Apply for a UK lawyer agreed exemption
Updated 13 June 2023
Who can apply
UK qualified lawyers with an agreed exemption for their legal qualification.
Please check what exemption you can apply for. If your qualification has an agreed exemption, you will still need to apply for this.
If you are granted an exemption from SQE2, you will also need to demonstrate your English or Welsh language competence.
Scottish solicitors
SQE2
If you are a solicitor qualified in Scotland, you are exempted from sitting the SQE2 assessment. You will need to apply for this exemption.
Only apply to lawyers who have qualified through Scotland’s full legal qualification route and not cross qualified from another one can apply for an agreed exemption. Those who have cross qualified can still apply for exemptions, but this will be assessed on an individual basis.
SQE1
If you have additional experience and/or other qualifications, you can also apply for an individual SQE1 exemption. Find out more
Other UK qualified lawyers
There are no agreed exemptions for any other UK qualified lawyers. Instead, you will need to apply for an individual exemption from one or both assessments based on your other qualifications and experience. Find out more
Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland solicitors
Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland solicitors don't need to sit the SQE assessments. Find out more about how to become a solicitor of England and Wales.
Who cannot apply
You cannot apply for an exemption from a part of the SQE that you have previously failed. You must retake the assessment and pass to be eligible to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales.
Fee
There is no fee for this application.
What to do before applying
Make sure you have added your legal qualifications and jurisdictions in mySRA within 'My profile'. You will not be to apply for the agreed exemption until you do this. You must have been already admitted as you cannot set this as a future date.
To do this you will need to create a mySRA account. If you already have one, you will need to log in.
Making your application
Once logged into mySRA, select 'Start new applications' on the homepage. The application is called 'Apply for qualified lawyer exemption from the SQE assessments'. You will then be asked a series of questions.
If you have already started it, you will find your draft application in ‘My profile' under 'Applications and documents'.
Once you have submitted, you cannot apply for another exemption under the same application. For example, if you apply for SQE2, you cannot use the same application and fee to then apply for SQE1 at a later date.
We will let you know our decision on the agreed SQE2 exemption within 30 days. However, it is likely to take significantly less time.
Please be aware that if you apply for an individual SQE1 exemption, alongside the agreed one, it can take us 180 days to decide on the application as a whole. Decisions on the agreed SQE2 exemption will be made within the 30 days.