Blog · DATA · 24 Jul 2026 · 7 min read
The SQE2 pass-rate trend, 2021 to 2025
SQE2's first-time pass rate has sat in a 69 to 84% band since launch. Here's the sitting-by-sitting trend and why it stays above SQE1.
If you're about to sit SQE2, the question isn't just "what's the pass rate." It's "is it moving, and which way." Since the exam launched, the first-time SQE2 pass rate has stayed inside a 69 to 84% range across every sitting. That's the honest answer before you get into any individual number.
The two most recent results sit near the top of that band. Overall pass rates were 82% in April 2025 and 78% in October 2025. Neither looks like a cliff edge or a sudden climb. Here's what the trend actually shows and what it means if you're prepping now.
The SQE2 range in one line
Across every sitting since SQE2 began, the first-time pass rate has moved between roughly 69% and 84%. That's a real spread, not a flat line, but it's a much narrower band than SQE1 shows between its own sittings. April 2025 landed at 82% overall (84% first-time), and October 2025 came in at 78% overall. Both sit comfortably inside the historical range rather than at either extreme.
Two things follow from that. First, SQE2 has never posted a pass rate anywhere close to SQE1's July 2025 low of 41%. Second, the range itself has held up over several years of sittings, which suggests the exam's difficulty and its marking standard have stayed fairly consistent rather than drifting sharply in either direction.
Is SQE2 getting harder?
Not on the evidence of the trend. A 69 to 84% band across multiple years of sittings, with the two most recent results at 78% and 82%, doesn't describe an exam that's tightening. If SQE2 were meaningfully harder now than at launch, you'd expect to see recent sittings clustering near the bottom of that range. They aren't.
That said, "not getting harder" isn't the same as "getting easier." Read each new SRA statistical report on its own terms rather than assuming last sitting's number predicts the next one. Sittings differ in cohort mix, in exactly which skills and practice areas come up across the 16 stations, and in how many candidates are sitting for the first time versus resitting. Some sitting-to-sitting movement inside the established range is normal, not a sign of a shifting exam.
Why SQE2 sits higher than SQE1, sitting after sitting
The gap between SQE1 and SQE2 pass rates isn't really about which exam is "harder" in the abstract. It's mostly about who is allowed to sit each one.
You cannot attempt SQE2 without first passing SQE1. That's a hard eligibility rule, and it means the SQE2 cohort is, by definition, a pool that has already cleared one demanding hurdle. A group that's been filtered once will outperform an unfiltered group on the next test, even if the two tests were equally difficult in isolation.
There's also a format difference worth naming without getting into the legal substance of what's tested. SQE1 is a two-day, 360-question multiple-choice exam, testing recognition and recall under time pressure. SQE2 is sixteen practical skills stations spread across roughly five half-days, testing application under a different kind of pressure entirely: oral performance, drafting under a clock, and stamina across a long, fragmented assessment window. Different formats reward different kinds of preparation, and a candidate who's strong on one doesn't automatically transfer that strength to the other.
Put those two effects together, selection plus format, and the persistent gap between SQE1 and SQE2 pass rates stops looking mysterious. It's less "SQE2 is the easy one" and more "SQE2 only ever sees candidates who've already proven something."
What the October 2025 and April 2025 results actually tell you
Two sittings on their own don't make a trend, but they're useful as a recent reference point.
- April 2025: 82% overall, 84% first-time. Near the top of the historical range.
- October 2025: 78% overall. A four-point drop from April, but still solidly inside the 69 to 84% band, not a departure from it.
Read that drop with some care. A few points of movement between two sittings, six months apart, is the kind of variation you'd expect from differences in cohort composition and which stations candidates happened to draw, not evidence of a structural change to the exam. If October 2026 comes in a few points either side of 78%, that's the pattern continuing, not breaking.
The useful question isn't "did the pass rate move." It's "where does the latest figure sit inside the range the exam has always shown." On that measure, SQE2 in 2025 looks stable.
How to use this if you're prepping for SQE2 now
A stable historical range is reassuring, but it isn't a guarantee for any individual candidate. A few practical takeaways:
- Don't over-read a single sitting's dip. A move from 82% to 78% is normal variation, not a sign the exam has changed underneath you.
- Compare first-time rates, not overall ones, if this is your first sitting. The overall figure blends in resitters, who pass at lower rates than first-timers as a group. The first-time number is the closer read on your own situation.
- Treat SQE2's higher rate as a selection effect, not permission to under-prepare. Everyone sitting SQE2 already passed SQE1. The bar hasn't dropped; the room has just been filtered.
- Track your own station-by-station readiness rather than the cohort average. A published pass rate describes a group of strangers. It doesn't know how your advocacy or your drafting is actually going.
If you want a way to track your own SQE2 prep against the syllabus rather than guessing from cohort figures, a free SQE study planner lets you log coverage and mock performance sitting by sitting, which tells you far more about your own trajectory than any SRA statistic can.
For the fuller picture on both exam parts together, see SQE pass rates explained and SQE1 vs SQE2: which is actually harder. For what a sitting will cost you and when the next ones fall, what the SQE costs and SQE dates for 2026-27 cover the logistics side.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SQE2 pass rate trend since 2021?
The first-time SQE2 pass rate has stayed within a 69 to 84% range across sittings since the exam launched. The two most recent results, April 2025 (82% overall, 84% first-time) and October 2025 (78% overall), both sit inside that established band.
What was the SQE2 pass rate in October 2025?
The overall SQE2 pass rate for the October 2025 sitting was 78%.
What was the SQE2 pass rate in April 2025?
The overall SQE2 pass rate for April 2025 was 82%, with a first-time pass rate of 84%.
Is SQE2 getting harder over time?
The trend doesn't show that. Results have stayed within roughly the same 69 to 84% range across multiple years of sittings, and the two most recent results sit toward the higher end of that band rather than trending downward.
Why is the SQE2 pass rate higher than SQE1's?
Mainly selection. Only candidates who have already passed SQE1 are eligible to sit SQE2, so the cohort is pre-filtered before it reaches the exam hall. SQE2 also tests a different format, practical skills stations rather than multiple-choice recall, which suits some candidates better than others regardless of how "hard" each exam is in the abstract.