SQE fees for 2025/26 will increase by 2.3% ‘to reflect inflation, plus a small additional uplift towards the cost of translating the assessments into Welsh’, the SRA confirmed this week. Let’s hope the investment yields a tangible reward. According to the SQE independent reviewer’s annual report for 2024, no one has taken the exam in Welsh so far.

‘From interviews with key staff, there are no training providers that offer full SQE preparation in Welsh. This was fed back directly from prospective SQE candidates as a key contributing factor to why there have been no requests to sit the SQE in Welsh. It is hoped that there may be some demand for Welsh delivery in the near future,’ the independent reviewer said.

The regulator told Obiter that legal services are delivered in both English and Welsh, so it is an important point of principle that the SQE is available for candidates to sit in both languages. Potential candidates have expressed ‘some interest’ in sitting the exam in Welsh. The SRA may not regulate the training market, but would be ‘pleased to see’ SQE teaching in Welsh and has been in discussion with stakeholders.

Surely there’s a student out there who fancies being a trailblazer?

 

Topics