How to Get Your SQE Funded by Your Employer

The SRA’s fees alone come to £5,092 for SQE1 and SQE2 at 2026/27 fees, before any preparation. Many employers will contribute, but few offer unprompted. This guide shows you what to ask for, why it pays off for the business, which funding routes exist in 2026, and what to check before you sign a training agreement.

Updated October 2026 · checked against SRA publications on 1 October 2026.

What the SQE really costs

On top: preparation (compare what each course includes), time (SQE1 is two full days, SQE2 five half days), a resit contingency, and possibly external QWE confirmation. At the finish line, the SRA admission fee is £100 plus £34 for background screening. The PDF includes a fill-in cost sheet to attach to your request.

Why your employer should say yes

Six funding routes

1. Full funding. Fees and preparation paid by the employer, usually with a training agreement.
2. Split funding. The employer buys the SQE vouchers and you fund preparation, or the reverse.
3. Staged funding. SQE1 now, SQE2 once you pass.
4. An employer loan. Repaid from salary with written consent; no tax charge on a cheap employment loan while loans stay within £10,000 throughout the tax year (ITEPA s.180).
5. An apprenticeship. The Solicitor apprenticeship runs through the SQE, but funding changed in 2026.
6. Study leave. In organisations with 250 or more staff, employees with 26 weeks’ service can formally request time off to train. It is usually unpaid.

Solicitor apprenticeships in 2026

Solicitor apprentices must pass SQE1 and SQE2, and SQE2 is the end-point assessment. Aged 22 or over? A privately funded apprenticeship is still possible: the employer pays, the apprentice may contribute, and the employer National Insurance relief for apprentices under 25 still applies. On a government-funded apprenticeship, the apprentice cannot be asked to contribute to eligible costs, even after leaving the employer.

Making the ask

1. The goal. “I want to qualify as a solicitor by [date], here, in this team.”
2. The cost. Your cost sheet: fees, preparation and time, with one total and one proposed split.
3. The return. What the business gains, in its language: capacity, retention, clients.
4. The plan. Study around work, the exact assessment days, how your work is covered.
5. The commitment. What you offer back, including a fair training agreement.

The PDF includes a one-page business case letter you can adapt and send.

Training agreements

Many employers who fund the SQE ask for a training agreement: if you leave within a set period, you repay some or all of the cost. Deductions from wages need a written contract term or your prior written agreement (ERA 1996 s.13), and for deductions made on or after 1 October 2026 you have six months to bring a tribunal claim. If you chose the training and you choose to leave, an agreed repayment does not reduce minimum wage pay. Where repayment is a consequence of breach, it must not be out of all proportion to the employer’s legitimate interest (Cavendish v Makdessi, 2015), so cap it at the real cost and let it taper over time.

Before you sign, settle: does it cover fees only or preparation too? Who pays for a resit? Does repayment apply if the employer ends your employment? Is it capped at the actual cost? This is general information, not legal advice.

If the answer is no

No is often “not yet”. Ask for part of it: assessment days as paid leave, part of the fees, a loan, or a date to revisit it. Beyond your employer, the Law Society Diversity Access Scheme covers the full cost of SQE preparation and assessment fees (not resits or living costs) for successful applicants (household income up to £25,000, or £28,000 in London); its 2026 round closed on 1 April 2026. For students from England, a Master’s Loan of up to £13,206 is available for full, standalone master’s courses of at least 180 credits starting from 1 August 2026, which can include an LLM with SQE preparation. The SRA says standalone SQE preparation courses do not qualify for student loan funding.

Frequently asked questions