This week was the start of our SQE1 Revision timetable.

Our revision timetable follows our standard seminar timetable in our yearly calendar. Students spend 12 weeks in the lead up to an SQE sitting reading further into the topics and drilling practice questions.

Together we develop methods for answering SQE1 questions.

We work on identifying the principles which will help you identify the best possible answer in an SQE1 question even where you might know immediately know the answer through your revision.

We believe that SQE1 preparation must be more than an online course. This exam isn’t a memory test. It tests your ability to think like a lawyer. This can only really be tested through group learning, not sitting alone at a computer screen.

This is why our emphasis is on seminars and constant feedback.

QWE

Our SQE1 preparation students have also been busy on Qualifying Work Experience. This week, we assisted a client facing a first appearance in a Magistrates Court. We continued to work on a negligence case involving a local authority.

I had catch up meetings with the students that I am supervising – we are slowly building up their competence records to show their compliance with the statement of solicitor competence. This timetable of regular review and practical feedback is an essential part of our QWE offering.

Recruitment

I personally have also been involved in recruiting for our team of tutors and caseworkers.

We only want truly exceptional people on our teaching team. We have been really grateful for everyone who has responded to our recruitment call outs. We will be in touch soon.

Why FLC?

I also had some great calls with prospective students which I wanted to reflect on.

Many students talked about their experience with other providers. They mention quite quickly that (1) their delivery was good (2) the resources were competent, but the experience was lonely and isolated.

I personally cannot imagine spending huge amounts of money on a course which was solely online, with no bespoke assessment and limited contact time.

Maybe that’s just me.

As a new provider we are aware we have to prove ourselves. There are a lot of questionable operators out there offering SQE related courses. At FLC, we can point to the years we put into delivering clinical legal education at Universities across the country. But we are also aware that with a new kind of qualification, students are going to have to be convinced that a provider has credibility.

It’s not necessarily enough that everyone on our team is a qualified lawyer with decades of collective experience. Students want more.

That’s why we have made sample materials available through our website, and why we have arranged our open day for the 24^th of May. We have had an amazing response to the open day so far. If you would like to attend, then book your place by emailing hello@freedomlawclinic.org.

Onwards

So, as we head into late May, I have an excellent feeling about our current crop of SQE students. I think they are going to smash the exam in July and be ready to move to the SQE2 in July.

In the meantime, they are continuing to offer vital pro-bono help to people who need it.

Another busy week at the clinic. Reach out if you want to be part of it!