Short answer: The SRA is consulting on changes to the Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK), the syllabus that SQE1 tests. If they go ahead, they take effect in September 2027, so January 2028 is the first SQE1 sitting affected. Nothing changes for the January or July 2027 sittings. No subject is added or dropped: the SRA's two annexes set out 33 proposed changes within the existing subjects (8 in FLK1, 25 in FLK2), and four subject areas have none. The consultation closes at 23:59 on 3 December 2026, and the SRA plans to publish the final FLK in April 2027.
Everything below is taken from the SRA's consultation paper and its Annexes 3 and 4, published on 8 October 2026, and from the SRA's specification and dates pages, all read on 15 October 2026. These are proposals, so the final FLK may differ. They are also separate from the two changes that already apply from January 2027: the September 2026 specification update and the 170-question format.
Timeline
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 8 October 2026 | Consultation opens |
| 3 December 2026, 23:59 | Consultation closes |
| 11–22 January 2027 | SQE1 (FLK1 11–15 January, FLK2 18–22 January) on the current specification |
| April 2027 | The SRA publishes its response and the final FLK and Statement of Solicitor Competence |
| 12–23 July 2027 | SQE1 (FLK1 12–16 July, FLK2 19–23 July) on the current specification |
| September 2027 | Changes take effect |
| January 2028 | First SQE1 sitting on the revised FLK |
The SRA says this follows the timetable of its annual FLK review: the 2026 review was published on 30 April 2026 and applies to assessments from 1 September 2026.
Does it affect your sitting?
| Your SQE1 sitting | Syllabus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| January 2027 | The current specification, applicable from 1 September 2026 | Nothing changes. Revise the whole current FLK, including topics proposed for removal. |
| July 2027 | The current specification | Nothing changes: the proposals take effect in September 2027, after this sitting. |
| January 2028 or later | The revised FLK, if adopted | Start on the core subjects now, and check the final FLK when the SRA publishes it in April 2027. |
Topics the SRA proposes to remove, such as tax anti-avoidance and purpose trusts, remain examinable in both 2027 sittings. Don't drop them early.
What is not changing
- The subjects. FLK1 keeps its six subject areas and FLK2 its seven. Some stakeholders asked the SRA to add family law and social welfare law, or to bring its alternative dispute resolution content up to date, in particular on mediation. The SRA proposes no fundamental change to the practice areas the FLK covers, noting that it has also heard the FLK is already too broad.
- Four subject areas have no proposed changes: Tort, Land Law, Legal Services and the Legal System group (the legal system of England and Wales, constitutional and administrative law, and EU law).
- The standard. The SRA proposes no change to the Threshold Standard, which sets the level at which a newly qualified solicitor should perform the competences, and it is not seeking any change to its rules.
FLK1: the proposed changes
| Subject | Proposed change | The SRA's reason |
|---|---|---|
| Business Law and Practice | Add restructuring plans and moratoriums to the insolvency options and procedures | Introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and becoming more common in practice |
| Business Law and Practice | Remove the scope of anti-avoidance provisions for income tax and capital gains tax, and the outline of corporation tax anti-avoidance legislation | Complex, and potentially above the core level expected of a newly qualified solicitor |
| Business Law and Practice | Add stamp duty on share transfers | Share transfers for private companies are a common task for a newly qualified solicitor |
| Business Law and Practice | Remove inheritance tax business property relief | Duplication: it is already tested in FLK2, in Wills and the Administration of Estates, where inheritance tax is substantively tested |
| Business Law and Practice | Reword the finance topic as statutory obligations to maintain financial and accounting records, and identification of relevant figures in standard financial statements | To clarify what the topic requires |
| Dispute Resolution | Limit the pre-action protocols to personal injury, clinical negligence (clinical disputes), debt claims and professional negligence | The protocols that align with the core rules and principles expected of a newly qualified solicitor |
| Dispute Resolution | Add domestic freezing orders, search orders and strike out to the interim applications, alongside summary judgment, interim payments and interim injunctions | Commonly dealt with by newly qualified solicitors |
| Contract Law | Remove termination by expiry or another specified event | A basic point, not necessarily aligned with core legal principles at the day-one level |
| Tort, Legal System, Legal Services | No proposed changes |
FLK2: the proposed changes
| Subject | Proposed change | The SRA's reason |
|---|---|---|
| Property Law and Practice | Clarify in a guidance note that short residential leases are not examinable | To make the extent of the subject clear |
| Property Law and Practice | Expand rent review into open market rent review (the hypothetical lease, its assumptions and disregards, and the process for determination) plus the basic principles of stepped, turnover and index-linked rent reviews | Different forms of rent review are assessed, with the focus on the more common open market review |
| Property Law and Practice | Add termination by the tenant under s.27 Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 to security of tenure under Part II | Core, in line with the existing points |
| Property Law and Practice | Add listed buildings and conservation areas to the core principles of planning law | Core, in line with the existing points |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Remove the scope of inheritance tax anti-avoidance provisions | Complex, and potentially above the core level |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Add the spouse or civil partner's right to acquire the matrimonial home to the intestacy rules | Core |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Add post-death variations and disclaimers as a new topic | Core |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Add the fiduciary duties of personal representatives: not to profit from their fiduciary position, not to purchase estate property, and not to put themselves where their interest and duty conflict | Core; the wording copies the current Trusts Law FLK |
| Wills and the Administration of Estates | Add the letter of wishes to the interpretation of wills | Core |
| Solicitors Accounts | Amend the duty to correct breaches of the SRA Accounts Rules promptly on discovery to a duty to correct and report them | Fundamental for a newly qualified solicitor |
| Solicitors Accounts | Remove the operation of a joint account and of a client's own account | Encountered infrequently |
| Land Law | No proposed changes | |
| Trusts Law | Add the beneficiary principle and the rules against perpetuity (instruments taking effect after 6 April 2010) | Core |
| Trusts Law | Add the Trust Registration Service: registrable trusts, information obligations, deadlines and penalties | Core |
| Trusts Law | Widen beneficial entitlement to income, capital and successive interests, alongside fixed, discretionary, vested and contingent interests | Candidates will be assessed on identifying life tenants and remainder beneficiaries, in both lifetime and will dispositions |
| Trusts Law | Add letters of wishes | Core |
| Trusts Law | Add dispositions of equitable interests | Core |
| Trusts Law | Remove the distinction between charitable trusts and non-charitable purpose trusts | The scope of valid purpose trusts is complex |
| Trusts Law | Reword trusts of the family home (the presumption that equity follows the law, establishing common intention, detrimental reliance, quantification) and give proprietary estoppel its own points (establishing the estoppel, remedies) | Current terminology; estoppel cases often involve businesses as well as homes and can go beyond the family |
| Trusts Law | Add delegation of trustees' powers and duties | To make clear that it is assessed |
| Trusts Law | Replace "the nature of equitable remedies and the availability of tracing in equity" with "the nature and availability of proprietary claims" | Other equitable remedies are covered elsewhere in the FLK, and applying specific tracing rules is complex |
| Criminal Liability | Add aggravated arson to criminal damage | An omission alongside simple criminal damage, aggravated criminal damage and arson |
| Criminal Liability | Add handling stolen goods, with the heading renamed "Theft and related offences" | An omission alongside theft, robbery, burglary and aggravated burglary; handling is not a theft offence |
| Criminal Law and Practice | Add searches under s.18 PACE 1984 to advising clients at the police station | An omission: these searches are part of police station procedure |
| Criminal Law and Practice | Add breach of sentence and committals for sentence | Needed to understand sentencing, particularly in light of the Sentencing Act 2026; committals are also needed to understand allocation |
| Criminal Law and Practice | Add fines, conditional discharges and absolute discharges to the types of sentence | Core |
What the pattern tells you
Most removals share one reason: the SRA judges the topic complex and potentially above the day-one standard (tax anti-avoidance, purpose trusts, specific tracing rules). The others are encountered infrequently (joint accounts), a basic point (termination by expiry) or duplicated (business property relief, which stays in Wills). Most additions are described as core knowledge or as omissions, such as handling stolen goods, aggravated arson and s.18 searches, and two are justified as common work for newly qualified solicitors: private company share transfers and interim applications.
Trusts Law has the most proposed changes (nine), followed by Business Law and Practice and Wills and the Administration of Estates (five each). Some material moves rather than disappears: business property relief would be tested only in Wills, and personal representatives would get the fiduciary-duty wording that Trusts Law already uses.
Changes to the Statement of Solicitor Competence
The consultation also revises the Statement of Solicitor Competence, which sets out what solicitors must be able to do and which the SRA uses to inform the design and content of the SQE. Its proposed changes fall into four groups:
- Technology and AI, written into existing competences rather than added as a separate one: keeping your competence up to date as technology and AI develop, research and drafting that address the risk of AI hallucinations in legal work and court submissions, and oversight of other people's use of technology and AI.
- Professional conduct and ethics: new competences on prioritising ethical obligations that conflict, and on knowing when and how to raise concerns about ethical issues or unethical behaviour.
- Supervision: a separate section on supervising others, aligned with the SRA's effective supervision guidance.
- Health and wellbeing: new competences on looking after your own health and wellbeing and that of the people you supervise.
It also proposes smaller equality, diversity and inclusion changes and plainer English throughout. The SRA says it will need to consider whether any of the changes should be reflected in the SQE assessments.
How to respond
Anyone with an interest can respond through the SRA's online questionnaire until 23:59 on 3 December 2026. You can save a partial response and finish it later, and download a copy before you submit. There are 16 questions. Questions 10 to 15 are about the FLK, including whether its scope is too broad, about right or too narrow, and whether you agree with the changes in each practice area where you have expertise. The SRA publishes and attributes responses unless you ask it not to. The consultation paper, the annexes and the questionnaire are on the SRA's consultation page.
What it means for your preparation
- Sitting in January or July 2027: prepare on the current specification, including every topic proposed for removal. Our notes, questions and flashcards already follow it.
- Sitting in January 2028 or later: four subject areas have no proposed changes, and in the rest the proposals adjust named topics rather than whole subjects, so time spent on the core now is not wasted. Check the final FLK the SRA publishes in April 2027 before your final months of revision.
- Updates: when the SRA revises the assessment specification, we update the platform for everyone at no extra cost, as we did for the September 2026 update (see the FAQ).
The subjects with the most proposed movement are covered in our revision guides for Trusts Law, Wills and the Administration of Estates, Business Law and Practice and Property Practice. To see where you stand on the current syllabus, try 20 free SQE1 questions.
Sources
- SRA, Review of the Statement of Solicitor Competence and the SQE Functioning Legal Knowledge, consultation published 8 October 2026
- SRA, Annex 3: Proposed changes to Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 and Annex 4: Proposed changes to Functioning Legal Knowledge 2
- SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification, applicable for assessments from 1 September 2026
- SRA, Dates and booking windows
