SQE in Pakistan
SQE for Pakistani advocates and law graduates
A Pakistani advocate or law graduate can qualify as a solicitor of England and Wales through the SQE, but not without leaving Pakistan. No Pakistani city is on the SRA’s list of test cities, so even SQE1 is sat abroad, and the nearest listed countries are the United Arab Emirates and India. The title does not enrol you as an advocate at home: Pakistan’s 1973 Act names barristers, not solicitors.
- 0
- Pakistani cities on the SRA’s list of SQE test cities, read 12 November 2026
- 18
- months of practice after enrolment that the SRA asks of a Pakistani advocate applying for an SQE2 exemption
- 6
- entries for Pakistan in the SRA’s exemption finder, one for each province or territory it lists
- 34
- University of London LLB teaching centres in Pakistan, on the University’s own finder
Can I do the SQE from Pakistan?
Facts checked against the regulators’ own pages. Last updated .
- Yes, you can qualify. The SRA asks for a degree, SQE1, SQE2 or an exemption from it, and a pass through its character and suitability checks.
- No Pakistani city is on the SRA’s list of test cities. SQE1 and the SQE2 written papers are sat abroad. The nearest listed countries are the United Arab Emirates and India.
- The SQE2 oral assessments have four host cities, all in England and Wales: London, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham.
- An enrolled advocate needs no qualifying work experience and, with at least 18 months of practice after enrolment, can apply for an individual SQE2 exemption. It is decided case by case. In practice there is no SQE1 exemption.
- Being an English solicitor is not, by itself, a route to enrolment in Pakistan. Section 26 of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 names barristers and says nothing about solicitors.
- A completed University of London LLB is a UK level 6 degree, which is what the SRA’s degree rule describes. Neither body says so in terms, and the degree is checked through mySRA like any other.
What an English solicitor qualification is worth in Pakistan
Start here, because it decides whether the SQE or the Bar course fits your plans.
Admission as an advocate is governed by section 26 of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973. In general it asks for a citizen of Pakistan aged 21 or over who is a barrister, or who holds a law degree from a university in Pakistan or abroad that the Pakistan Bar Council recognises, and who has done the training and passed the examination the Bar Council prescribes. The section does not mention solicitors.
| Your position | What Pakistani law says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Barrister called in England | Named in section 26 as a qualifying status in its own right. | A barrister who then completed a full year of training with senior counsel in England is exempt from the local training and test under rule 108-I(3). |
| Solicitor of England and Wales | Not mentioned in section 26. | The title alone does not qualify you. You still need a law degree that the Pakistan Bar Council recognises, and the steps that go with that degree. |
| Graduate of a recognised foreign university | Eligible to apply for enrolment under rule 15(iii) of the Legal Education Rules 2015. | A special examination in Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984, the Specific Relief Act and the Constitution, held in June and December. |
| Graduate of a Pakistani LLB | The LLB is a programme of not less than five years. | An assessment test after the degree (the Law Graduate Assessment Test), then six continuous months as a pupil of an advocate of at least ten years’ standing. |
One rule may help a solicitor who has already practised. Rule 108-I(4) of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules 1976 exempts from the local training and examination an applicant who was enrolled as a practising lawyer outside Pakistan and practised there for a full year, to the satisfaction of the Enrolment Committee. The rule does not name solicitors. We read its wording as wide enough to cover a practising English solicitor with a year of practice, but that is our reading and not a statement by the Bar Council, and the Enrolment Committee decides. It does not remove the need for a recognised law degree. No Pakistani source we read gives the solicitor title any other standing.
What Pakistani candidates use the title for instead
- Practice in England and WalesSolicitor is the title you practise under there. Admission is a professional status and not immigration permission, so the right to work in the UK is a separate question, answered on GOV.UK and not by the SRA.
- The GulfOf the 8,273 solicitors of England and Wales based outside the jurisdiction in July 2024, 15% were in the United Arab Emirates, ahead of Hong Kong on 11% and Singapore on 9%, according to the Law Society’s international data insights report. Dubai registers as legal consultants lawyers who hold an academic law qualification and a valid professional membership in the place where they are authorised to practise. The bylaw names no country, and we read admission as an English solicitor as a membership of that kind. A consultant cannot plead before the Dubai Courts, and a non-UAE national who graduated outside the UAE needs three years of continuous practical experience, a UAE residence permit and an employment contract with a firm licensed in Dubai. The detail is in the UAE guide.
- English-law work for international clientsThe Law Society reports that English law governs around 40% of global business and financial transactions.
How the Pakistan Bar Council treats UK and University of London degrees
Two regulators look at the same degree for different purposes: the Pakistan Bar Council for enrolment at home, and the SRA for admission in England and Wales.
- The recognised listThe First Schedule to the Pakistan Bar Council Legal Education Rules 2015 has 87 numbered United Kingdom entries and two later additions. "University of London, London" is entry 52, and UCL, King’s College London, LSE and Queen Mary are listed in their own right.
- The schedule does not separate study modesIt lists the university, not the way the degree was taught. We could not confirm with the Bar Council whether an LLB earned through a teaching centre in Pakistan is treated exactly like one earned in London, so put that question to the Bar Council before you rely on the degree for enrolment.
- Your college mattersUnder rules 36 to 40, no college may teach a foreign university’s external or distance-learning law programme in Pakistan without a No Objection Certificate from the Pakistan Bar Council. Where a college does not comply, the Bar Council may ask Bar Councils not to issue practising licences to its students. The Higher Education Commission’s list of foreign collaborations marks the University of London LLB colleges as subject to recognition by the Pakistan Bar Council.
- The examination for foreign graduatesThe Higher Education Commission publishes a syllabus for a test it calls SEE-Law, for law graduates of foreign universities. Ask the Pakistan Bar Council which examination applies to your degree and when it is next held.
- Two-year degrees now mean longer pupillageSince 7 October 2025, rule 108-C(1B) entitles the holder of a two-year foreign LLB with 8 or 9 subjects, graduate-entry or otherwise, to enrolment after 18 months of pupillage instead of six. A Graduate Diploma in Law with an LLM also means 18 months, and needs an equivalence certificate that costs Rs 75,000. A diploma alone or an LLM alone is not eligible.
| City | Centres | Names as the University of London lists them |
|---|---|---|
| Lahore | 8 | Blackstone School of Law & Business · International College for Legal Studies · LGS International Degree Programme · Pakistan College of Law · Roots IVY International College · The Institute of Legal Studies (TILS) · The Millennium Universal College (TMUC) · Universal College Lahore |
| Islamabad | 8 | Islamabad School of Law · LGS International Degree Programme · Lord’s College International · Metropolitan International United College (MIUC) · Roots IVY International College · School of International Law · The Institute of Legal Studies (TILS) · The Millennium Universal College (TMUC) |
| Karachi | 7 | Denning Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (Creek, North Nazimabad, PECHS and Seaview campuses) · Denning Law School · Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology University · The Millennium Universal College (TMUC) |
| Hyderabad | 2 | Denning Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (Autobahn and Palm campuses) |
| Multan | 2 | Denning Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship · TILS Law School |
| Peshawar | 2 | Centre for Learning Law and Business (CLLB) · The Institute of Legal Studies (TILS) |
| Abbottabad | 1 | Metropolitan International United College (MIUC) |
| Faisalabad | 1 | Beaconhouse International College |
| Gujrat | 1 | LGS International Degree Programme |
| Rawalpindi | 1 | The Millennium Universal College (TMUC) |
| Sialkot | 1 | Metropolitan International United College (MIUC) |
For the SQE, none of the Bar Council’s rules is decisive. The SRA asks for a degree in any subject at UK level 6 or its equivalent, and the University of London LLB is a level 6 honours degree awarded by the University of London. Neither the SRA nor the University says in terms that the one satisfies the other, so treat that as our reading of two official pages. More in the SQE after a University of London LLB.
The SQE2 exemption for Pakistani advocates, province by province
These are the entries in the SRA’s exemption finder, which was last updated on 24 September 2026. None of the six Pakistani entries is an agreed exemption.
| Assessment | SRA position | What you send |
|---|---|---|
| SQE1 (FLK1 and FLK2) | No exemption is listed. The SRA calls SQE1 exemptions "very rare" and has granted one since 2021. | Nothing. Plan to sit both papers. |
| SQE2 | You can apply for an individual exemption. The finder has an "Advocate" entry for each of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Balochistan, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, all on the same terms. | Proof of your professional qualification (an admission certificate or a certificate of good standing), a reference showing at least 18 months of legal work after qualifying as a Pakistani advocate, and proof of your referee’s own qualification. |
- The fee is £265, and the SRA aims to decide within 180 days of a complete application. You can sit SQE1 while you wait.
- Being eligible to apply is not the same as being exempt. The SRA assesses each Pakistani application individually against the SQE2 skills, and an advocate who is refused can reapply only with new evidence.
- Apply before you book SQE2. The SRA gives no exemption for an assessment you have failed, or have sat and are waiting on.
- An exempt advocate shows English separately: either the professional qualification relied on was assessed in English, or a Home Office approved test no more than three years old, such as IELTS Academic UKVI at 7.5 overall. Source: SRA, English or Welsh language proficiency.
- An advocate with under 18 months of practice sits SQE2 like any other candidate, and still needs no qualifying work experience.
- If your province or territory is not one of the six, the SRA says a qualification missing from its list can still be put forward in an individual application.
A law graduate who has not been enrolled is not a qualified lawyer in the SRA’s sense. That graduate sits SQE1 and SQE2 and needs two years of qualifying work experience, which can be gained in Pakistan and need not involve English law, but must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a compliance officer for legal practice. Read QWE confirmation for overseas work, our guide to applying for an SQE exemption and the exemption finder. Source: SRA, SQE exemptions.
No SQE test city in Pakistan: where candidates sit instead
The SRA publishes a list of cities its assessment provider aims to include. It calls the list "illustrative only" and confirms cities when booking opens. The page does not say why Pakistan is absent, and we will not guess.
| Assessment | In Pakistan | Listed options to consider |
|---|---|---|
| SQE1 (FLK1 and FLK2) | No city listed. | United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai), India (Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), or a centre in the UK. |
| SQE2 written | No city listed. | The same listed cities, or the UK on the same trip as the oral assessments. |
| SQE2 oral | Not offered outside England and Wales. | London, Cardiff, Manchester or Birmingham. |
- One trip can cover SQE1The two papers fall in consecutive weeks and you choose one day in each week, subject to seats. For July 2027 that is 12 to 16 July for FLK1 and 19 to 23 July for FLK2. Not every centre opens on every day.
- Entry to the listed country is your own checkWhich of these countries you can enter depends on your passport and on that country’s visa rules. This page does not cover them, so ask the country’s own authorities before you pay an exam fee.
- A listed city is not a promiseIf your preferred city has no seats, the assessment provider offers the closest available alternative, and the SQE site’s own advice is to consider a neighbouring country or city.
- SQE2 means England or WalesThe written and oral parts must be taken in the same assessment window. You can sit the written days in a listed city and fly to the UK for the two oral days, or do all of it in the UK on one trip.
- The UK visitGOV.UK lists taking an exam among the things a Standard Visitor can do. The Immigration Rules themselves do not name the SQE, so read the Standard Visitor page for your own nationality before paying for anything.
- Paying from PakistanSQE fees are paid in pounds, by card, in full when you book. The State Bank of Pakistan announced in November 2022 an annual limit of USD 30,000 per person on international card transactions. We have not confirmed that the figure is still current, so check with your bank before you put exam fees and travel on one card.
Sources: SQE assessment locations, SQE1 and SQE2 written locations and SQE booking windows. Dates for later sittings are on our SQE1 and SQE2 exam dates page.
SQE or Bar-at-Law: what a Pakistani graduate is choosing between
They are two qualifications for two different plans, not a cheaper and a dearer version of the same thing.
| Point | Bar course (Bar-at-Law) | SQE |
|---|---|---|
| Standing in Pakistan | Barrister is named in section 26 of the 1973 Act. | Solicitor is not named. |
| Where it is done | Every Bar course site in the Bar Standards Board’s table is in England or Wales. You also join an Inn of Court and complete ten qualifying sessions before Call. | SQE1 and SQE2 written in a listed test city abroad. SQE2 oral over two consecutive days in England or Wales. |
| Published fees | £13,550 to £19,950 at UK-fee rates for 2026/27. Some providers charge overseas students more: £24,700 at Cardiff. | £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2. Preparation is extra. |
| What you hold at the end | Call to the Bar by your Inn. | Admission as a solicitor, once the degree, work experience (not asked of qualified lawyers) and character requirements are met. |
The two fee lines are not like for like: the Bar figure is tuition for a taught course, and the SQE figure is assessment fees only. The Bar Standards Board also reports that most students who lived overseas before the Bar course do not appear to seek pupillage in England and Wales afterwards. Source: Bar Standards Board, Bar Training 2026.
If you mean to appear in Pakistan’s courts, the Bar course has the statutory footing and the SQE does not. If you mean to work as a solicitor in England and Wales, or in English-law practice abroad, the SQE is the qualification for that job. The fuller comparison is in SQE or the Bar course.
What the SQE costs from Pakistan, in pounds and US dollars
The SRA’s fees are set in pounds and do not change with the city you sit in. Add flights and a stay in a listed city for SQE1, and a trip to England or Wales if you sit SQE2.
In pounds, with US dollarsUSDPaid to the SRA, the same wherever you sit
- SQE1 assessment feeFLK1 and FLK2, paid to the SRA’s assessment provider when you book£2,006US$2,660
- SQE2 assessment feeWritten and oral, paid when you book SQE2£3,086US$4,090
- Both assessments£5,092US$6,750
Preparing with FQPS
- FQPS SQE1 RevisionA month, no minimum term, cancel anytime£79US$105
- FQPS SQE2 PreparationA month, includes 6 live 1:1 mocks with a solicitor£189US$251
SRA fees are for assessments from September 2026. FQPS prices include VAT. USD figures are a guide at the European Central Bank rate of 12 November 2026: you pay in pounds, and your card provider sets the final rate.
Preparing in Pakistan for an exam you sit abroad
Every sitting costs a flight as well as a fee, so it pays to arrive ready. From January 2027 SQE1 is two papers of 170 single best answer questions, all on the law of England and Wales.
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The SQE1 courseA mentor who knows your route
Every paid plan includes a designated mentor and a personal study plan from Cleo, the FQPS study planner, built around your exam date.
How the mentor worksTest yourself before you book a flight
The free SQE1 readiness test is 15 questions, one from each FLK1 and FLK2 subject. You get a score and the subjects to revise first, with no sign-up.
SQE1 readiness testRehearse SQE2 with a solicitor
If you have under 18 months of practice you will sit SQE2. The SQE2 Preparation plan includes 6 live 1:1 mocks a month with a solicitor, with written feedback.
The SQE2 courseWork experience gained in Pakistan
Graduates who are not enrolled need two years of qualifying work experience. Where no English solicitor works in the chambers or firm, a solicitor outside it can confirm the experience after reviewing your work.
QWE confirmation for overseas workSQE1 preparation from £79 a month
5 plans, billed monthly with no minimum term. In your currency, that first plan is £79 a month.
A UK course with students well beyond the UK
FQPS is online from the first revision card to the last mock, so where you live changes your time zone and nothing else.
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- countries our paying students’ cards were issued in, in the 12 months to November 2026
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- of those students paid with a card issued outside the UK
Lit: the UK and 14 of the other countries, among them France, United States, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Türkiye.
Seven months of prep was plenty, and audiobooks made studying actually enjoyable.
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When the SQE is the wrong choice for a Pakistani lawyer
We would rather you chose the right route than our course.
- Your goal is to appear in Pakistan’s courts. Pakistani law names barristers and not solicitors, so the Bar course carries a standing at home that the solicitor title does not. A solicitor still needs a law degree the Pakistan Bar Council recognises, and foreign-degree holders still face its special examination.
- You cannot travel. With no test city in Pakistan, SQE1 alone means a trip abroad, and SQE2 without an exemption means England or Wales.
- You are counting on your enrolment to excuse you from the exams. It will not excuse SQE1, and the SQE2 exemption needs 18 months of practice and is decided case by case.
- You plan to take a two-year graduate-entry LLB and enrol in Pakistan afterwards. Since October 2025 that degree means 18 months of pupillage in Pakistan, not six.
- You expect the title to bring the right to work in the UK. Admission as a solicitor is a professional status, not immigration permission.
Pakistan and the SQE: common questions
Your situation not here? A free 30-minute call with our team goes through your route and your dates.
Book a free callCan I sit the SQE exam in Pakistan?
No Pakistani city is on the SRA’s list of cities for SQE1 and the SQE2 written papers, read on 12 November 2026, and the SRA gives no reason. The nearest listed countries are the United Arab Emirates and India. The SQE2 oral assessments are held only in England and Wales.
Is an English solicitor qualification recognised in Pakistan?
Not as a route to enrolment. Section 26 of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 names barristers as qualifying for admission as an advocate and does not mention solicitors. A solicitor still needs a law degree recognised by the Pakistan Bar Council.
Do Pakistani advocates get an SQE exemption?
Not automatically. The SRA lists advocates from six Pakistani provinces and territories as able to apply for an individual SQE2 exemption, with a reference showing at least 18 months of legal work after enrolment. In practice there is no SQE1 exemption: the SRA has granted one to any lawyer since 2021.
Is the University of London LLB recognised in Pakistan?
The University of London is entry 52 on the Pakistan Bar Council’s list of recognised United Kingdom universities, and a graduate of a listed foreign university must pass a special examination before enrolment. The list does not separate study modes, and a college teaching the external programme in Pakistan needs a No Objection Certificate from the Bar Council, so confirm your own college’s position with the Bar Council.
Can I do the SQE with a University of London LLB from Pakistan?
The SRA asks for a degree in any subject at UK level 6 or equivalent, and the University of London LLB is a level 6 honours degree. Neither body names the other in terms, so the degree is checked through mySRA like any other. The degree is needed for admission as a solicitor, not to sit SQE1 or SQE2.
Is the SQE or Bar-at-Law better for a Pakistani law graduate?
It depends on where you want to practise. Barrister is named in Pakistan’s 1973 Act as a status that qualifies for enrolment, and solicitor is not, so the Bar course suits court practice in Pakistan. The SQE leads to admission as a solicitor of England and Wales, with assessment fees of £5,092 against Bar course fees from £13,550 for 2026/27.
How much does the SQE cost from Pakistan?
The assessment fees are the same everywhere: £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2, for assessments from September 2026, paid in pounds by card when you book. A candidate in Pakistan adds travel to a listed test city for SQE1, and to England or Wales for the SQE2 oral assessments. An exemption application costs £265.
Do Pakistani advocates need qualifying work experience for the SQE?
No. Under the SRA’s rules a lawyer who is already qualified in another jurisdiction is not asked for the two years of qualifying work experience. A law graduate who is not enrolled as an advocate does need it, and it can be gained in Pakistan if a solicitor of England and Wales confirms it.
What is the SQE pass rate for Pakistani candidates?
It is not published: the SQE reports give no results by country. The closest figures cover all qualified lawyers, 45% of whom passed SQE1 in 2024/25 against 54% of other candidates, and candidates whose first language is not English, 45% against 54% of those whose first language is English.
Other routes to the English title
SQE in the UAE and the GulfSit in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Riyadh, see how the SRA treats Gulf qualifications, and what Dubai and the DIFC Courts ask of an English solicitor.All 15 international guidesWhere you can sit, what has to be done in the UK, and a guide for each country.Sources for this page (30)
- Pakistan Code: Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973
- Pakistan Bar Council: Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules 1976
- Pakistan Bar Council: Legal Education Rules 2015
- Higher Education Commission: foreign collaboration institutions
- Higher Education Commission: SEE-Law syllabus for graduates of foreign universities
- State Bank of Pakistan: press release of 8 November 2022 on card limits
- SRA: SQE exemptions by jurisdiction
- SRA: applying for an SQE1 exemption
- SRA: applying for an SQE2 exemption
- SRA: SQE exemptions, questions and answers
- SRA: English or Welsh language proficiency
- SRA: qualified lawyers
- SRA: degree or equivalent
- SRA: SQE questions and answers
- SRA: qualifying work experience
- SQE: assessment locations
- SQE: SQE1 and SQE2 written locations
- SQE: SQE2 oral locations
- SQE: booking windows
- SQE: booking SQE assessments
- SQE: costs and fees
- SQE: payment methods
- SQE: annual report 2024/25
- University of London: LLB course page and teaching centre finder
- University of London: LLB programme specification 2026-27
- Bar Standards Board: Bar Training 2026 statistics report
- Bar Standards Board: the vocational component of Bar training
- Law Society: international data insights report 2025
- Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department: Administrative Resolution No. (51) of 2022
- GOV.UK: Standard Visitor
Each source was read on or before 12 November 2026. Rules change: check the regulator's own page before you act on anything here. This page is general information, not legal or immigration advice. FQPS Academy is an independent SQE preparation provider, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Kaplan. The SQE and SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION trade marks are the property of and are used under licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
