Qualifying Work Experience (QWE): A Comprehensive Guide for SQE Students
Embarking on your journey to becoming a solicitor? One term you'll frequently encounter is 'Qualifying Work Experience' or QWE. But what exactly is SQE Qualifying Work Experience? How does it fit into your legal career path? This comprehensive guide is designed to answer all your questions about QWE, from understanding its significance in the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) to knowing what counts as qualifying work experience for SQE.
What is Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)?
Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) is a crucial part of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) process. It involves a minimum of two years of full-time (or equivalent) work experience, providing legal services where you have the opportunity to develop some or all of the competences for solicitors.
What Counts as QWE?
QWE must involve providing legal services, as defined by the Legal Services Act 2007 (s. 12).
This means that any work that involves delivering legal services is likely to be considered QWE (refer to the list below).
QWE can be gained in England, Wales, or overseas, and it does not necessarily need to cover English and Welsh law.
It's important to note that QWE can be gained before, during, or after sitting the SQE assessments and can even include experience from previous roles.
This could be gained in a variety of settings, including:
- Law firms
- In-house legal teams
- Legal clinics
- Voluntary or charitable organisations
- Law centres
- Paralegal roles
- Training contracts
What Doesn't Count as QWE?
Roles that do not involve delivering legal services, as defined by the Legal Services Act 2007, are unlikely to be considered QWE.
Simulated legal services, such as mock trials or moot court competitions, also do not count as QWE.
The experience must be real and practical.
How to Determine if Your Experience Counts as QWE?
To determine whether your current or previous job, role, or experience can count as QWE, consider the following questions:
- Does or did your job, role, or experience involve providing legal services?
- Does or did your job, role, or experience involve real-life legal services provision rather than simulated legal services provision?
- Have you been exposed to at least two competences in the Statement of Solicitor Competence?
- Has or will your job, role, or experience be carried out in no more than four organisations?
- Has or will your job, role, or experience be at least two years' full time or equivalent?
- Has or will your job, role, or experience be confirmed by a solicitor or Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP)?
If you answer 'yes' to all of these questions, your experience is likely to be considered QWE.
Remember, the definition of 'full time' or its equivalent is not prescribed and is left to the discretion of QWE providers/employers.
To know more about SQE Exam.SQE Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)
Yes, experience gained at a law clinic can count as Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) for the SQE. However, it must meet certain criteria. Firstly, it should provide you with the opportunity to develop at least two of the competencies listed in the Statement of Solicitor Competence. Secondly, your work must be confirmed by a solicitor within the law clinic or an external solicitor who has direct knowledge of your work. If the confirming solicitor is external, there are additional requirements in the SRA rules.
No, your QWE does not need to be at the same standard of work as a qualified solicitor. The purpose of QWE is to give you the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge, and behaviours expected of a solicitor. Therefore, at the start of your QWE, you are likely to be demonstrating skills at a lower standard than at the end. The SQE assessments, particularly SQE2, ensure that all candidates have demonstrated the necessary skills at the right standard. As long as your work experience allows you to develop some or all of the competencies in the Statement of Solicitor Competence, it can count as QWE.
Yes, the Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) can be completed at up to four different legal workplaces. This flexibility allows candidates to gain a broad range of experience and develop a comprehensive understanding of different areas of law and practice.
No, simulated legal services do not count towards Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) for the SQE. The QWE must involve real-life work as it's designed to give candidates practical experience of how solicitors operate in practice, the challenges they face, and how they serve real clients.
Yes, a supervising solicitor can confirm your QWE even if they no longer work for the same organisation as you. However, they must have reviewed your work for the period of work experience they are confirming. If you're claiming for work completed after they left, they should have received feedback from the person now supervising your work.
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