The solicitor apprenticeship

Abstract

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) was introduced in September 2021. It is part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) reforms of legal education, which followed the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR). In its Training for Tomorrow policy statement, the SRA set out several priorities. One of these is the opening up of pathways to qualification as a solicitor. The solicitor apprenticeship is one of these pathways. Whilst the Legal Services Board approved the introduction of the SQE in October 2020, and its implementation did not occur until the latter part of 2021, the use of a two-stage, centralised assessment has been the assessment method for the solicitor apprenticeship since the Solicitor Apprenticeship Standard was approved in September 2015. With the first solicitor apprentices registering in 2016, this pathway can arguably no longer be classed as “new”. So, in 2022, what do we know about the solicitor apprenticeship route to qualification in England?