Who can confirm your qualifying work experience?
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 review your work for the period and get feedback from the people who supervised you.
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 a COLP the SRA regulates.
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.
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. Then a solicitor of England and Wales outside the organisation can confirm your QWE, once they have reviewed the work you did for the period and received feedback from the people who supervised you.
A designated solicitor
FQPS QWE validation 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 they confirm it in their own mySRA account. From £149.
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 should not. Not sure which applies to you? Book a free 30-minute call and we will tell you.
How confirming QWE works 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 organisation, up to four.
- Give the name and SRA number of the solicitor or COLP confirming it. They then confirm it in mySRA.
Source: SRA: Registering 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. It cannot force a firm to confirm, but it may take disciplinary action against a solicitor who refuses to confirm QWE that meets its rules.
- 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.
Source: SRA: Dealing with a refusal to confirm qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025)
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. Only if the organisation has neither can a solicitor outside it confirm, and that solicitor must first 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.
Can a barrister confirm my QWE?
No. The SRA accepts confirmation only from a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP it regulates. A barrister, or a lawyer qualified in another country, can confirm only if 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. The outside solicitor must have direct experience of your work: they review the work you did for the period, for example your training diary or portfolio, and get feedback from the people who supervised you.
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.
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. 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. One of our solicitors reviews your work and gets feedback from your supervisors before confirming in mySRA. FQPS QWE validation costs from £149.
The SRA rules, read on 3 October 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: Registering qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA: Qualifying work experience questions and answers (updated 3 October 2023). More on QWE: our QWE guide and QWE jobs.
No solicitor where you did your QWE?
One of our solicitors reviews your work, gets feedback from your supervisors and confirms your QWE in mySRA, where the rules allow a solicitor outside your organisation to do it.