Yes — there are free SQE1 practice questions, and you should use them
If you have just typed "free SQE1 practice questions" into a search box, here is the honest answer: yes, legitimately free SQE1 multiple-choice questions exist, and if you know where to look you can comfortably assemble 150+ single-best-answer (SBA) questions across FLK1 and FLK2 without spending a penny. This page aggregates the sources that are genuinely free, shows you how to use them properly, and gives you a few illustrative questions so you can see the format before you commit to anything.
A quick reality check on what you are preparing for. SQE1 is 360 single-best-answer MCQs split into two papers — FLK1 (180 questions) and FLK2 (180 questions) — sat on computer at Pearson VUE test centres. It is set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and delivered by Kaplan, with sittings roughly in January, April, July and October. There is no negative marking, so you should never leave a question blank. The pass mark is set per sitting using a modified Angoff process rather than fixed, and has historically landed somewhere around 57-62%.
Why does free question practice matter so much? Because SQE1 does not reward what you know in the abstract — it rewards your ability to apply law to a client's facts under time pressure and pick the single best answer from five plausible options. That is a trainable skill, and questions are how you train it.
What "free" really means (and its limits)
Free practice questions are brilliant for getting started, sampling the format and discovering which subjects feel shaky. But be clear-eyed about three limits before you build a whole revision plan around them:
- Volume is small. Free banks typically offer dozens, not thousands, of questions. You will exhaust the good free material quickly.
- Currency varies. Some free questions pre-date the latest SRA assessment specification or were written for older syllabi. The official SRA materials are the safe reference point — always sanity-check anything that can change against sqe.sra.org.uk.
- Quality is uneven. Forum-sourced or scraped questions sometimes have wrong "correct" answers, no explanations, or distractors that do not behave like the real exam's near-miss options.
The single most useful thing a question can give you is not the answer — it is the explanation. A free question with no worked rationale teaches you very little. Keep that filter in mind as you work through the sources below.
Where to find 150+ free SQE1 practice questions
Here is the landscape, compared honestly. Counts are deliberately approximate because providers refresh their material and the SRA periodically updates its published samples.
| Source | Approx volume | Format | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| SRA official sample questions (FLK1 & FLK2) | Tens of official SBAs | PDF, exam-authentic wording | Calibrating to the real style and difficulty |
| SQE1 Prep free readiness quiz + free daily questions | 1 quiz + a rolling daily set | Interactive, timed, with explanations | A quick diagnostic and a daily habit |
| University / law-school open samples | A handful each | PDF or web, variable | Topping up specific subjects |
| Reputable free question banks / app trials | Dozens (often gated) | Web or app, mixed quality | Extra reps once official samples are done |
Stack these and 150+ free questions is realistic. A sensible order of priority:
1. The SRA's official free sample questions
The SRA publishes free official SBA sample questions for both FLK1 and FLK2. These are the gold standard because they come from the body that sets the exam, so the wording, the "call of the question" and the distractor style are exactly what you will meet on test day. Treat them as your calibration set rather than your bulk practice — there are not many, so do not burn through them carelessly. Our SRA sample questions strategy guide walks through how to squeeze maximum learning from each one, including how to use them as a difficulty benchmark.
Because the SRA can update or replace these from time to time, always download the current set from sqe.sra.org.uk rather than relying on a copy floating around a study group.
2. SQE1 Prep's free readiness quiz and free daily questions
SQE1 Prep offers a free readiness quiz plus a rotating set of free daily practice questions — interactive, timed and, crucially, with explanations attached. Start with our quick quiz: it gives you an immediate, low-stakes read on where you stand and surfaces which subjects need attention. From there you can fold a few questions into your daily routine to keep the SBA muscle warm. You can explore the wider practice area to see how the timed and topic-tagged modes work.
3. University and law-school open samples
Several universities and SQE training providers publish a small number of free sample MCQs as taster content. Quality is generally good but quantity is low, and you will sometimes find the spec is a version or two behind. Use these to top up a specific weak subject rather than as a core resource.
4. Reputable free banks and app free tiers
Many commercial banks offer a free trial or a limited free tier. These can add useful volume, but apply the quality filter: do the questions have explanations? Do the distractors feel like genuine near-misses? Is the law current? If the answer to any of those is no, move on. For a fuller, regularly maintained list of where to find no-cost material — including free banks and resources — see our roundup of free SQE1 resources and question banks.
Want a longer, exam-length free experience rather than scattered single questions? A full timed paper is the best stress test of all — see our guide to the free SQE1 mock exam for FLK1 & FLK2.
How to actually use practice questions (the part most people skip)
Doing 500 questions badly is worse than doing 100 questions well. The technique below is what turns reps into marks. We go deeper in our dedicated SQE1 MCQ technique and exam strategy guide, but here is the core method.
Read the call of the question first
Every SQE1 SBA has a factual scenario followed by the "call of the question" — the precise thing you are being asked (for example, "Which of the following best describes the solicitor's obligation?"). Read the call first, then read the facts knowing what you are hunting for. This stops you absorbing a wall of facts with no idea which ones matter.
Eliminate, don't just hunt for the right answer
Single-best-answer means several options can be partly right; only one is best. Work by elimination:
- Strike out any option that is legally wrong.
- Strike out any option that is legally correct but does not answer the call.
- From what remains, pick the option that is most complete and most precise on these facts.
Respect the clock — roughly 90 seconds per question
With 180 questions per session, you have on average a little over 90 seconds per question. Practise at that pace from early on. If a question stalls you, flag it, lock in your best instinct, and move on — there is no negative marking, so a guess is strictly better than a blank. Coming back with fresh eyes beats grinding in real time.
Review the explanation for every question — right or wrong
This is the highest-leverage habit in the whole process. After each question:
- If you got it wrong, find out exactly why the best answer beats the one you chose.
- If you got it right, confirm you were right for the right reason and not a lucky guess.
- Note the underlying rule or principle, not just the answer letter — that is what transfers to the next question.
A question without an explanation gives you about a third of its value. This is precisely why a structured bank with written rationales outperforms a pile of scraped PDFs.
Illustrative example questions
The three questions below are illustrative examples only — written to demonstrate the SBA format and technique, using deliberately uncontroversial law. They are not drawn from any live exam, and you should always verify anything that can change against the official SRA materials.
Illustrative example 1 (technique: read the call)
A client asks a solicitor to act on the purchase of a flat. During the first meeting the client mentions, in passing, that he also owns a competing business to one the solicitor's firm already advises.
Which of the following is the best first step for the solicitor?
A. Decline to act in all circumstances. B. Proceed, because conveyancing is unrelated to the other matter. C. Identify whether a conflict of interest exists before agreeing to act. D. Ask the client to sign a waiver immediately. E. Refer the client to another firm without further enquiry.
Worked answer — C. Notice the call asks for the best first step, not the final outcome. The scenario flags a potential conflict, so the disciplined first move is to assess whether a conflict exists before doing anything else. A and E over-react before the facts are known; B ignores the flag entirely; D jumps to a solution before the problem is even diagnosed. The lesson: the call ("first step") tells you a process answer beats an outcome answer here.
Illustrative example 2 (technique: eliminate near-misses)
A buyer and seller agree the sale of a bicycle for an agreed price. They shake hands; nothing is written down.
Which statement best describes the legal position?
A. No contract exists because it was not in writing. B. A contract may exist because the essential elements can be satisfied without writing. C. A contract exists only once the buyer pays in full. D. A contract exists only once the bicycle is delivered. E. No contract exists because bicycles are not goods.
Worked answer — B. A general contract for the sale of an everyday item does not require writing to be valid, so A is wrong on the law. C and D confuse performance with formation — payment and delivery are how the contract is performed, not what brings it into existence. E is simply incorrect. B survives elimination because it is the most accurate and the most complete statement on these facts.
Illustrative example 3 (technique: most complete answer wins)
A solicitor receives client money into the firm's client account. The client later asks how that money is being looked after.
Which response best reflects the solicitor's general obligation?
A. Client money may be used for the firm's own expenses if repaid later. B. Client money must be kept separate from the firm's own money and properly accounted for. C. Client money can be mixed with office money for convenience. D. Client money need not be recorded if the sum is small. E. Client money belongs to the firm once received.
Worked answer — B. The core principle is that client money is kept separate and properly accounted for. A, C, D and E each describe a breach of that principle. B is not just a correct statement — it is the one that captures the whole obligation, which is what "best describes" demands.
Notice what these examples have in common: the right answer rarely turns on an obscure case name. It turns on applying a clear principle to the facts and choosing the most complete, on-point option. That is exactly the skill volume practice builds.
From scattered free questions to exam-ready
Free questions get you off the starting line. They will not, on their own, get you across it — there simply are not enough of them, and the best ones (the SRA samples) are finite. To build genuine exam fitness you need breadth across all subjects, depth on the high-yield topics, and an explanation behind every single question.
That is the gap SQE1 Prep is built to close. The platform gives you:
- 3,500+ exam-format SBA questions, every one written to mirror the real single-best-answer style.
- Questions tagged by subject and by topic across the 13 subjects and 142 topics (FLK1's 59 and FLK2's 83), so you can drill precisely where you are weak.
- A written explanation for every question — the review habit above, built in.
- Full FLK1 and FLK2 mock exams, plus 4,200+ flashcards and study notes for all 142 topics.
The pattern in our own data is striking: candidates who complete 25+ mock tests achieve a 94% pass rate — comfortably above the headline figures, which makes sense once you see that consistent question practice is the single strongest predictor of a pass.
A quick word on the numbers
Pass rates move a lot between sittings, which is exactly why preparation method matters. January 2026 came in at 53% overall (58% first-time), while July 2025 hit a record low of 41%; most sittings land in the 50-60% band. If you want the full picture before you plan, our SQE1 pass rates analysis breaks down what drives the swings and what it means for your own target score.
Your free-first action plan
Put it together and you have a sensible, no-cost on-ramp:
- Sit the free readiness quiz to get an honest baseline today.
- Work the official SRA samples for FLK1 and FLK2 from sqe.sra.org.uk, reviewing every explanation.
- Top up with reputable free banks from our free resources roundup.
- Lock in technique — read the call first, eliminate, ~90 seconds, review everything — using the MCQ technique guide.
- Scale up once the free material runs dry.
Ready to practise like the exam?
Free questions are the perfect first step, but the candidates who pass are the ones who keep going long after the free material runs out. SQE1 Prep gives you 3,500+ exam-format questions tagged by subject and topic, with an explanation behind every one, full FLK1 and FLK2 mocks, study notes for all 142 topics — all for a one-time payment with lifetime access and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Start free with the practice area to feel the format, then see the full question bank, mocks and flashcards on the pricing page. Practise the way you will be tested, and let your score do the talking.