Jacqui Gower

Jacqui Gower

Charity talks to Jacqui Gower, Chief Operating Officer at JCP Solicitors, about the SQE Review -from an Employer’s viewpoint.

In December 2024, The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) commissioned the IFF, a social and market research agency, to conduct an independent review on the premise of evaluating whether the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is achieving its objectives. 

Charity: As an Employer (in this case, a Law Firm), what is your general view of the SQE as a route to qualification?

Sarah: At JCP Solicitors, we take pride in supporting multiple routes to qualification including apprenticeships and the SQE. Although the SQE has contributed to new pathways to qualification and benefited employers by adding flexibility to the recruitment process, it has not quite had the socio-economic benefit we had hoped. The SQE courses run at a similar cost to the LPC, meaning it still puts some barriers in place. That being said, it has contributed to the development of the Legal Apprenticeship, which is a huge step forward. 

Charity: How does the SQE route fare in contrast with the traditional training contract route? 

Sarah: Managing recruitment through the traditional route was a simple process, but was quite narrow: it is very much “the way the legal world has always done it”, and at JCP Solicitors, we try and move away from tradition for tradition’s sake. In recent years, we have taken a much more flexible approach to managing talent which has mitigated the volatile labour market we have operated in.   

We continue to have Solicitors qualifying through the traditional route of training in seats (which includes LPC and SQE candidates) but we also have legal assistants studying SQE and qualifying into their existing teams. Alongside this, we have legal apprentices who are currently on a CILEX pathway and will then move through to SQE whilst gaining a breadth of experience.  This creates many opportunities for future progression within JCP.

Charity: What adjustments have you had to make in order to implement the SQE? 

Sarah: We are an agile business, and we are large enough to be leaders in our region but modest enough to manage talent flexibly.  We have adapted – and continue to adapt - the way we recruit to suit how candidates wish to qualify, with many candidates at different stages of their studies or training. It is not easy to coordinate, but a good HR team and a good spreadsheet can manage it in a firm of our size.   

Charity: What challenges do law firms face as they transition to recruit via the SQE? 

Sarah: There are many challenges, but a main one for us is managing when candidates qualify for talent planning purposes.  With the SQE framework, we may encounter trainees qualifying mid-seat, others failing the SQE and unable to progress at the expected time, and new trainees already recruited. Additionally, legal assistants qualifying without available NQ positions within their teams could lead to potential talent loss.

To navigate these complexities, we believe the key is to diversify risk. By running multiple qualification routes simultaneously, such as traditional seat rotations, graduate legal assistants within set teams, and legal apprentices, we create a flexible system that allows us to address talent planning challenges effectively. For instance, should a trainee fail the SQE, we can extend training contracts without disrupting a rigid rotation structure, ensuring smoother transitions and better workforce stability.

Charity: Do you employ Solicitors who qualified through SQE route and have some legal experience? 

Sarah: We haven’t yet recruited externally for a Solicitor who trained elsewhere via the SQE route, as we have created so many internal talent pools that we haven’t needed to. However, we know this will happen eventually. We are changing the way we recruit to enhance the process, ensuring we are recruiting the best talent.  The traditional interview will no longer be adequate, and so we intend to move to a more structured recruitment process based on competency and values.

Charity: What advice would you give to applicants seeking a qualified role with a law firm via the SQE route? 

Sarah: I would recommend ensuring that your QWE provides exposure to as many of the Solicitors standards as possible. Keep an open mind about gaining as much experience as possible, even beyond the two-year QWE period. This is difficult if you feel that you are ready for a qualified role but keep in mind that many who qualified through the LPC route acquired significantly more experience as paralegals than what was covered in their two-year training contract.

Throughout your QWE, maintain a detailed record of tasks and responsibilities that align with the standards as this will be invaluable when preparing for applications, interviews, and assessments. Additionally, be ready to discuss how the SQE route and your QWE have equipped you with the practical legal skills you need, using real-life examples to demonstrate your competencies effectively.

Charity: There seem to be concerns about the pass rate (in particular for the SQE1 assessments). 

For example, in October 2024, the pass rate hit an all-time low of 44%. 

What do you think are the contributing factors? and

Sarah: We work closely with education providers and believe that the SQE was intended to be sat after gaining experience. The exams seem suited to those who have practical experience, and so we believe that apprentices and those who have been legal assistants are able to achieve higher grades. Whereas, those sitting prep courses straight from university are probably going to find the exams more difficult.  The courses are not mandatory like an LPC course is, and so there also seems to be a lack of standardisation between the courses offered by different providers. 

We provide extensive in-team training to those studying the SQE as well as access to a learning academy, which is made up of internal students who may be studying CILEX, SQE or other courses.

Charity: What solutions would you as an Employer suggest to remedy this? 

Sarah: We require those who are joining us through our standard recruitment to have already completed the SQE1 and then to rotate through three 8-month seats with us to gain experience or to specialise in one area with secondments where necessary. These placements are required before SQE2 irrespective of any previous paralegal experience, although we may choose to reduce the length of training in a similar way to ‘time to count’.  We understand this could result in those with previous QWE leaving to take up an NQ position elsewhere before the end of their training seats, but we accept this risk and know that the training we provide will result in confident and competent lawyers.  This risk is also mitigated by ongoing coaching and career planning with all our trainees. 

Charity: As an Employer, what is your policy on revoking training contracts for trainees who fail the SQE exams? and

Sarah: We hope this won’t happen as we will only be taking candidates who have already passed SQE1, and they will receive comprehensive training before sitting SQE2. However, we are realistic. If a candidate fails the SQE exam, they can be provided with an extension of the training programme.  We will mitigate the risk of future talent planning by having a mix of trainees who already had paralegal positions within teams, and new candidates who are in seat circulation. Trainees at JCP are valuable team members who carry out meaningful legal work, and so there is a benefit to us in extending a trainee programme.  Should a candidate not pass entirely, then we are able to explore alternative non-qualified positions for candidates who we wish to retain.

Charity: What support do you provide your trainees qualifying through the SQE route to ensure that they maximise their chances of success? 

Sarah: We provide extensive in-team training to those studying the SQE as well as access to a learning academy, which is made up of internal students who may be studying CILEX, SQE or other courses. Sessions will be provided by Directors and Solicitors on relevant topics to support their studies. We also offer paid study leave and flexible working hours to accommodate their studies.

Charity: In your opinion, could firms be doing more to support individuals during the SQE? 

Sarah: The introduction of the SQE and its evolving requirements have placed firms in a challenging position, with little guidance and shifting expectations. However, there are proactive steps firms can take to support candidates throughout the SQE process. Ensuring that QWE closely resembles a traditional training contract is key; this could involve seconding candidates to different teams, providing opportunities to interview clients, attend court, and conduct research for example.

Firms might also consider establishing a learning academy for SQE candidates. This could be as simple as hosting lunchtime sessions to facilitate discussion and knowledge-sharing or organising solicitor-led workshops on topics that candidates want to know more about.

Not only will these initiatives provide valuable support to employees, but they will also help mitigate talent planning risks, ultimately benefiting both the firm and its future solicitors.

Charity: What do you perceive to be the positive aspects of the SQE?  and

Sarah: The SQE has enabled us to open up several different pathways to qualification, which diversifies the risk of a decline in candidates in either route.  With legal assistants training to qualify later in their careers, legal apprentices 

joining us from college or through career switching, and students joining us from university education, we have several methods of recruitment - and, arguably more importantly, we can attract more diverse candidates who bring different experiences and skillsets. This gives our business a major advantage.

Charity: The negative aspects of the SQE?

Sarah: We are not sure the SQE has achieved its aims.  The SQE prep course continues to be extremely expensive and leaves candidates with large student debt when taken as a Masters qualification. Welsh Government are not yet willing to fund the Solicitor apprenticeship pathway past Level 5, meaning that part student funding as well as employer contribution is still needed through this route. We had hoped that the profession would be opened up to a much wider group.   

As a team member can opt to take SQE1 and SQE2 while gaining QWE, there is also the risk that team members are qualifying as Associate Solicitors without an official position being available. This can make planning strategies increasingly difficult for the business, as we may not always know who is at which stage of the SQE. However, this is mitigated as we encourage ongoing career progression conversations with team leaders.

Charity: What aspects of the SQE do you think could be improved to enable the SRA to achieve its goal of advancing social mobility in the legal profession? and 

Sarah: Potentially, SQE2 should not be taken until a specified amount of legal experience has been undertaken.  This would mean that the competitive training contract positions would switch to an equally competitive paralegal position, however it would mitigate some of the challenges that were not envisaged when the SQE was launched. 

Charity: What feasible steps does the SRA need to take to ensure they achieve this? 

Sarah: The SRA should work with education providers and employers to look at what is not going as well as it could be, and find solutions for how to improve that. For example, there is no involvement from employers regarding competency during QWE and this could be addressed so that a role similar to the current ‘training principal’ would be responsible for signing off Solicitor skills achieved during QWE. This would assist in future recruitment of SQE qualified solicitors.■

NB*-Please note that this is an updated version of a previously published interview. 

Jacqui Gower

Chief Operating Officer at JCP Solicitors

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-gower-0a571658/

Interviewed by

Charity Mafuba 

Commissioning Editor and Director, 

Solicitor (England and Wales), New York Attorney