Best SQE Prep Courses 2026: Honest Comparison of All Major Providers

Updated April 2026 · Independent - no affiliate payments

Quick verdict: which course for which candidate?

Provider	Online bundle	SQE1 rate*	Best for
BPP	£12,200	68%	Employer-sponsored; City firms
University of Law	£15,150	64%	Campus experience; structured learners
City Law School	~£13,000	62%	Central London; academic rigour
BARBRI	£5,899	58%	Working full-time; self-funded
QLTS School	~£3,000	55%	International lawyers; budget self-study

*Self-reported, unverified. National SQE1 average: 53% (January 2026). Why these figures may be inflated.

Add £4,908 in SRA exam fees to all course costs. - Full provider comparison - SQE cost calculator

The national SQE1 pass rate is 53%. That means nearly half of everyone who sits the exam does not pass. The variation between candidates who prepare well and those who do not is enormous - and the course you choose, and how you use it, is a significant factor. This page compares the main providers honestly: pricing, what you actually get, and who each one genuinely suits.

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The pass rate caveat

Before any numbers: no provider pass rate is independently verified by the SRA. Every figure on this page is self-reported.

There is also a likely methodological issue. When a provider says "68% pass rate", they almost certainly mean the percentage of students who completed their course and then sat the exam - not all enrolled students. Students who dropped out, deferred indefinitely, or sat without using much of the course are probably excluded.

The national SQE1 average in January 2026 was 53%, across all 7,863 candidates regardless of preparation. If you have a structured course, a law degree, and 4+ months of focused study, your realistic probability is substantially above 53%. If you are self-studying with no legal background, it is substantially below.

Use provider pass rates for rough comparison only. The gap between BPP (68%) and BARBRI (58%) matters less than whether you will actually study consistently with the course you pick.

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Overview: every provider at a glance

*Self-reported. National averages: SQE1 53%, SQE2 ~78% (Oct 2025).

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Detailed provider reviews

BPP University Law School

Online bundle: £12,200 | Classroom: £14,300 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: 68% | SQE2: 88%

BPP is the most City-firm-recognised SQE provider. If your training contract sponsor is paying, or if you are targeting a City firm and want the provider name on your CV, BPP is the default choice.

The course structure is well-built: structured study schedules, a large question bank (3,000+ SQE1 questions), live and recorded workshops, and individual feedback on SQE2 skills work. Support quality is generally rated higher than BARBRI and QLTS, though the live sessions require you to commit to a timetable.

Best for: Sponsored candidates; those who need structure; City-track applicants

Honest downside: You pay a premium for brand recognition. If you are self-funding and the firm you are targeting does not care which provider you used, BARBRI gives you the same core content for £6,301 less.

One thing to check: BPP's SQE2 feedback process. Ask specifically how many individual assessed practice scenarios are included and whether you get written feedback or just scores.

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University of Law

Online bundle: £15,150 | Hybrid: £16,500 | Classroom: £18,850 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: 64% | SQE2: 89%

ULaw is the UK's largest law school. Its campus network (10+ locations) is its strongest differentiator - if you want the law school environment, access to a physical library, and face-to-face tutor contact, ULaw has options that BPP and BARBRI do not.

For pure pass rate per pound, ULaw is harder to justify. At £15,150 online, it costs £2,950 more than BPP for a pass rate that is four percentage points lower (on self-reported data). The classroom option at £18,850 is the most expensive route to SQE qualification in the market.

Best for: Employer-sponsored candidates; students near a ULaw campus; those who want the traditional law school experience

Honest downside: The premium pricing relative to BPP is hard to defend on data alone. If your firm is paying, fine. If you are paying yourself, scrutinise whether the campus access and brand specifically benefit your situation.

One thing to check: Whether the specific campus you want has SQE sessions timetabled for your preferred schedule, not just the online version with "campus access" attached.

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City Law School (City, University of London)

Combined: ~£13,000-£15,500 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: 62% | SQE2: 85%

City is primarily a classroom provider based in central London. The academic reputation is strong and the location gives candidates networking access to EC2/EC3 firms that no other provider matches geographically.

For SQE specifically, City is well regarded for its research-led teaching and small group sizes. It is slightly cheaper than ULaw at a comparable level of support. The limitation is the single London campus - if you cannot get to EC1 regularly, City is not the right fit.

Best for: London-based candidates targeting City or Chancery Lane firms; those who value academic teaching quality; students who benefit from small group sessions

Honest downside: London only. No flexibility on location, and the face-to-face requirement is not optional in the way that BPP's classroom option is.

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BARBRI

Online bundle: ~£5,899 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: 58% | SQE2: ~80%

BARBRI is an American legal education company that has been preparing candidates for bar exams for over 50 years. Their SQE platform is fully online, self-paced, and comes with one of the largest question banks on the market (4,000+ SQE1 questions with adaptive learning technology).

For self-funding candidates, BARBRI is the most defensible choice at the mid-range. The content coverage is comprehensive, the video quality is professional, and the adaptive platform adjusts question difficulty based on your performance. The weakness is personal support - feedback is less individual than BPP or ULaw, and there is no face-to-face option.

Best for: Self-funded candidates working full-time; those outside major cities; candidates who learn well from video and practice questions

Honest downside: SQE2 is where BARBRI shows its limitations most. Written skills feedback is less detailed than premium providers. If oral skills (advocacy, interviewing) are a concern for you, BARBRI alone may not be sufficient.

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QLTS School

Combined: ~£2,500-£3,500 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: ~55%

QLTS School built its reputation preparing overseas lawyers for the old QLTS (Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme). Their SQE materials are self-paced, online, and substantially cheaper than any other provider.

The catch is that self-paced online study with minimal support requires exceptional discipline. QLTS School is genuinely good value for candidates who already have a strong legal knowledge base - international lawyers, experienced paralegals, or those supplementing another course. For a law graduate coming straight from university with no prior revision habit, the lack of structure is a real risk.

Best for: International lawyers converting UK qualifications; experienced legal professionals; candidates supplementing materials from another provider; very self-motivated learners on a tight budget

Honest downside: Minimal personal support. If you get stuck, you are largely on your own. Not recommended as a primary course for non-law or early-career candidates.

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Kaplan

Combined: ~£12,500 Self-reported SQE1 pass rate: 63%

Kaplan is a large professional education provider that offers SQE via live online classes. The course structure is clear, support is responsive, and the question bank is solid. Kaplan sits between BPP and BARBRI in price and broadly matches that positioning in support level.

One significant note: in 2024, Kaplan was responsible for a marking error that incorrectly told 175 candidates they had failed SQE1. The SRA and Kaplan acknowledged the error and candidates received £250 compensation, but some had already turned down jobs or training contracts based on the (incorrect) result. This is on the record and worth knowing before choosing Kaplan.

Best for: Candidates who want live online teaching at a mid-range price; structured timetable without classroom commitment

Honest downside: The 2024 marking error. Kaplan has processes to prevent recurrence, but the incident is documented. Factor it into your decision if reliability is a priority concern.

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How to choose

The question to start with is not "which course has the highest pass rate?" It is "which course will I actually use?"

If your employer is paying: Take BPP or ULaw. Both are well-recognised. BPP is slightly more City-focused; ULaw has more campus locations. Ask your firm which they use - most have a preferred provider relationship.

If you are self-funding with a law degree: BARBRI at £5,899 covers the full SQE syllabus at a serious level. The £6,000+ premium for BPP or ULaw buys you brand recognition and more individual support - both real benefits, but not worth the cost if you are confident in your self-study discipline.

If you are working full-time: BARBRI or QLTS School. Both are genuinely self-paced. BPP and ULaw have scheduled sessions that are hard to keep up with around a 40+ hour working week.

If you are an international lawyer or experienced paralegal: QLTS School or BARBRI. You do not need structured teaching - you need targeted materials, a good question bank, and practice scenarios. Both provide this at a fraction of premium course costs.

If you are retaking: Do not buy another full course. Identify specifically which topics you dropped marks on in your failed sitting and target those. A supplementary question bank (BARBRI's is available standalone) combined with targeted revision is more efficient than repeating an entire course.

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What the data actually tells you

The national SQE1 average is 53%. If BPP's self-reported rate is 68%, that is a 15-percentage-point difference. But this comparison is almost certainly not apples-to-apples.

The most likely explanation: BPP counts completers who sat, not all enrolled students. If 30% of BPP's enrolled students do not complete or do not sit, and those students would have had below-average pass rates, then the reported 68% overstates the true benefit of the BPP course.

No provider publishes their denominator - how many enrolled, how many completed, how many sat. Until the SRA mandates standardised reporting (which they have committed to doing in future publications), treat all provider rates as directionally useful but methodologically suspect.

What the data does tell you: courses correlated with higher pass rates tend to be structured, involve regular assessed practice, and include feedback on performance. Those features exist at BPP, ULaw, and City at full price - and to a lesser degree at BARBRI at lower cost.

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Five questions to ask any provider before you book

1. What is your refund policy if I need to defer? Some providers lock you in with no deferral option - read the terms carefully.
2. How many assessed SQE2 practice scenarios are included? Quantity and quality of feedback varies enormously.
3. How many questions are in the SQE1 bank, and are they updated each sitting? Old questions from the QLTS era are not representative of current SQE1 style.
4. What support is available during revision - not just during the taught course? The period between teaching and your exam date is often where candidates fall.
5. Can I see a sample lesson or demo before committing? Any serious provider will say yes.

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More on SQE costs and providers:

• Full SQE cost breakdown including resit scenarios
• Compare all providers side by side
• Can you pass SQE without a course?
• Latest official SQE pass rates