Who can confirm QWE?
Published by FQPS Academy, which also offers QWE confirmation. Every rule below links to the SRA page it comes from.
Who can confirm QWE: the three options
Regulation 2.2 of the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations sets out who can confirm each period of QWE: the COLP or a solicitor working in the organisation, and a solicitor outside it only when there is neither.
The organisation’s COLP
If the organisation where you did the work has a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice.
A solicitor working in the organisation
Any solicitor of England and Wales who works there. They do not need a practising certificate.
A solicitor outside the organisation
Only if the organisation has no COLP and no solicitor. They must have direct experience of your work, review your work for the period and get feedback from the people who supervised you. Separately, a solicitor who supervised you there and has since left can still confirm, if they reviewed your work for the period and, for any work after they left, got feedback from the person who supervised you then.
It cannot be a barrister of England and Wales, or a lawyer qualified anywhere else, unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales or the organisation’s COLP.
Source: SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2
What counts as qualifying work experience
- It must involve providing real legal services: simulated work does not count.
- It can be paid or voluntary: a law clinic, a law centre, a charity, paralegal work, a placement or a training contract.
- It can be gained in England and Wales or overseas, and before, during or after you sit the SQE.
- You only need to register the full two years by the time you apply for admission as a solicitor.
Source: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024)
What the solicitor or COLP confirms
- How long the work experience lasted.
- That it gave you the opportunity to develop some or all of the competences for solicitors, at least two of them.
- That nothing arose that raises a question about your character and suitability to be admitted or, if something did, the details of it.
Confirming QWE is not a judgement on whether you are competent, how well you were trained or how good your work was. The SQE assessments test competence, and the SRA checks suitability when you apply for admission.
Source: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024)
If your organisation has no COLP and no solicitor
This can happen for paralegals in unregulated businesses, in-house teams with no solicitor, some charities, and work done overseas (see paralegal QWE sign-off and QWE confirmation for overseas work). Then a solicitor of England and Wales outside the organisation who has direct experience of your work can confirm your QWE, once they have reviewed the work you did for the period and received feedback from the people who supervised you. For that case, FQPS offers QWE confirmation by a solicitor.
A designated solicitor
FQPS QWE confirmation gives you one of our solicitors, who talks your experience through with you first and tells you honestly whether it is likely to count.
Review and supervisor feedback
They review your work for the period, from your training diary or portfolio, and get feedback from the people who supervised you, as regulation 2.2 requires.
Confirmation in mySRA
You record the period in mySRA and name our solicitor. The SRA contacts them and, if satisfied, they confirm it in their own mySRA account. From £275.
If the organisation where you worked does have a COLP or a solicitor, they are the ones to confirm your QWE, and an outside solicitor cannot, unless they supervised you there and have since left. Not sure which applies to you? Book a free 30-minute call and we will tell you.
Naming your confirmer in mySRA
- Tell the solicitor or COLP who will confirm your QWE before you apply: the SRA contacts them once you submit.
- Record a completed period of QWE in mySRA. The end date cannot be in the future.
- Make one application for each period of QWE, from up to four organisations.
- Give the name and SRA number of the solicitor or COLP confirming it. They then confirm it in mySRA.
Every step, what to prepare and what the solicitor checks: how to get your QWE signed off. Keep your records in our free QWE record template.
Source: SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023)
What to do if a solicitor or COLP will not confirm your QWE
The SRA expects solicitors to act fairly when confirming QWE: for example, not refusing because they do not plan to keep you on once you qualify. Its guidance, updated on 5 November 2026, says that refusing to confirm QWE that meets its criteria is a clear breach of its Principles and Code, and that it may act against a solicitor or firm who does this deliberately.
- Ask the solicitor or COLP, politely and in writing or at a meeting, why they will not confirm, and show how you met the competences.
- Bring your records: a training diary, portfolio, or the SRA’s training template, and if it helps, your line manager or supervisor.
- Share the SRA’s guidance for those confirming QWE: confirming is not an assessment of your competence.
- Ask whether another solicitor or the COLP in the organisation can confirm instead.
- If they still refuse after you have taken these steps, contact the SRA’s Professional Ethics team. The SRA does not mediate, but it can remind solicitors of their obligations.
A supervisor who has left, a firm that has closed, a firm that wants to keep you as a paralegal: what to do in each case, in employer won’t sign off your QWE?
Source: SRA: Dealing with a refusal to confirm qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025)
Source: SRA: Meeting our standards for good qualifying work experience (updated 5 November 2026)
Watch the SRA explain QWE
Longer sessions from the SRA’s own conferences and webinars, for candidates and for the firms that confirm QWE. More on the SRA’s YouTube channel.
SQE Virtual Conference 2025: QWE, ensuring a positive candidate experience
The SRA’s 2025 conference session on how organisations should support candidates through QWE.
SRA, April 2025 · 1:18:59
Qualifying work experience: back to basics
What QWE is, what counts, and how confirmation works, for firms and organisations offering it.
SRA, May 2024 · 53:13
SQE Virtual Conference 2023: QWE, facts, myths and tips
Common misunderstandings about QWE, answered by the SRA.
SRA, March 2023 · 1:04:21
Confirming QWE: common questions
Who can confirm QWE?
Your QWE must be confirmed by the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) of the organisation where you did it, or by a solicitor of England and Wales who works there. A solicitor who supervised you there can still confirm after one of you has left. Only if the organisation has neither can a solicitor outside it confirm, and that solicitor must have direct experience of your work, review your work and get feedback from the people who supervised you. The solicitor does not need a practising certificate. A barrister or a lawyer qualified elsewhere cannot confirm unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales or the organisation’s COLP.
Can a barrister confirm my QWE?
Not unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales or the organisation’s COLP. Regulation 2.2 allows only the COLP or a solicitor of England and Wales to confirm. A lawyer qualified in another country cannot confirm unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales.
Does the solicitor confirming my QWE need a practising certificate?
No. The SRA says the solicitor confirming QWE does not have to hold a practising certificate.
Can a solicitor outside my organisation confirm my QWE?
Only if the organisation where you did the work has no COLP and no solicitor working in it. That outside solicitor must have direct experience of your work, review the work you did for the period, for example your training diary or portfolio, and get feedback from the people who supervised you. A solicitor who supervised you there and has since left can also confirm, if they reviewed your work for the period and, for any work after they left, got feedback from the person who supervised you then.
Can my old supervisor confirm my QWE after one of us has left the firm?
Yes. The SRA says the solicitor does not need to still work for the same organisation as you, as long as they reviewed your work for the period they are confirming. For any work after they left, they also need feedback from the person who supervised you then.
Can I claim QWE from a past job?
Yes. QWE can be claimed for a past job, placement or volunteer role, and there is no limit on how far back, as long as it counts as QWE. The solicitor or COLP is expected to take reasonable steps to confirm it, but may not be able to if, for example, no records survive.
What does the solicitor actually confirm?
Three things: how long the work experience lasted; that it gave you the opportunity to develop some or all of the competences for solicitors, at least two of them; that nothing arose that raises a question about your character and suitability to be admitted or, if something did, the details of it. Confirming QWE is not a judgement on whether you are competent, how well you were trained or how good your work was. The SQE assessments test competence, and the SRA checks suitability when you apply for admission.
What can I do if my employer refuses to confirm my QWE?
Ask the solicitor or COLP why, show how you met the competences, share the SRA’s guidance for those confirming QWE, and ask whether another solicitor or the COLP in the organisation can confirm. If they still refuse after that, contact the SRA’s Professional Ethics team. The SRA does not mediate, but it can remind solicitors of their obligations.
Can FQPS Academy confirm my QWE?
Yes, where the rules allow a solicitor outside your organisation to confirm: when the organisation where you did the work has no COLP and no solicitor, and the solicitor has direct experience of your work. One of our solicitors reviews your work, gets feedback from your supervisors and, if satisfied, confirms it in mySRA. FQPS QWE confirmation costs from £275.
The SRA rules, read on 8 November 2026: SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2; SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024); SRA: Dealing with a refusal to confirm qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025); SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA: Meeting our standards for good qualifying work experience (updated 5 November 2026); SRA: Qualifying work experience questions and answers (updated 3 October 2023). More on QWE: our QWE guide and QWE jobs.
No COLP and no solicitor where you did your QWE?
One of our solicitors reviews your work, gets feedback from your supervisors and, if satisfied, confirms your QWE in mySRA, where the rules allow a solicitor outside your organisation to do it.
More on getting your QWE confirmed
No COLP or solicitor where you did your QWE? An FQPS solicitor reviews your work, speaks to your supervisor and, if satisfied, confirms it in mySRA.
Getting QWE signed off in mySRA, step by step: what to prepare, what the solicitor checks and how long it takes.
What to do when your firm refuses to confirm, your supervisor has left, or there is no solicitor to sign off.
A free QWE record template with a filled-in example for each competence, in Word and PDF.
Overseas legal work can count as QWE. Who can confirm it, and when an outside solicitor can because there is no COLP and no solicitor.
Paralegal and legal assistant work can count as QWE. Who signs it off, and what to do if your firm has no COLP and no solicitor.
Check your work against the SRA’s QWE questions in two minutes, and see who can confirm it.
