came up and you dropped marks on.

If you're planning ahead:

• The national pass rate range across all sittings is roughly 41-56%. Plan for that range.
• The gap between self-study and a structured course is real. Factor it into your budget decision.
• January 2027 is the next January sitting if you're starting preparation now.

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More on pass rates:

• Full historical SQE pass rate data
• SQE1 July 2025 analysis: why the rate dropped to 41%
• Compare all SQE prep providers
• SQE cost calculator with resit scenarios