S6EP11: The SQE was supposed to change everything — so why is it so controversial?

This week on The Legal Cheek Podcast, Julia Szaniszlo and Ryan Scott are back to take a look at the SQE. First introduced in 2021 as a way to democratise a historically inaccessible profession, the SQE has had a rather bumpy ride, marred by controversies surrounding pass rates, exam difficulty and administrative errors. We take a look at how the SQE came to be, the key differences it has to the LPC route, and why so many candidates have "lost confidence" in the exam. From the promise of flexible qualifying work experience to the reality of cut-throat TC conditions, a 41% all-time low pass rate, and the Kaplan grading scandal that saw 175 students wrongly told they had failed, we ask whether the SQE has truly opened up the profession or simply swapped one set of barriers for another.