sqe SQE Careers & Employability Support

QWE can be obtained in either voluntary or paid work that involves providing legal services. QWE is possible, but less likely, where experience is limited to a single task. Examples of QWE include ‘training roles’ and a number of legal positions, such as paralegal, volunteering at a law centre and some university law clinics or Pro Bono projects.

Work experience which meets the above criteria and provides the opportunity to develop relevant solicitor skills and competencies can then be confirmed by a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP), or a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA). The COLP or solicitor should have the knowledge of the legal work that has been undertaken.

Yes – experience gained with a former or current employer can be confirmed and used as QWE. The SRA encourages a positive response from employers when such requests are made. However, there may be challenges, if the previous manager has left or if records of work undertaken and time spent have not been retained or noted at the time.

Students studying the MA Law (SQE1) and LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) courses can apply for four weeks of voluntary QWE in a structured programme run by the Academic Clinical Legal Education Team. This takes place within set times (at the end of studies on a
full-time course, or in between years 1 and 2 on a part-time course).

The exact nature of the opportunities and the skills you will have the opportunity to develop cannot be determined in advance, as these are fluid and based on real cases.

A formal certificate will be issued to you when you have completed your QWE. This is not a confirmation of QWE but will show the details of the solicitor who would be contacted by the SRA if you include it in your application for membership as part of your two years’ QWE experience

This is dependent on demand – where QWE is not available at your local campus, there is an option to do it via online methods

In most cases yes, although it depends what else you would be doing with that time and how it fits with your wider career strategy. Four weeks’ work with real clients can be articulated positively in most CVs.

All Pro Bono opportunities, whether or not they are part of QWE, are invaluable for gaining practical work experience, developing skills for legal practice and understanding essential professional ethics. We know from experience how employers have viewed this as a differentiator amongst candidates in recruitment processes.

Yes. Always check with our International Student Support Team for specific advice and guidance, but our QWE programme is open and accessible to all students on the relevant courses.

Yes. We already support many disabled students and our QWE programme is open and accessible to all students on the relevant courses.

No, the QWE included in courses at The University of Law is not compulsory.

If you choose not to, are studying a non-qualifying course or have not applied in time if studying a qualifying course, you will still have access to numerous developmental
opportunities during your time at the University, including a wide range of Pro Bono schemes covering many different areas of law.

The duration and timing of these opportunities is flexible and can fit in with other personal commitments. For some students this is more appealing, with the opportunity to choose which schemes they wish to participate in. Whilst some of these opportunities may technically equate to QWE, they are a relatively low number of hours, and therefore some students do not use this to evidence their QWE.

If you’re a current University of Law student, please reach out to the team at [email protected]. If you’re a prospective student, you can contact [email protected].

Checks on academic record will be undertaken for all QWE students as there is an obligation to verify that no academic offences have been committed during the time that the student has claimed QWE.