Best Newsletters For SQE Candidates

Best newsletters for SQE candidates is a question I sometimes get asked, usually by someone who has just realised how much of legal practice sits outside the textbook. The honest answer is that most of them will not help you pass. That does not make them a waste of time. It means you should know what each one is actually for.

I have grouped these four ways. The first one matters regardless of where you are. The rest depend on your stage.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 T𝗵𝗶𝘀 O𝗻𝗲

SRA updates. The only source here that touches the SQE directly. Assessment changes, pass rate reporting, and policy decisions come from the regulator first and reach everyone else later. It is not written to be enjoyable and it does not need to be.

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 F𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗤𝗘 C𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

SQE Brief. Commentary published on LinkedIn for people currently sitting the exam. Elliot is a friend also runs SQE prep courses. Worth reading either way if you want to stay close to what other candidates are working through.

SQE Journey. Mine, so weigh it accordingly. Weekly breakdowns of SQE topics with a commercial angle.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 C𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 a𝗻𝗱 T𝗵𝗲 M𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁

Legal Cheek. Coverage of firm hiring, training contracts, and how the profession is responding to the SQE. The fastest way to understand the market you are trying to enter.

The Lawyer Portal. Scheme deadlines, firm sponsorship changes, and application guidance. Practical rather than editorial, which is exactly what you want when a deadline is approaching.

All About Law. Covers similar ground at a slightly earlier stage. Worth subscribing to if you are still weighing up routes into the profession.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 A𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

This is where candidates tend to be weakest, and it shows up in interviews rather than exams.

Little Law. Commercial and business stories written with students in mind. The gentlest starting point if the FT feels like hard work.

Watson's Daily. Daily business and finance news, framed for people applying into law and finance. Short enough to build a genuine habit around.

Financial Times. Nothing else offers the same depth, and interviewers can tell when you read it. The cost is real, so treat it as a decision rather than a default.

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 Y𝗼𝘂 A𝗿𝗲 P𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗟𝗞 𝟭

Firm briefings. Freshfields, Slaughter and May and Travers Smith (and many others) all publish client facing analysis of legal and regulatory change. These are written well above SQE level, which is the point. They show you how legal advice actually reaches a paying client.

Inside Inhoco. The newsletter for lawyers who want to be in-house, or go further once they're there.

Not A Newsletter

10 books to read for aspiring solicitors

𝗔 N𝗼𝘁𝗲 O𝗻 P𝗿𝗲𝗽 P𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

BARBRI (BARBRI Bites), The University of Law, BPP and others all publish newsletters, and some of their research on candidate performance is genuinely useful. They are also selling courses. Read them for the data.

𝗔 W𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Reading feels like studying. It is not. FLK 1 and FLK 2 reward drilling questions and spaced repetition, and nothing on this list will move your score.

Pick one or two, know what each is for, and leave it there. If you are subscribed to all while sitting FLK 1, that is procrastination with good taste.

What Others Would You Add?

Are there newsletters you read that are worth sharing please share.

Quick Note

If you just sat SQE 1, take a moment to recognise what you just did. Months of FLK 1 and FLK 2, hundreds of practice questions, and a lot of early mornings and late nights, all funnelled into two long days at a test centre. Whatever happens with results, getting yourself to that desk and through those papers is a real achievement. The waiting is its own kind of hard, so try not to spend it re-sitting the exam in your head. Rest properly. See the people you put on hold. Results will come when they come, and there is nothing left to revise now. You have earned the breather, so take it.