SQE2 Exemption Advice Service
Advice on Applications made by SQE’s Candidates for Exemptions – the New Route from September 2021 to Qualify as an English Solicitor
Applications for Exemption from the SQE2 Exam
As a general rule, you may be eligible for an SQE2 exemption if you are a lawyer with the same practice rights as an English and Welsh solicitor and have at least two years of professional legal work experience. You must also demonstrate that your experience is equivalent to the following five practice rights: Criminal litigation, Civil litigation, Property practice, Wills and intestacy, and Business organisations rules and procedures.
Agreed Exemptions
Some foreign jurisdictions and professional titles have already been considered in detail by the SRA, which have decided that anyone who has qualified in those jurisdictions will be granted an exemption from the SQE2 exam. There are not many jurisdictions to which this type of exemption applies, but you should check to make sure before you proceed with your application. If you are entitled to an agreed exemption, you simply have to apply through your mySRA profile with proof of your qualification. Please check the SRA website with regard to this: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/qualified-lawyers/sqe-exemptions/
Individual Exemptions
Most qualified lawyers will be making an individual application for exemption by completing a form and submitting it to the SRA. Normally you will fill in sections 1,2,3 and 4b and then the appropriate part of section 7, plus section 8 if required. These sections refer to your personal details, your jurisdiction practice rights, and your previous work experience.
Assistance with your application
Ingemar Hunnings (SRA Number 156976), lead consultant at HCL, has been closely liaising with the SRA following which he has developed a service to help aspiring solicitors in this situation. Ingemar has been helping aspiring solicitors in this role since September 2020. There is a lot of free information to assist you with your application for exemption from the SQE2 exam on this page of the HCL website: https://www.hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
Ingemar Hunnings
Ingemar Hunnings (SRA Number 156976), lead consultant at HCL, has been closely liaising with the SRA following which he has developed a service to help Aspiring Solicitors in this situation. Ingemar has been helping Aspiring Solicitors in this role since September 2020. One of his Aspiring Solicitors is believed to be the first person ever to have submitted their QWE for approval and had it approved by the SRA.
Should you require further assistance, Ingemar and his team provide a service to provide a basic template supervisor letter, review your draft of the supervisor letter before you send it to your supervisor for signature in compliance with the SRA requirements. Ingemar will also review your completed SQE2 exemption application form, advise and remind you what you should be submitting with the application.
(Please note that HCL does not provide support for applications necessitating the completion of section 8 of the form or applications for exemption from SQE1.)
Any Questions?
Please complete the form on this page and you will be contacted by Ingemar Hunnings for a free and initial consultation.
i) This is a third party service and not monitored or supervised by QLTS School.
ii) QLTS School assumes no liability to the service and whether your application for exemption will be approved by the SRA.
iii) Your submission of the form does not commit you, QLTS School, or Ingemar Hunnings, in any way whatsoever, to engage in the delivery of the service.
