You have passed SQE1, you are deep into SQE2 prep, and a friend asks a question that stops you cold: "So how are you actually recording your work experience?" You freeze. You have been employed in a law firm for fourteen months, helping with client files and drafting letters — but have you written any of it down in a way the SRA will accept? If that scenario gives you a small jolt of panic, you are in good company. Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) is the part of the solicitor qualification route that candidates most often leave until the last minute, and it is the one part you cannot cram.
Let me walk you through what genuinely counts, who can confirm it, and how to keep a record that survives scrutiny — so that when you finally apply for admission, the paperwork is the easy bit.
What QWE actually is in the solicitor qualification route
Under the SRA's framework, you need two years of full-time (or equivalent) Qualifying Work Experience alongside passing both stages of the assessment — SQE1 (the FLK1 and FLK2 multiple-choice papers) and SQE2 (the five practical skills). QWE replaced the old training contract as the mandatory work component, and the change is more than cosmetic. The training contract was a single, tightly defined arrangement; QWE is deliberately broader.
The defining test is simple to state and easy to misread. QWE is experience of providing legal services that gives you the chance to develop some or all of the competences set out in the SRA's Statement of Solicitor Competence. You do not have to touch every area of law. You do not need to have covered all of FLK1 and FLK2 in practice. What matters is exposure to real legal work and the development of the skills a day-one solicitor needs.
A useful mental shortcut: QWE asks "did this work help you develop solicitor competences?" — not "was this a formal trainee role at a big firm?" The answer can be yes in places you might not expect.
What counts: the four conditions and the flexibility you may be missing
There are a few headline rules worth committing to memory, because they shape every decision you make about which jobs to count.
You can use up to four different organisations. Your two years do not have to be served in one place. A paralegal stint, a placement during a law degree, time in a charity's legal advice clinic and a role in a solicitor's firm could, between them, build up the full two years. That flexibility is a gift — use it.
It can be paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time. Voluntary work at a law centre or a university pro bono clinic counts, provided the rest of the conditions are met. Part-time work simply scales — the requirement is two years' full-time equivalent, so a part-time role takes proportionately longer to add up.
It must involve real legal services. Photocopying and diary management on their own will not cut it. The work needs to give you genuine opportunities to develop competences: interviewing clients, researching the law, drafting, negotiating, managing files, or advising under supervision.
It must be confirmed by a solicitor or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP). More on that below, because it is where good candidates trip up.
Some concrete examples of what typically qualifies:
- Working as a paralegal in a law firm, handling files under supervision.
- A formal training contract or solicitor apprenticeship (these count automatically).
- A placement year as part of a law degree, if it involved real legal work.
- Volunteering at a Citizens Advice or a university legal advice clinic.
- In-house legal work for a company, local authority or charity.
And what usually does not? Purely administrative roles with no legal content, secretarial work that never touches advice or drafting, and anything where you cannot find a solicitor willing and able to confirm what you did.
Who confirms your QWE — and why this is the real bottleneck
Here is the detail that catches people out. Your QWE must be signed off by either a solicitor (with a current practising certificate) or the firm's COLP. The person confirming does not have to be the one who supervised your day-to-day work, but they must be satisfied that the experience was real, that it gave you the chance to develop competences, and that no issues arose around your character and suitability.
Picture the candidate who spends eighteen valuable months at a small firm, then leaves on good terms — and only realises two years later that the one solicitor who could confirm the experience has since retired and is unreachable. The work happened. The competences developed. But without a confirmation, that period is far harder to count. Do not let your record depend on someone's goodwill in three years' time.
Identify your confirming solicitor or COLP at the start of each role, not the end. Have a quiet conversation early: "Would you be willing to confirm my QWE for this period?" Get the agreement in writing if you can.
How to log QWE properly: a record that survives scrutiny
The SRA does not dictate a single fixed template, but it does expect you to keep an accurate record and to declare your QWE through your mySRA account when you apply for admission. The safest approach is to keep a contemporaneous log — written as you go, not reconstructed from memory years later. Memory fades; a dated log does not.
For each role, record at minimum:
- The organisation's name and your job title.
- Start and end dates, and whether the work was full-time or part-time (with hours).
- The name and SRA number of the confirming solicitor or COLP.
- The legal competences you developed, mapped to the SRA's competence statement.
- Specific examples — the matters you worked on, the documents you drafted, the clients you helped interview.
That last point matters more than any other. Map your work to the SRA Statement of Solicitor Competence as you go. The competences cover ethics and professionalism, technical legal practice, working with others, and managing yourself and your work. If you can point to a moment where you, say, advised a client under supervision on a contractual dispute, or researched a point of property law, note it against the relevant competence with the date and the matter reference.
A reflective diary works well. Once a week, spend ten minutes noting what you did and which skills it built. It feels trivial in the moment. It is gold when you sit down to complete your mySRA declaration, and gold again if the SRA ever asks for detail.
Sequencing QWE around SQE1 and SQE2
A common worry: does QWE have to come before, during or after the exams? The reassuring answer is that there is no fixed order. You can complete QWE before you sit SQE1, while you are studying for SQE1 and SQE2, or after you pass both. Plenty of candidates work as paralegals while preparing for the FLK1 and FLK2 papers, which has a nice side effect — the practice reinforces the theory, and the theory sharpens the practice.
There is real strategy in this. If you are already employed in a legal role, you may be quietly accumulating QWE right now without having labelled it as such. Check your current job against the four conditions today. You might be further along than you think. And if you are an aspiring solicitor still hunting for that first legal role, treat a paralegal or clinic position as part of your qualification plan, not a consolation prize.
Action list for this week: (1) confirm whether your current role counts; (2) name your confirming solicitor or COLP; (3) start a dated competence log; (4) keep copies of anything that evidences your work.
Common QWE mistakes to avoid
A handful of errors come up again and again. People assume QWE must be one continuous block — it need not be. They wait until the end to think about confirmation — too late. They keep no record of what they actually did — and then struggle to map competences. And some undervalue voluntary or clinic work, assuming only "proper" firm roles count, when in fact a well-run pro bono clinic can be excellent, confirmable QWE.
Treat your QWE with the same seriousness you give to revising for the exams. The assessment proves you have the knowledge of a day-one solicitor; the QWE proves you can use it. Both halves are non-negotiable for the solicitor qualification, and the work experience half rewards organisation far more than last-minute effort.
How CELE SQE can help
While QWE is something you build in practice, the exams are where most candidates need structured support — and that is our home ground. CELE SQE has guided candidates through every sitting since the very first in 2021, with SQE1 courses ranging from the Short-term Course at £1,750 to the Long-term Course at £3,720 (single-FLK options at half the price), and an SQE2 Course at £1,450 that includes 61 full mock questions built 1:1 to the official SRA format. If you would like a sense of how it all fits together with your work experience, reach us at celebar.com, [email protected] or on WeChat SQE100 — no pressure, just a chat about your route.