SQE study-plan templates for 3, 6 and 12 months

If you're searching for an SQE study plan template, you probably already know the exam is a lot to prepare for. What you actually need is a timeline: how many weeks you have, how many hours a week that means, and a rough shape for what fills those hours.

A commonly cited benchmark among SQE prep providers puts total SQE1 preparation at somewhere between 300 and 500 hours, though the SRA itself doesn't publish a fixed number, and your own total will depend heavily on your starting point. That range is the foundation for everything below. Pick a timeline, divide the hours across it, and you get a weekly target you can sanity-check against your actual life.

This post lays out three templates, for three, six and twelve months, with the maths shown and a rough weekly shape for each. Treat them as starting points to adapt, not rules to follow exactly.

The maths behind every SQE revision timetable

Spread 300 to 500 hours across different timelines and the weekly commitment changes a lot:

• 3 months (around 12 to 13 weeks): roughly 25 to 40 hours a week
• 6 months (around 24 to 26 weeks): roughly 12 to 15 hours a week
• 12 months (around 48 to 50 weeks): roughly 6 to 8 hours a week

Notice how steep that curve is. Halving your timeline from twelve to six months roughly doubles your weekly hours. Halving it again, to three months, pushes you close to full-time study hours on top of everything else going on in your life.

That's the most useful thing a study plan template can show you: not the exam content, but whether your chosen timeline actually fits your job, family and energy levels. If the weekly number looks impossible before you've started, adjust the timeline now rather than three weeks into a plan that was never realistic.

What goes into the hours

All three templates assume the hours cover the full mix of SQE1 prep: working through each Functioning Legal Knowledge area, question-bank practice, timed mocks, and reviewing mistakes. They don't include SQE2 skills preparation, which typically starts once SQE1 is behind you and has its own separate time demand.

They also assume some slack. A plan with zero spare capacity falls apart the first time work runs late or a mock takes longer to review than expected.

Template 1: the 3-month plan (25 to 40 hours a week)

Close to full-time study. It suits candidates who can take significant time off work, are between jobs, or have few other obligations. Combining it with a full-time job is genuinely difficult to sustain.

A rough shape:

1. Weeks 1 to 4, foundations. Work through FLK1 and FLK2 subject areas at pace, using structured notes or a course syllabus so nothing gets skipped.
2. Weeks 5 to 9, practice-heavy middle. Shift toward question banks and topic-level mocks, testing recall rather than re-reading notes.
3. Weeks 10 to 13, full mocks and gap-filling. Sit full-length timed mocks, then target weak areas from the results. Taper in the final week so you're not arriving exhausted.

Build in at least one full rest day a week from the start, not once burnout hits. A three-month run has little margin for lost weeks, so factor in any known holiday or busy work period first.

Template 2: the 6-month plan (12 to 15 hours a week)

Close to the pace most prep providers point working candidates toward, and the timeline most working candidates land on. Roughly two hours a weekday evening plus a longer weekend session gets you into range.

A rough shape across six months:

1. Months 1 to 2, foundations. Cover FLK1 and FLK2 topics at a sustainable pace, matching hours to the syllabus so you're not still covering new material in month five.
2. Months 3 to 4, practice and consolidation. Increase question-bank time and spaced review of earlier topics.
3. Month 5, full-length mocks. Sit complete timed papers, then log and review every mistake rather than just the score.
4. Month 6, targeted revision and taper. Focus on weak areas from mock results and ease off in the final week.

Six months gives enough runway to absorb a bad week or two without derailing the plan, which is one reason it suits people balancing study with a full-time job. Our piece on studying for the SQE with a full-time job goes further into making a weekly schedule stick.

Template 3: the 12-month plan (6 to 8 hours a week)

Suits candidates spreading the workload thin, studying around demanding jobs or caring responsibilities, or preferring a slower pace. Six to eight hours a week is roughly an hour a day, sustainable for most people, but the real risk here is momentum rather than workload.

A rough shape:

1. Months 1 to 5, steady coverage. Move through FLK topics at a gentle, consistent pace. The discipline is showing up most weeks even when motivation dips.
2. Months 6 to 8, layer in practice. Mix question-bank practice into your hours alongside any topics not yet reached.
3. Months 9 to 10, spaced review. Revisit early topics so they're still solid closer to exam day, since month-one content can fade badly by month twelve without deliberate review.
4. Months 11 to 12, full mocks and final revision. Shift mostly to timed mocks and gap-filling, tapering in the final week or two.

Missing the odd session on a twelve-month plan feels harmless in the moment, but small gaps compound over a year. A fixed weekly slot, even a short one, matters more here than on the shorter plans.

How to pick between them

Start from your calendar, not your ambition. Look at how many hours a week you can realistically protect most weeks, not just the good ones, and match that to the closest template rather than picking a timeline first and hoping the hours appear.

It also helps to work backwards from an actual sitting date. The SQE dates for 2026-27 are published well in advance, and booking closes roughly five weeks before each sitting, so there's a real deadline to plan against.

If cost is part of the decision, a longer timeline can make it easier to spread prep-course payments, broken down in what the SQE actually costs. If you're unsure how much runway you need, cohort pass rates decoded is useful context.

Turning a template into a real plan

These three templates are deliberately generic, because your subject strengths, work schedule and exam date are specific to you. The useful next step is turning the shape above into a week-by-week calendar built around your own dates.

PasSQE's free SQE study planner does that: set a target sitting and it lays out the weeks between now and then alongside a syllabus tracker, so you can see whether your chosen timeline actually fits before you're months in and behind schedule. It's free with an email sign-up.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good SQE1 study plan?

A good plan matches your available weekly hours to the 300 to 500 hour range commonly cited for SQE1 prep, spread across a realistic timeline: roughly 25 to 40 hours a week over three months, 12 to 15 over six months, or 6 to 8 over twelve. The best plan is the one whose weekly number you can actually sustain, not the shortest one on paper.

How many hours a week should I study for the SQE?

It depends on your timeline. Over six months, most candidates land around 12 to 15 hours a week. Compress that to three months and it rises to roughly 25 to 40 hours a week; stretch it to twelve months and it falls to around 6 to 8. Work backwards from your sitting date to find your number.

Can I study for SQE1 in 3 months?

Yes, but it requires close to full-time hours, roughly 25 to 40 a week, which is hard to combine with a full-time job. It tends to suit candidates who can take substantial time off work. If you can't protect that many hours most weeks, a six-month timeline is usually more realistic.

Is 6 months enough to prepare for SQE1?

For many candidates, yes. Six months at 12 to 15 hours a week sits within the 300 to 500 hour range commonly cited for SQE1 prep and is a common timeline for people studying alongside full-time work. Whether it's enough for you depends on your starting point, particularly if some subject areas are new to you.

Where can I get a free SQE study plan template?

PasSQE's free SQE study planner builds a week-by-week plan around your own sitting date rather than a generic template, alongside a syllabus tracker to show what's covered and what isn't. It's free with an email sign-up.