Short answer: To pass SQE1 in January 2027, split the 10 weeks from Monday 2 November 2026 into four stages. In week 1, sit one timed mock to find your weakest subjects. In weeks 2 to 6, revise the subjects in the same groups the SRA now uses for each exam session. In weeks 7 to 9, sit full timed mocks and review every answer. In week 10, stop learning new material and rest. Answer SQE-style questions every day of the plan, at the new pace of 85 questions in 2 hours 33 minutes.
FLK1 runs from 11 to 15 January 2027 and FLK2 from 18 to 22 January 2027. Results come out on 9 March 2027. In July 2026, 42% of candidates passed SQE1 (47% of first time sitters), so a plan you can actually follow matters more than the number of hours you promise yourself.
SQE1 January 2027 at a glance
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| FLK1 dates | 11 to 15 January 2027 |
| FLK2 dates | 18 to 22 January 2027 |
| Results | 9 March 2027 |
| Questions | 170 per FLK paper, 340 in total |
| Sessions | Two per FLK, 85 questions each |
| Time | 2 hours 33 minutes per session |
| Time per question | About 1 minute 48 seconds |
| Question format | Single best answer, five options, one mark each, no negative marking |
| Pass mark | Each FLK has its own pass mark, set after every sitting |
| Attempts | Three at FLK1 and three at FLK2, within a six year window |
Sources: the SRA's January 2027 changes, SQE1 marking and resits pages.
The four exam sessions, and why they shape your plan
From January 2027, each SQE1 session tests a fixed group of subjects. Until now every subject could appear in either session of an FLK paper. The SRA confirmed the new grouping on 10 September 2026:
| Paper and session | Subjects |
|---|---|
| FLK1, session 1 | Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution, Legal Services |
| FLK1, session 2 | Tort, Contract Law, Legal Systems (Legal System of England and Wales, Constitutional and Administrative Law, EU Law) |
| FLK2, session 1 | Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts (wills), Trusts Law, Land Law |
| FLK2, session 2 | Property Law and Practice, Solicitors Accounts (property), Criminal Liability, Criminal Law and Practice |
Ethics and Professional Conduct can come up in any session. Within a session the questions are still mixed in random order, so you will not get all the Tort questions in one block.
This gives you a ready made revision structure. If you revise in the same four blocks, every practice set you do looks like a real session. Two pairs need care: Land Law and Property Law and Practice now sit in different sessions, and so do the two halves of Solicitors Accounts. Learn them together, because they rely on each other, but practise them inside their own session's mix.
How many hours you need
Most candidates need 300 to 400 hours of study across FLK1 and FLK2. With 10 weeks left, what you need per week depends on where you are starting from:
| Where you are now | Hours per week for 10 weeks |
|---|---|
| Covered most of the syllabus, need revision and mocks | 12 to 15 |
| Covered about half | 20 to 25 |
| Starting from scratch | 30 or more |
Thirty hours a week is close to a second full time job. If that is not realistic for you, think seriously about a later sitting. A rushed attempt still uses one of your three attempts at each FLK, and your six year window starts on the day of your first assessment.
The 10 week SQE1 revision plan
Week 1 (2 to 8 November): find your starting point
- Sit one timed session under exam conditions: 85 questions, 2 hours 33 minutes, no notes. Our free SQE1 mock exam uses the January 2027 format, or use the SRA's sample questions
- Score it by subject and rank your subjects from weakest to strongest
- Start an error log. For every wrong answer, write down whether you did not know the rule, misread the facts, or ran out of time
- Watch your inbox. SRA payment requests go out until 5pm on 18 November and you have 48 hours to pay
Weeks 2 and 3 (9 to 22 November): FLK1
- Week 2 covers FLK1 session 1: Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution and Legal Services
- Week 3 covers FLK1 session 2: Tort, Contract Law and Legal Systems
- Each day, learn one topic, then answer 30 to 40 mixed questions from that week's block, timed at under 2 minutes each
- Spend more of the week on whichever subjects came out weakest in your week 1 mock
- No seat yet? Direct online booking opens for a limited number of seats from 10am on 19 November to 5pm on 23 November
Weeks 4 and 5 (23 November to 6 December): FLK2
- Week 4 covers FLK2 session 1: Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts (wills), Trusts Law and Land Law
- Week 5 covers FLK2 session 2: Property Law and Practice, Solicitors Accounts (property), Criminal Liability and Criminal Law and Practice
- Keep about 20 FLK1 questions a day going so the first paper does not fade
Week 6 (7 to 13 December): weak spots and Ethics
- Go back to your error log and pick your three weakest subjects
- Add Ethics and Professional Conduct questions to every set, since Ethics can appear in all four sessions
- Tax questions now give you the rates and thresholds, so learn how each tax works and stop memorising the numbers
- Check your notes and question bank cover the specification that applies from 1 September 2026
Weeks 7 and 8 (14 to 27 December): full mocks
- Sit at least two full sessions a week under exam conditions, at the same time of day as your booking
- Review every answer afterwards, including the ones you got right by guessing. A proper review takes about as long as the mock
- Plan 24 to 26 December as rest or light days. Rest you plan for is part of the plan
Week 9 (28 December to 3 January): dress rehearsals
- Sit one complete FLK1 paper (both sessions on the same day) and one complete FLK2 paper
- Use the result to choose the last few topics to fix. This is the week for targeted repair, not new subjects
Week 10 (4 to 10 January): ease off
- No new topics. Do short mixed sets, reread your error log and go over your rule summaries
- Check your test centre address, travel time and ID
- Sleep. Late nights in the final week cost more marks than they win
Between FLK1 and FLK2
Depending on your booked days, you will have between 3 and 11 days between the two papers. Spend them on FLK2 only: one timed session a day at most, plus your FLK2 error log. FLK1 is done, so do not go back over it.
Exam technique for single best answer questions
- Read the question line first. Then read the facts knowing what you are looking for.
- Look for the best answer. More than one option can be partly right. Pick the one that answers this question on these facts.
- Answer everything. There is no negative marking, so a blank answer is always worth zero.
- Keep to time. 153 minutes for 85 questions is about 108 seconds each. Aim to reach question 28 by around 50 minutes and question 57 by around 1 hour 43 minutes.
- Flag and move on. If a question passes two minutes, choose your best option, flag it and come back at the end.
- Practise at the new pace. Older papers with 90 questions per session train you to answer in about 102 seconds, which is not the pace you will sit.
The mistakes that cost the most marks
- Reading notes instead of answering questions. Notes feel productive, but SQE1 tests whether you can apply a rule under time pressure, and only questions train that.
- Using out of date material. Law is examinable up to 11 September 2026, and the FLK specification changed for assessments from 1 September 2026.
- Treating Ethics and Solicitors Accounts as small topics. Ethics runs through every session, and Accounts appears in both FLK2 sessions.
- Sitting mocks without reviewing them. A mock with no review is only a score.
- Practising at the old length. Train on 85 question sessions so your pacing on the day feels normal.
What to use: free and paid SQE1 resources
Free and official: the SRA's SQE1 assessment specification lists everything that can be tested. Its sample questions show the exact question style. Use both whatever else you choose.
Full taught courses: providers such as the University of Law, BPP and BARBRI sell lectures, textbooks and a fixed timetable, usually for several thousand pounds. They suit candidates who want a structure built for them and whose firm often pays. Our SQE1 prep comparison sets out the options side by side, and our SQE1 cost guide covers exam fees as well.
A practice led platform: BAREX (barex.uk) is online SQE1 preparation built by lawyers who sat the SQE themselves, and it follows the plan above. It has topic packs for every FLK1 and FLK2 subject, SQE-style MCQs and full mocks in the January 2027 format, with the session subject splits and Ethics in every session. It also has a live AI law tutor for the moment a rule does not make sense, and notes and flashcards that keep your weak spots in one place. You can use it on its own or alongside a course from another provider.
The free plan includes one topic pack per subject, one FLK session mock and capped monthly access to the AI tutor, so you can sit your week 1 mock today. If you want someone to build and check the plan with you, Personalised SQE1 Coaching gives you 10 hours of one to one coaching for the January 2027 sitting with a BAREX cofounder who passed SQE1, plus feedback on your mocks.
Start your free week 1 mock on BAREX
Quick answers
Is 10 weeks enough to pass SQE1 in January 2027?
Yes, if you have already covered most of the syllabus and can study 12 to 25 hours a week. If you are starting from scratch, you would need around 30 hours a week for 10 weeks, which is very hard to keep up alongside a job.
How many hours a day should I study for SQE1?
For the 10 weeks before January 2027, two to three hours on weekdays plus a longer session at the weekend gives 15 to 20 hours a week. That is enough for most candidates who have already covered the content.
How many questions are in SQE1 from January 2027?
340 in total. Each FLK paper has 170 questions, split into two sessions of 85, and each session lasts 2 hours 33 minutes.
Which subjects are in each SQE1 session from January 2027?
FLK1 session 1 is Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution and Legal Services. FLK1 session 2 is Tort, Contract Law and Legal Systems. FLK2 session 1 is Wills, Solicitors Accounts, Trusts and Land Law. FLK2 session 2 is Property Law and Practice, Solicitors Accounts, Criminal Liability and Criminal Law and Practice. Ethics can appear in any session.
What is the pass mark for SQE1?
There is no fixed percentage. Each FLK paper has its own pass mark, which the SRA's assessment board sets after every sitting using a standard setting method called Modified Angoff.
Do I need to pass FLK1 and FLK2 separately?
Yes. You need to pass both papers to pass SQE1, and each has its own pass mark. You get three attempts at each paper within six years, and you cannot resit a paper you have already passed to improve your mark.
How many SQE1 mock exams should I do?
In this plan, at least eight full timed sessions in weeks 7 to 9, which is the same as two complete FLK1 papers and two complete FLK2 papers. Reviewing each mock properly matters more than sitting extra ones.
Should I revise FLK1 or FLK2 first?
FLK1 first, because you sit it first, but keep a daily set of FLK1 questions going while you revise FLK2. Both papers are only a week apart.
What is the best SQE1 prep for January 2027?
It depends on your budget and how you learn. A full taught course suits candidates who want lectures and a fixed timetable. A practice led platform such as BAREX suits candidates who are working or have already covered the content, because it is built around SQE-style questions, January 2027 format mocks and an AI tutor. Whichever you choose, check that its mocks follow the January 2027 format and the specification that applies from 1 September 2026.
Sources
This post is based on the SRA's published information as of 29 October 2026. Always check the official SQE website before acting.