What does the SQE1 Business Law and Practice section actually test?

Business structures, corporate governance, capital, and insolvency. The SRA assessment specification breaks Business Law and Practice into 16 topics, each examined through single-best-answer (SBA) questions in the FLK1 paper.

Is Business Law and Practice part of FLK1 or FLK2?

Business Law and Practice sits in FLK1. From January 2027 the FLK1 paper is 170 single-best-answer questions (180 until July 2026), sat as two sessions of 85 questions, 2 hours 33 minutes each, on the same day.

How many topics are in Business Law and Practice?

16. Our notes, flashcards, and question bank are mapped one-to-one against the SRA's BLP specification so nothing is missed.

How long should I spend on Business Law and Practice?

Most candidates allocate roughly 48–80 hours across notes, flashcards, and timed practice. The exact split depends on your background — re-sitters can usually focus on weak topics rather than re-reading.

What is the best way to revise Business Law and Practice?

Active recall beats re-reading. Read the notes once, then practise SBA questions in mixed order, then revisit weak topics. Our weak-area tracker surfaces the topics where your accuracy is below 70%.

Are these Business Law and Practice SQE notes free?

The notes preview on this page and the sample topics are free, and the first chapter of the Business Law and Practice study guide downloads free as a PDF and EPUB. The complete notes for all 16 topics come with lifetime access to the platform, and the whole subject is also available as a £9.99 study guide.

Are the Business Law and Practice notes updated for the January 2027 specification?

Yes. The SRA's updated SQE1 specification applies from the January 2027 sitting, and the notes, questions and flashcards were revised against it in July 2026. Updates are included at no extra cost.

What is the difference between these notes and the Business Law and Practice study guide?

Same content, two formats. The platform gives you the notes alongside the BLP question bank, flashcards and mock exams with progress tracking. The study guide is the Business Law and Practice notes as a book, PDF and EPUB with a paperback edition, with worked questions and flashcards in every chapter, for £9.99.

Can I practise Business Law and Practice questions without paying?

Yes. The free readiness quiz includes a sample from every subject, and free accounts can access sample questions across all subjects. The full BLP question bank is unlocked with a one-time lifetime purchase and is covered by the 14-day money-back guarantee.

BLPFLK1 · 16 topics

Business Law and Practice SQE notes.

Business structures, corporate governance, capital, and insolvency. Below: a preview of the notes, all 16 topics, sample questions with worked explanations, and the first chapter of the Business Law and Practice study guide to download free, all mapped to the SRA’s FLK1 specification.

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Free sample chapter

The first chapter of the Business Law and Practice study guide, with five worked questions, as a PDF and EPUB. The full guide is £9.99 on its own, and every subject is included with lifetime access.

From the notes

Topic 01: Business Structures

How the Business Law and Practice notes read. Every one of the 16 topics is written the same way: the rule, the trap the examiners set, and a worked question.

Imagine you're helping a client start their dream business. Before they can open their doors, they need to answer one crucial question: What type of business structure should they use? This decision affects everything - from whether they could lose their house if things go wrong, to how much tax they'll pay, to how much paperwork they'll deal with.

No separate legal personality - you ARE the business
Unlimited personal liability - your personal assets are at risk
No Companies House registration needed
Profits taxed as your personal income

What examiners love to test: Three things come up again and again: (1) Who has 'separate legal personality'? (2) Who gets limited liability? (3) How is each structure taxed? Master these differences and you'll nail the exam questions.

Full notes for all 16 topics are included with lifetime access, or as the Business Law and Practice study guide (£9.99).

All 16 topics in Business Law and Practice

SRA-aligned

01
Business Structures
Types of business organisations: sole trader, partnership, LLP, and companies
Free
02
Partnerships
General partnerships, limited partnerships, LLPs, partner duties and liability
03
Company Formation & Constitution
Incorporating a company, articles of association, and the company constitution
04
Directors (Appointment, Removal & Disqualification)
Appointing and removing directors, directors service contracts, disqualification, and statutory registers
05
Directors' Duties
Statutory duties under CA 2006, fiduciary obligations, and consequences of breach
06
Company Meetings and Resolutions
How shareholders make decisions - types of meetings, notice requirements, quorums, voting procedures, and different resolution types.
07
Share Capital & Shareholders
Issuing shares, share classes, dividends, and shareholder rights
08
Minority Shareholder Protection
Unfair prejudice petitions, derivative claims, just and equitable winding up, and shareholder remedies
09
Capital Maintenance and Distributions
Capital maintenance rules, dividends, reduction of share capital, and financial assistance for share purchases
10
Company Accounts and Audit
Annual accounts, audit requirements, filing obligations, and directors responsibilities for financial reporting
11
Company Administration and Compliance
Registered office, company name, statutory registers, confirmation statement, and administrative requirements
12
Business Financing
Sources of business finance, debt vs equity, bank lending, crowdfunding, and government support schemes
13
Charges and Security
Fixed and floating charges, registration requirements, priority of charges, and enforcement
14
Business Taxation
Income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, VAT, inheritance tax, and taxation of business stakeholders
15
Corporate Insolvency
Insolvency tests and procedures — administration, CVAs, liquidation, wrongful and fraudulent trading, antecedent transactions, distribution on winding up, and director disqualification
16
Personal Bankruptcy and Alternatives
Bankruptcy proceedings, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Debt Relief Orders, and alternatives to bankruptcy

Try before you buy

4 sample BLP questions

Real SBA questions from the Business Law and Practice bank, with the full explanation. The paid bank covers all 16 topics and difficulty levels.

A woman has run a catering business on her own account for five years, trading under a business name that does not include her own. A corporate client has cancelled a large event at short notice and she cannot meet the debts of the business: £35,000 owed to food suppliers, £8,000 of rent arrears on the kitchen she leases and £12,000 owed to an equipment lessor. The equipment and van used in the business are worth £20,000. She owns a house with £100,000 of equity and has £15,000 in savings.

Can the creditors enforce their debts against the woman's house and savings?

No, because her liability is limited to the £20,000 of assets used in the business.
No, because the business name she trades under gives the business its own legal identity.
No, because a sole trader's home cannot be taken to satisfy the debts of the business.
Yes, but against her savings only, because her home is protected as her residence.
Yes, because a sole trader is personally liable for the debts of the business. Correct

Why: The correct answer is E. A sole trader has no separate legal personality: there is no distinction in law between the woman and her business, and trading under a business name creates no separate entity. She is personally liable for the whole £55,000, and her creditors may enforce their judgments against all of her assets, business and personal alike, including her savings and, through a charging order, her interest in her house. A is incorrect because her exposure is not confined to the assets she happens to use in the business; only incorporation produces that division. B is incorrect because a business name is simply a name under which she trades and neither creates nor registers a separate legal person. C is incorrect because a sole trader's home has no automatic protection from the claims of business creditors. D is incorrect because the outcome is right but the reason is wrong: nothing shields the home, so the creditors are not confined to her savings.

A woman works alone as a freelance graphic designer and wants to incorporate a private limited company for the business. She intends to be its only director and to hold its only share, which will have a nominal value of £1. She does not want to appoint anyone else to any office. A friend has told her that she must find a second director and a company secretary before the company can be registered, and that someone other than a director must sign the company's accounts.

Can the company be registered with the woman as its only director and shareholder?

No, because a private company must have at least two directors and a company secretary.
No, because a private company must have at least one director and one company secretary.
No, because a company cannot be registered with share capital of less than £100.
Yes, but she must appoint a company secretary to sign and deliver the accounts.
Yes, because one director who is a natural person and one shareholder are enough. Correct

Why: The correct answer is E. A private company must have at least one director (Companies Act 2006 s.154(1)), and at least one of a company's directors must be an individual rather than a corporate body (s.155(1)). A company may be formed by one person subscribing for shares (s.7(1)), and a private company is not required to have a company secretary (s.270(1)). There is no minimum share capital for a private company, so a single £1 share is enough. The woman can therefore be the company's only director, its only shareholder and its only officer. A is incorrect because two directors are required of a public company, not a private one. B is incorrect because s.270(1) expressly relieves a private company of the need to have a secretary. C is incorrect because no minimum share capital applies to a private company; the authorised minimum of £50,000 applies only to public companies. D is incorrect because the outcome is right but the reason is wrong: a private company need not have a secretary, and it is the directors who are responsible for the accounts.

A man and a woman have shared a flat for three years. They divide the rent, the utility bills and the cost of groceries equally, and two years ago they bought a car together which each uses in turn. The woman also runs a small online shop from the flat, which the man takes no part in and from which he receives nothing. A supplier who has not been paid for stock ordered for the shop now says that the two are in partnership and that the man must pay.

Is the man liable to the supplier as the woman's partner?

Yes, because they share the expenses of the household and own the car in common.
Yes, because they have shared their outgoings equally for more than two years.
No, because a partnership does not exist until the parties have registered it with HM Revenue & Customs.
No, because the man is entitled to none of the profits of the woman's online shop.
No, because the two are not carrying on a business in common with a view of profit. Correct

Why: The correct answer is E. Partnership is the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit: Partnership Act 1890 s.1(1). Sharing the costs of a home is not carrying on a business, and the only business here, the online shop, is carried on by the woman alone. The man is therefore not her partner and is not liable for the debts of the shop. Owning the car jointly makes no difference, because co-ownership of property does not of itself create a partnership, whether or not the co-owners share any profits made by using it (s.2(1)). A is incorrect because sharing household expenses and holding an asset jointly are not the carrying on of a business in common. B is incorrect because the length of an arrangement is irrelevant; the test is whether a business is being carried on with a view of profit. C is incorrect because no registration or other formality is needed to create a partnership, which arises from the parties' conduct. D is incorrect because the outcome is right but the reason is incomplete: an absence of profit sharing is evidence against partnership, but what decides this case is that no business is carried on in common at all.

A woman has worked for five years as an employed translator and now intends to work for herself, translating documents for small businesses from home. She will have no employees and no premises, her fees are between £200 and £500 a project, and she expects to bill about £40,000 in her first year. She has no plans to take anyone else into the business. She wants to spend as little as possible on setting it up and does not want her accounts to be open to public inspection.

What advice should the woman be given about the structure for her business?

She should form a private limited company, because incorporation is the only way to limit her exposure.
She should form a limited liability partnership, because that is the usual structure for professional practices.
She should form a public limited company, because that will give her business standing with clients.
She should take a partner and form a general partnership, because a business needs more than one owner.
She should trade as a sole trader, because that needs no registration, no filing and no cost. Correct

Why: The correct answer is E. A sole trader carries on business without any separate legal entity: there is no registration at Companies House and no incorporation fee, no annual accounts or confirmation statement to deliver, no public disclosure of her figures, and her profits are simply taxed as her income through self-assessment. That suits a one-person service business with no employees, no premises and a modest turnover, where the unlimited liability the structure carries is a small risk. She can incorporate later if the business grows or its risks change. A is incorrect because incorporation is not the only way of managing risk, and it brings the costs and public filings she wants to avoid; limited liability is worth little where there are few liabilities to limit. B is incorrect because an LLP must have at least two members, and she intends to work alone. C is incorrect because a public company must have allotted share capital of at least £50,000 and two directors, and may not do business until the registrar issues a trading certificate. D is incorrect because a general partnership requires at least two persons, and there is no reason for her to take a partner she does not want.

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