BPP vs ULaw vs BARBRI vs QLTS School for SQE1 in 2026/27

Short answer: For SQE1 in 2026/27, BPP (£5,900 to £7,100) and the University of Law (£5,250 to £6,650) sell taught courses with set intakes, while BARBRI (£2,999 to £3,299) and QLTS School (£1,990 to £2,990) sell online courses you work through largely on your own schedule. BPP lists about 10 hours of live classes a week full time and ULaw has the widest choice of campuses and study modes. BARBRI offers unlimited one-to-one coach sessions, and QLTS School publishes the largest number of full mocks and lets you start on any day.

None of these prices includes the SRA exam fee of £2,006 for both FLK papers. Prices and details below come from each provider’s own website on 7 November 2026. BAREX is not affiliated with any provider listed or with the SRA. If a figure here is out of date, email hello@barex.uk and we will correct it.

The four providers side by side

This compares each provider’s main SQE1 course. Add-ons and combined SQE1 and SQE2 courses are in the provider sections.

All four publish their own SQE1 pass rates. We have left them out because each provider collects and reports them itself. The SRA’s own figures are in our SQE1 pass rates for every sitting.

BPP

What BPP sells for SQE1

• SQE1 Preparation Course: £5,900 online or at Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds or Manchester, and £7,100 at London Central (Holborn), for 2026/27. BPP says the price includes VAT, and a £350 deposit is due within 48 hours of accepting an offer.
• SQE1 Preparation (Self-study): £4,300 online for 2026/27 (£4,400 for 2027/28), with 18 months’ access, pre-recorded content and BPP Adapt. You pick a pace of 10, 20, 30 or 40 weeks and can start on the first of any month. You buy it by phone.
• Combined courses: the SQE 1 and 2 Diploma (£12,200 to £14,300), the LLM SQE 1 and 2 (£14,900 to £17,500) and, for non-law graduates, the LLM Law Conversion with SQE1 (£16,800 to £20,400), all for 2026/27.

The taught course runs over 4 months full time or 10 months part time, with September and February intakes. Full-time students typically get 10 contact hours a week and should do at least 30 hours of independent study on top. Part-time students get about four contact hours and should add 10 to 12 hours. Classes are live, online or at a BPP centre, and BPP says both modes are taught the same way.

BPP describes weekly small-group classes, regular access to a tutor, drop-in sessions, forums and 1-2-1s. Materials come in hard copy and online, with recorded lectures, practice MCQs and an adaptive platform, BPP Adapt. The page gives no question bank size or mock count; internal assessments are SQE1-style multiple-choice tests. The course leads to a Postgraduate Certificate in Legal Practice.

Unlike ULaw, BPP sets entry requirements for its taught SQE1 course: a 2:2 law degree or law conversion in the last five years, or an admissions test, or an accepted equivalent. On funding, BPP offers interest-free payment plans and says students can upgrade to its LLM SQE to access postgraduate loan funding. We did not find a pass guarantee or free repeat on the course page, and BPP notes there may be extra charges to resit a BPP assessment.

Who BPP suits and whether it is worth it

BPP suits candidates who want a timetable, a class and a tutor, and anyone who wants a university award with SQE1 or a postgraduate loan through the LLM. On published facts, most of the extra cost buys scheduled live teaching; BARBRI and QLTS School do not publish comparable class hours. If you study better alone, the self-study version costs £1,600 less than the online taught course.

University of Law

What ULaw sells for SQE1

• SQE1 Preparation Course Online: £5,250 for courses starting between 1 July 2026 and 31 May 2027. Full time or part time, 12 to 46 weeks.
• SQE1 Preparation Course on campus: £6,650 in London and £5,250 outside London for 2026/27. Full time, weekend, or part-time day, evening or weekend, 14 to 46 weeks.
• SQE1 Preparation for Legal Professionals Online: £5,750 for 2026/27. For people working in the legal sector: 40 weeks part time at about 10 hours a week, no fixed schedule. Next intake March 2027, for January 2028.
• SQE1 Exam Preparation Course: £650, paid upfront. A short live-streamed revision course over 2 days or 4 evenings, with over 150 practice questions in ULaw’s revision app. It is included free with the two longer SQE1 courses.
• LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) Online: £15,150 for 2026/27, which ULaw says may be eligible for a postgraduate loan.

The main course has intakes in January, March, June and September. Each week has four to six units of about ten hours (two units on part time), and ULaw estimates 40 to 50 study hours a week including tutor contact. Units mix asynchronous sessions with live student support sessions, practitioner lecturers give weekly personalised feedback, and academic coaches support you through the course.

Practice runs through ULaw’s revision app, which estimates your likelihood of passing, and the course has regular mock assessments; ULaw does not publish a bank size or mock count. Digital manuals are included, with 50% off print copies. There are no entry requirements and no academic award.

If you don’t pass SQE1, ULaw lets you repeat its SQE1 Exam Preparation Course free up to two more times, subject to terms and conditions. You can pay upfront or in three monthly instalments (six on part time), and ULaw graduates get £250 off. The SQE1 Preparation Course itself does not qualify for postgraduate funding.

ULaw’s course pages still describe each paper as 180 questions over about five hours. From January 2027 the SRA splits each paper into two sessions of 85 questions, 2 hours 33 minutes each, so it is worth asking ULaw how its mocks reflect the new format before you book.

Who ULaw suits and whether it is worth it

ULaw suits candidates who want a taught course but need a particular study pattern, such as weekends, evenings or a campus outside London, and those working in law who prefer the self-paced Legal Professionals course. It has no entry requirements and four intakes a year. Its free repeat covers the short Exam Preparation Course only, so a second attempt at the full programme would be paid for again. At £5,250 and up, it is worth it if you will use the lecturer feedback and structure; if you mainly want questions and mocks, its pages do not tell you how many you get.

BARBRI

What BARBRI sells for SQE1

• SQE1 Prep Accelerated: 10 weeks, full time, about 40 study hours a week, starting at £2,999. Next starts: 9 November 2026 for the January 2027 exam, then 3 May 2027.
• SQE1 Prep Focused: 20 weeks, about 20 hours a week, starting at £2,999. Starts 22 February 2027 and 23 August 2027.
• SQE1 Prep Flexible: 40 weeks, 10 to 12 hours a week, starting at £3,299. The 5 October 2026 cohort (for July 2027) is still enrolling; the next starts on 5 April 2027.
• SQE1 Boost: £499 for a bank of 1,200+ questions, available from three months before your exam.
• SQE1 Mocks: £899 for two FLK1 and two FLK2 mocks of 170 questions each, also from three months before the exam.
• SQE1 Question Bank (Boost and Mocks together): £999.
• SQE Complete bundles (SQE1 and SQE2 prep): starting at £5,499.

BARBRI says all three SQE1 Prep options have the same materials and support and differ only in how long you have. Each includes 3,200 MCQs (another part of the page says 3,000+), 8 mock tests and 1 fully simulated mock exam. Lectures are 20 to 30 minute videos, with digital and hardback workbooks, and an AI-powered Personal Study Plan schedules modules around the days you can study.

On support, BARBRI says you can book unlimited one-to-one sessions with a learning coach, ask legal questions through the study plan and join interactive workshops with tutors and other students. A free demo account lets you try the platform first. The course FAQ describes the January 2027 format, with 340 questions in four sessions of 85.

If you take SQE1 Prep and don’t pass, the BARBRI Guarantee lets you rejoin any SQE1 Prep course free within 12 months of the results date, as long as you completed at least 70% of your study plan. It can be used once. Deferring to a later course costs £399. You can pay in full, spread the balance over up to 12 months for a £149 finance fee, take a study loan through Lendwise, or have your employer invoiced. Late registration costs £149, and BARBRI also lists scholarships.

Who BARBRI suits and whether it is worth it

BARBRI suits candidates who want to study online on their own time but with a schedule set for them and a person to talk to as often as they like. The Accelerated course is aimed at recent UK law graduates who can study full time; the Flexible course is aimed at non-law graduates, international lawyers and people in full-time work. It costs a little over half the price of BPP’s online taught course, and it publishes its question and mock numbers. Boost and Mocks suit candidates who study with someone else and only want BARBRI’s questions.

QLTS School

What QLTS School sells for SQE1

• SQE1 Basic: £1,990. Textbooks, notes, 2,500+ MCQs and 12 mock sessions (6 for each FLK).
• SQE1 Advantage: £2,490. Adds the video library (200+ tutorials, 60+ hours) and 32 mock sessions (16 for each FLK).
• SQE1 Premium: £2,990. Adds a tutor-written study plan and two hours of tutor support by email, Teams or phone.
• Single-FLK course: £1,490, for candidates resitting FLK1 or FLK2 only, with 15 mocks and tutor support.
• Retake Mock Programme: mocks only, for candidates who have sat SQE1 before. The price is not published on the page.
• Upgrades for Basic: the video library or 20 more mock sessions, £390 each.

Every package includes an initial tutor consultation, 18 SQE textbooks in print and digital form, over 1,000 pages of summary notes, 5,000+ flashcards, 200+ podcasts, an SQE AI Assistant and the SQE1 Analyser, which reports topic-level and timing results after each mock. Each mock session has 85 questions on a Pearson VUE-style platform, and QLTS says the mocks have been updated for the January 2027 changes. You can try a free FLK1 or FLK2 mock without signing up.

There is no fixed start date and no class to keep up with. QLTS recommends five to six months at 15 to 20 hours a week. Access covers the next two consecutive SQE1 sittings after purchase, or until you pass. If you fail SQE1, or one FLK, twice within that period, the QLTS Guarantee gives a free extension to the next sitting, once for each part, if you send your score report and new booking within 14 days. Paid extensions cost £690 or £1,290. Textbook delivery is free in the UK and £110 or £140 elsewhere.

You can pay in two or three interest-free instalments with a £90 administration fee, apply for a Lendwise loan if you live in the UK, or apply for the Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme, under which QLTS waives fees for one awardee a year.

Who QLTS School suits and whether it is worth it

QLTS School suits self-directed candidates who want plenty of timed practice, a start date of their own choosing, and printed books. It is the cheapest full course of the four, and its Advantage and Premium packages include the most full mocks. Human contact is limited: Basic and Advantage include one consultation, and Premium adds two hours. If you need regular teaching or someone checking your progress each week, QLTS publishes the least support of the four.

If you are sitting SQE1 in January 2027

FLK1 runs from 11 to 15 January 2027 and FLK2 from 18 to 22 January. BPP’s next taught intake is February 2027, which leads to the July 2027 sitting. With about nine weeks to go, these options still show a route to January on the providers’ own pages:

• BARBRI’s Accelerated course starts on 9 November 2026 for the January exam, at 40 hours a week.
• BPP’s self-study course has a 1 December 2026 start for January, which BPP calls about six weeks before the exam.
• ULaw’s SQE1 Exam Preparation Course runs online in December 2026 and January 2027, for £650.
• QLTS School packages start the day you buy, and BARBRI’s Boost and Mocks open three months before the exam.

If you reserved a seat, the SRA’s payment requests go out until 18 November, and direct booking for any remaining seats closes on 23 November. Our guide to the January 2027 payment window has the details, how to apply for SQE1 covers booking step by step, and what changes in January 2027 explains the new session format.

Cheaper independent options

Smaller providers such as FQPS, SQE1 Prep, Lawdojo, SQEase and Revise4Law sell SQE1 courses, question banks or mocks, often on monthly plans. Our cheapest SQE1 prep courses guide ranks them by what one sitting costs, and how much the SQE costs in total adds prep to the SRA fees for three budgets.

Using a question bank or mocks alongside or instead of a course

Some candidates take a big course for the teaching and add separate practice. Others skip the course and build their own plan around questions and mocks. Either way, what you need from extra practice is questions in the single best answer format, explanations for every option, and full timed sessions in the January 2027 format. Our guide to choosing an SQE1 prep option goes through the trade-offs.

BAREX is one way to do that. It has SQE-style MCQs you can filter by exam, subject and topic, with an explanation after every answer, topic packs and cheat sheets, and an AI law tutor to ask questions as you go. Mocks follow the January 2027 format, one FLK session of 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes. The free plan includes one topic pack per subject, one FLK session mock and a monthly allowance of AI tutor time. Self-Study costs £50 a month, £125 for 3 months or £230 for 6 months, and you can cancel any time. Paid plans include 12 full mocks for each FLK. The Guided Plan (£1,500) adds 20 hours of live one-to-one coaching across two sittings, and its coaches will build a plan around a BARBRI, QLTS or ULaw course you have already bought.

BAREX has no lectures and no fixed timetable. If you want a teacher in front of you every week, a taught course from BPP or ULaw will give you that and BAREX will not. You can sit the free mock to judge the questions before deciding: start free on BAREX.

Quick answers

Is BPP worth it for SQE1?

It is worth it if you want live classes on a timetable: BPP lists about 10 contact hours a week full time, online or in person. At £5,900 to £7,100 it is the most expensive option, and its course page does not publish a question bank size or mock count.

BPP or ULaw for SQE1?

ULaw is cheaper (£5,250 online against BPP’s £5,900), has no entry requirements, four intakes a year and a free repeat of its Exam Preparation Course if you don’t pass. BPP publishes its live class hours (about 10 a week full time) and the course leads to a postgraduate certificate. Both are taught courses with tutor support.

BARBRI or QLTS School for SQE1?

QLTS School is cheaper (£1,990 to £2,990), starts any day and publishes up to 32 mock sessions of 85 questions. BARBRI costs more but includes unlimited coach sessions and a study plan that schedules your week. QLTS gives one tutor consultation, plus two hours on Premium.

Do any SQE1 courses include the exam fee?

No. All four say the SRA fee is separate. For SQE1 it is £2,006 for both FLK papers, or £1,003 to resit one.

Which providers offer a free retake if I fail SQE1?

ULaw lets you repeat its Exam Preparation Course free up to two more times. BARBRI lets you rejoin SQE1 Prep free within 12 months if you completed 70% of your study plan. QLTS gives a free extension after two failed sittings within your access period. We found no equivalent on BPP’s course page. All are subject to each provider’s terms.

Sources

Prices and details checked on 7 November 2026 on each provider’s own website. Prices can change; check the provider’s page before you buy.

• BPP, SQE1 Preparation Course
• BPP, SQE1 Preparation (Self-study)
• BPP, SQE 1 and 2 Diploma
• BPP, LLM SQE 1 and 2
• BPP, LLM Law Conversion with SQE1
• University of Law, SQE1 Preparation Course Online
• University of Law, SQE1 Preparation Course (on campus)
• University of Law, SQE1 Preparation for Legal Professionals Online
• University of Law, SQE1 Exam Preparation Course Online
• University of Law, LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) Online
• BARBRI, SQE1 Prep
• BARBRI, SQE1 Boost
• BARBRI, SQE1 Mock Exams
• BARBRI, SQE Guarantee
• QLTS School, SQE1 course prices
• QLTS School, SQE1 preparation course
• QLTS School, funding options
• QLTS School, QLTS Guarantee
• QLTS School, SQE retakers
• SRA, how much does the SQE cost
• SRA, assessment dates and booking windows
• SRA, changes to SQE1 from January 2027