SQE2 Results and the New Ethics Criterion: What Changes, and When

Last updated: 23 October 2026. Checked against the SRA news item of 22 October 2026, the SRA's Ethics and Professional Conduct guidance page and its assessment dates page.

On 22 October the SRA reminded candidates that the new Ethics and Professional Conduct criterion applies only to SQE2 sittings after 1 September 2026. If you took the July SQE2, your results arrive on 17 November in the current format. If you are sitting in October or later, your results will show a new ethics line. Here is who sees what, and how the marks add up.

Which SQE2 results format will you see?

The answer depends on when you sat, not when your results are released. The SRA's reminder exists because the July SQE2 results come out after the new rules took effect, which could confuse candidates reading the updated guidance.

So the October 2026 sitting is the first to be marked, and reported, under the new criterion. The SRA says it will update its website to show only the new information and guidance by the end of 2026, after the July results have gone out.

Sources: SRA, July SQE2 results and Ethics and Professional Conduct changes reminder, 22 October 2026; SRA, Dates and booking windows, read 23 October 2026. The SRA says SQE2 results typically arrive 14 to 18 weeks after the assessment.

What changed in the SQE2 Law criteria

The SRA announced the change in June 2026 and it appears in the SQE2 Assessment Specification. Ethics and Professional Conduct was always assessed. The difference is that it used to be folded into another criterion, and now it stands alone.

In plain terms, the first Law criterion is untouched, and the second has been split in two. The SRA's stated reasons are more visibility and feedback for candidates on ethics, in line with SQE1, and better tracking of candidate performance in this area.

What the new results page looks like

Ethics and Professional Conduct is pervasive and unflagged across SQE2, so the new criterion appears as a category for every assessment station in your results. But you only get a score for it where the station assesses a specific ethics point:

The SRA gives two examples, and the numbering is the part worth knowing if you plan to cross-check your results against the specification:

• Case and Matter Analysis: currently Skills criteria 1 to 3 and Law criteria 4 and 5. The new ethics criterion becomes number 6. In the SRA's example it carries a score in one practice area only (criminal litigation).
• Legal Writing: currently Skills criteria 1 to 4 and Law criteria 5 and 6. The new ethics criterion becomes number 7. In the SRA's example it carries a score in one practice area only (dispute resolution).

The practice areas in those examples are illustrations. The SRA says the stations that assess ethics will change in each assessment window, so do not assume a particular practice area is "the ethics one".

Source: SRA, Ethics and Professional Conduct changes for SQE2 after 1 September 2026, read 23 October 2026.

How the SQE2 marks add up with three Law criteria

The method for calculating your station and overall scores has not changed. For each station, the SRA calculates a percentage for Skills and a percentage for Law, then averages the two, so Skills and Law are always worth half each. Within each group, criteria are weighted equally:

The consequence is worth spelling out. Where a station does assess ethics, the new criterion is one third of the Law mark, and Law is half the station, so ethics is worth about one sixth (16.7%) of that station's score. That is our arithmetic from the SRA's method, not a figure the SRA states. It also means Law 1 and Law 2 each count for less in that station than they did before, because they now share the Law mark with a third criterion.

The SQE2 pass mark is still set for the assessment as a whole, as a scaled score of 300 out of 500, and the SRA is clear that a scaled 300 is not the same as 60%. With 16 stations, one weak station does not decide the result by itself.

A worked example (illustrative numbers)

These figures are invented to show the effect. They assume each Law criterion is marked out of 5 and a Skills percentage of 70% in the station.

The same legal analysis lands at 61.7% or 75.0% depending on how you handle the ethics point. Across a full SQE2 that swing is spread over 16 stations, so it is not decisive on its own, but it is the clearest reason to treat ethics as a scoring criterion rather than an afterthought.

What to do with this

If you sat the July SQE2

Expect the results page you have seen described in the existing guidance, with no ethics breakdown. The new guidance on the SRA website is about later sittings, and the SRA will keep the old guidance in place for your cohort until your results are out.

If you are sitting in October or January

Read the updated assessment specification and expect N/A in many places. A score of N/A is not a penalty and not a gap in your results.

If you are resitting

The SRA suggests reviewing the breakdown from earlier attempts to find the practice areas, stations or criteria to focus on. If your previous attempt was in the old format, ethics was blended into a broader Law criterion, so you cannot isolate it. That is our reading, and the new results will make it visible for the first time.

For your preparation

1. Look for the ethics point in every station, because the SRA says it is never flagged. You have to identify it yourself.
2. Do a short ethics sweep before you finish any written answer. Conflicts, confidentiality, duties to the court, money laundering concerns, and whether the client has what they need to give informed instructions are the usual places to look.
3. Say the resolution, not only the issue. The criterion rewards exercising judgment to resolve the issue honestly and with integrity, so name the issue and then what you would do.
4. Practise under timed conditions. A sweep that takes two minutes in practice has to fit inside the same station time in the exam.
5. Check the SRA warning notices. The specification confirms questions can draw on them, for example on non-disclosure agreements and SLAPPs.

SQE2 results and the ethics criterion: FAQ

Keep reading

General information, not legal advice. FQPS is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SRA or Kaplan. Check the official SQE website and your own candidate account for your dates and results. The worked example uses invented marks. The SQE and SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION trade marks are the property of and are used under licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.