Budgeting the full SQE: a cost walkthrough

Search "SQE cost calculator" and you'll notice something: there isn't one. Not an official one, anyway. The SRA publishes its assessment fees and stops there, because everything past that point (your prep route, whether you need a resit, how far you live from a test centre) is personal to you.

So the honest answer to "what will the SQE actually cost me" is: build the number yourself. It takes about ten minutes if you work through it in blocks. This walkthrough gives you those blocks, the current figures for each one, and a way to land on a total SQE budget you can actually plan around.

Block 1: assessment fees, the fixed part

Start here because it's the one line nobody can shop around on. The SRA sets this fee directly, and from September 2026 it rises.

• SQE1: £2,006 from September 2026
• SQE2: £3,086 from September 2026
• Combined: £5,092

That's up from the current £4,908 total, a rise of about 3.7%. If your sitting falls before the September 2026 cutover, the lower figure may still apply to you, so it's worth checking your exact booking window rather than assuming either number automatically.

Treat £5,092 as your budget's floor. It buys you one attempt at each part and nothing else: no materials, no travel, no second chance. For more on the fee rise itself and who it affects, see what the SQE actually costs.

Fees are set and reviewed by the regulator, so check the SRA's current fee page before you book. This post reflects figures confirmed for September 2026, but they can move again after that.

Block 2: prep costs, where your budget actually moves

This is the block that turns a fixed £5,092 into a genuinely wide range, because prep is a choice, not a set fee. Across the market, prep costs currently run from roughly £500 to £18,850.

Rough bands to help you place yourself:

• Question-bank or self-study only: a few hundred pounds for materials and mock access. Works best if you're disciplined, have some legal background already, and don't need a fixed timetable to keep you on track.
• Short, targeted courses: from around £500, aimed at one part of the exam or a specific weak area rather than full coverage.
• Mid-tier structured courses: roughly £5,000 to £6,000 for a self-paced programme covering both SQE1 and SQE2.
• Full campus or LLM-integrated programmes: from around £12,000 up to £18,850 at the top end, usually bundling a postgraduate qualification with SQE preparation and in-person teaching.

None of these figures include your own time, which is real but doesn't fit neatly into a spreadsheet. Two quick questions narrow the band fast: do you need external structure and deadlines to stay on track, and are you working full-time alongside this or studying full-time? Needing structure while working full-time usually points toward a mid-tier or full course. Studying full-time with strong self-discipline often makes a leaner, question-bank-led budget realistic.

Block 3: the resit buffer most people skip

This is the line a DIY budget most often misses, and the one that causes the most stress when it turns out to be needed. If you don't pass a part first time, a resit costs the full assessment fee for that part again. There's no discount for a second attempt.

Fail SQE1, and a resit means paying the full SQE1 fee again, on top of whatever you already spent on your first sitting and any extra prep in between. The same is true for SQE2. You get three attempts at each part, within a six-year window from your first sitting, and you can't resit something you've already passed.

Because a resit is a realistic possibility for a meaningful share of candidates, it's worth putting a number against it rather than hoping it won't apply to you. A simple approach: add a line equal to one resit fee for whichever part you feel less confident about. If you never use it, you keep that money. If you do, you're not scrambling to find it after a disappointing result. Our cohort pass rates piece is a useful next read if you want to think through how likely a resit is for your situation, based on published SRA figures rather than guesswork.

Block 4: the logistics costs people forget

Individually small, but they stack up over a study period that can run six months or more:

• Travel and possible accommodation for test centre days, especially if your nearest Pearson VUE centre isn't close, or if SQE2's multi-day station format makes an overnight stay more sensible than commuting.
• Time off work, which isn't always a cash cost, but can mean using annual leave or losing income if it's unpaid.
• Materials outside your main course, such as extra mock access if your provider's coverage feels thin in one area.

You don't need exact figures here. A rough contingency of £150 to £300 covers most people, more if you're travelling a real distance or expect to sit more than once.

Putting your own total together

Here's the shape of the calculation, in order:

1. Assessment fees: £5,092 (from September 2026, both parts, first attempt)
2. Prep costs: your chosen band, £500 to £18,850
3. Resit buffer: optional but sensible, roughly one part's fee
4. Logistics: a £150 to £300 estimate, adjusted for your own circumstances

Add those four lines and you have a genuine total SQE budget, not just the headline assessment fee most searches surface first. The gap between the low and high end of that range is large, and almost all of it comes down to the prep route you pick, which is the one part of this budget you have real control over.

If you'd rather plan the study side and the money side together, a free SQE study planner can help you map sittings and revision blocks against your timeline, so the budget and the schedule are built around the same dates rather than two separate guesses.

Why a DIY total beats a generic number

A generic calculator, if one existed, could only ever show assessment fees, because that's the one figure that's identical for everyone. The moment prep enters the picture, the honest answer becomes personal: your starting point, your study style, and your working situation all push the total in different directions.

That's really the value of building it yourself. You end up with a figure tied to decisions you've actually made, and you can see exactly which line to adjust if the total feels too high. Dropping the resit buffer, for instance, is a trade-off you're choosing with your eyes open, not something a black-box tool decided for you.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official SQE cost calculator?

No. The SRA publishes assessment fees on its fee page, but it doesn't run a calculator that folds in prep costs, since those come from third-party providers and vary too widely to standardise. Building your own total using the blocks above is the practical alternative.

How much does the SQE cost in total, including prep?

From September 2026, assessment fees alone total £5,092. Add prep costs of £500 to £18,850 depending on your route, plus a sensible resit buffer and a small logistics allowance, and a realistic total budget for most self-funded candidates lands somewhere between roughly £5,500 and £24,000. The prep course you choose accounts for nearly all of that spread.

Do I actually need to budget for a resit?

You don't have to, but it's worth having a contingency line for one, because a resit costs the full fee for that part again with no discount. Whether you build in a full buffer or a partial one is a judgement call based on your own confidence and readiness, but going in with the possibility priced is less stressful than discovering the cost after a result you didn't want.

Is the SQE cheaper overall than the old LPC route?

On assessment fees alone, generally yes, since the SQE's regulator-set fee is fixed and comparatively modest. Prep costs can close that gap considerably depending on the course you choose, though, so the honest comparison has to include both sides of the ledger, not just the exam fee.

When exactly do the new, higher SQE fees start?

The increased fees, £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2, apply from September 2026. If your sitting falls right around that date, check the exact cutover mechanics on the SRA's fee page directly, since booking windows and effective dates are set by the regulator and worth confirming rather than assuming.