The Solicitors Regulation Authority has unveiled a pot of cash to support aspiring lawyers from disadvantaged backgrounds sit the Solicitors Qualifying Examination. The SQE Access and Reinvestment Fund currently totals £360,000 - all penalty cash incurred by SQE assessment provider Kaplan since the exam was introduced three years ago.

Organisations with a ‘track record’ of supporting aspiring solicitors can apply for funding to cover the SQE entry fees of candidates they have selected to support. The fund should cover SQE1 fees for 190 candidates. The SRA will not be involved in choosing the candidates.

Today’s announcement says the £360,000 was ‘generated by payments from Kaplan, the SQE provider, in line with contractual arrangements linked to its performance’.

Julie Swan, the SRA’s director of education and training, told a media briefing ahead of the announcement that the fund comprised payments built up gradually from Kaplan in response to contractual arrangements. Swan explained that ‘when things do not go to plan’, payments are made as a penalty. Examples include disruption at test centres and candidates sitting their exam late.

SRA chief executive Paul Philip said the SQE contract is structured so that operational delivery is incentivised. If Kaplan collects more money than anticipated, this cash will also go into the fund. The current £360,000 is money ‘built up purely from financial penalties’.

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Applicants must demonstrate how their schemes support committed, self-funding aspiring solicitors who face significant barriers to qualify as a solicitor, such as a disability, a background in a cared-for setting, or family estrangement.

Candidates currently have to pay £1,888 to sit the SQE1 exam. However, the SRA today confirmed that the fee will increase by 2.3%, to £1,934, to reflect inflation plus a small uplift towards the cost of translating the exams into Welsh. The SQE2 exam will rise from £2,902 to £2,974.

The Law Society welcomed the fund but hopes the deadline for applications is extended. Applications must be submitted by 30 April.

Society president Richard Atkinson said: 'The funding is open to applications for organisations who are running a scheme assisting aspiring solicitors. As our Diversity Access Scheme supports disadvantaged aspiring solicitors, we will review the scheme criteria and details of the funding over the coming weeks.'