SQE results: how did students at Barbri, BPP and the University of Law fare?

The first sitting of the new Solicitors Qualification Exam (SQE) resulted in a 53 per cent pass rate, and now one provider of prep courses has declared its pass rate.

Nearly all (97 per cent) of its students responded to BARBRI’s request for pass rate information and the provider said that 79 per cent of its 300+ candidates passed the course at the first attempt.

Lucie Allen, managing director for BARBRI, said: “This is a historic moment for the legal sector. The results indicate that candidates can and will thrive with the right preparation and support.

“We’re proud to say that we are currently tracking at a 79 per cent pass rate which is significantly higher than the overall SQE1 average. This highlights that our innovative tried and tested preparation methods can be successfully applied to the SQE and that our students have confidence in us – our tutors, resources, and technology.”

A spokesperson from the University of Law said that it was still to early to release its pass rates, as not enough of its candidates had yet responded to its request for information: “We are unable to give a definitive time as we are reliant on students letting us know their results. According to a letter we have received from the SRA, we are unable to make any statements regarding our SQE pass rates that could be misleading.”

Meanwhile, a BPP spokesperson said that its cohort of candidates was too small to be able to draw conclusions. It has revealed, however, that out of a group of 17 apprentices studying for the SQE, 14 passed both papers.

The spokesperson said: “BPP did not put in a statistically significant number of candidates into the first SQE 1 assessments for us to publicise any formal pass rates. However we are pleased that the small group of apprentices who studied with BPP overall achieved pass rates and average marks well above the global statistics released by the SRA, with a number of BPP’s learners sitting in the top quintile of candidates. This is an excellent foundation from which to launch our high quality SQE preparation courses and we are looking forward to welcoming learners on to our February and September intakes this year.”