Train your own, grow your firm: the business case for the SQE in SME law firms
Henna Zafar, business development manager at BARBRI, draws on the experiences of SME law firms already running SQE programmes, including Frettens and Wilsons, to show what a well-run programme can do for growth, recruitment and culture — and how smaller firms can get started with confidence
For many of the SME law firms we work with, this autumn is the first time they will support trainees through the SQE. The concerns we hear are consistent — firms don’t feel they know enough about the SQE, most don’t have a learning and development team and partners are already stretched.
Those concerns are well founded. Recruitment at NQ and junior associate level remains competitive and costly and time for training has to be found alongside client work. The firms making a success of the SQE come in all sizes. What they share is a handful of sound early decisions and the right support around them.
Frettens, a full-service firm with offices in Christchurch, Ringwood and Wimborne in Dorset, is one of them. Four years after launching its graduate scheme with BARBRI, it expects to add a dozen lawyers by the end of its current strategic cycle, now attracting nearly 100 applicants a year and ranking among the top five law firms to work for in the Best Companies ratings. Its experience shows how an SQE programme can shape and positively impact a whole firm, as well as its trainees.
Treat the SQE as part of your growth strategy
For Frettens, the trigger was competing with larger regional firms for junior lawyers. “Hiring at NQ up to associate level is very competitive and very expensive,” says Lewis Barr, partner and head of marketing and commercial at Frettens. “We decided that if we wanted to achieve what we wanted over the next five to ten years, we would need to grow our own solicitors.”
The partners costed the scheme in full and found the financial investment, while significant for a firm of their size, was modest next to other projects. What won the argument was how closely it fitted the firm’s plans. Frettens had grown by offering people a clear path to associate and partner and filling senior roles with external hires would have blocked those routes. Training its own solicitors kept them open.
You don’t need to be an SQE expert
Most firms start with limited SQE knowledge, and that is where a training partner earns its place. “When something is so new and you’re trying to figure it out on your own, it can be quite difficult, but the support from BARBRI has been excellent,” explains Olivia Gilbert, HR and operations manager at Frettens.
Frettens has a dedicated BARBRI account manager, a service agreement that has made the practical side far simpler and quarterly reviews that show its training principals how each candidate is progressing.
Much of what firms worry about is simpler than it looks. Confirming qualifying work experience (QWE) is closer to confirming employment than acting as an examiner: a solicitor or the firm’s compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) verifies the period worked, that it offered the chance to develop solicitor competencies and that they know of no character or suitability concerns. The exams test competence, and BARBRI briefs supervisors on what sign-off involves.
Wilsons began preparing for the SQE when Jo Holmes joined as head of people in March 2023. As candidates increasingly moved from the LPC to the new route, the firm adapted its established trainee recruitment programme.
“SQE was completely new to everybody, so there were naturally some unknowns,” notes Holmes. “We decided to embrace it and find out as much as we could.” BARBRI helped the team understand the qualification pathways, pass rates and practical implications for recruitment and trainee support. “Having that expertise available when we need it has probably been the biggest support.”
Use the flexibility the SQE gives smaller firms
The old route meant an Legal Practice Course (LPC) costing typically £12,000 to £17,000, followed by a fixed two-year training contract, usually across four seats. The SQE gives smaller firms far more flexibility. SRA exam fees total £5,092 for bookings from October 2026 and can be spread across two financial years, and QWE can be built around your resourcing needs, before, during or after the exams and across up to four employers. Firms can start with a single trainee and develop people they already employ.
Frettens’ first SQE candidates came from its own support team. Its graduate scheme now starts with a year as a graduate legal assistant, followed by two funded years as a trainee solicitor sitting SQE1 and SQE2. Karen Edwards, partner and head of corporate and commercial, and one of the firm’s training principals, highlights that the graduate year gives both sides certainty before the firm commits to funding. “It’s a two-way street. They get to see whether this is the firm for them, and we get to see how they are in practice. When it comes to funding the SQE, we know what we’re investing in.”
Wilsons retained its established assessment day and two-year recruitment cycle while adapting the programme for the SQE. Its previous intake included one LPC candidate and three SQE candidates; all seven trainees in its latest intake are following the SQE route. Three initially joined as fixed-term paralegals while awaiting their SQE2 results, showing why firms need to map exam sittings and results against recruitment dates and employment arrangements.
Support small cohorts properly
When a firm trains one or two people at a time, each trainee represents a significant investment and losing one means lost time, the cost of rehiring and starting the training again. Barr’s advice is to give SQE candidates genuine trainee experience: “Don’t just put people into a paralegal role, expect them to pass the exams and come out the other end ready to practise. Give them proper support and the right level of client interaction. When they qualify they’re a fantastic asset, but only if you do it right.”
The biggest practical risk is workload. Studying on top of a full caseload raises the chance of delays and resits, so plan ring-fenced study time and lighter workloads around mocks and exam windows. Frettens gives its trainees ten extra days’ paid study leave a year, alongside regular check-ins with training principals, six-monthly career progression meetings and an in-house academy which offers interactive sessions on areas such as covering client care, communication and business development. BARBRI’s progress reporting means the firm knows early if anyone needs extra help.
Wilsons supports candidates from the point of offer with a guide to common SQE questions and direct access to BARBRI. Quarterly catch-ups and the progress dashboard help the firm identify where timely encouragement or additional support could benefit a candidate. “It gives us a useful steer on how people are progressing and whether there is any support we might need to offer,” says Holmes.
Look for the return beyond qualification
The benefits now reach well beyond the exams. Much of Frettens’ growth has come at the junior end, and 16 people are working through its academy. Recruiting a dozen NQs in a market alongside larger regional firms would, in Lewis’ words, be “very difficult, to say the least”.
Recruitment and retention have strengthened too. Five years ago, a training contract advert drew six applications; this year’s scheme drew nearly 100. Karen says the six-monthly career progression meetings open to everyone in the firm have done a great deal for engagement.
The biggest change may be cultural. “It’s had quite a profound impact on the business,” says Lewis. “It’s aligned the mindset of a lot of the partners.” Lawyers below partner level stepped forward to run the training, supervisors have had leadership and management training and the firm is building the pipeline of future associates and partners it set out to create.
Those returns take time. Frettens started while many firms were still waiting for certainty about the new route, and every year a firm waits it pushes back the point at which its junior talent can take on more work.
Choose a partner built for firms your size
The right training partner makes each step easier. Wilsons’ experience shows that firms should consider the whole journey, not only the preparation course and exams. Results dates, the SRA admission process and the timing of practising certificates can all affect contracts, job titles and qualification announcements.
When comparing providers, look for:
- Published pass rates tied to course completion — in the July 2025 SQE1 sitting, 80% of BARBRI candidates from law firms who completed their course passed, against an industry pass rate of 56%
- Study plans built for people working full time, with support at the points trainees struggle
- Realistic, timed mock exams, with one-to-one coaching and feedback trainees can act on
- Progress reporting for the firm and a dedicated account manager, whether you’re training one person or twenty
- Competitive pricing, with transparency on what’s included and what happens if a trainee needs to resit
BARBRI supports SME firms from a single trainee upwards, with SQE prep, one-to-one coaching, live progress reporting and dedicated account management. To talk through what your first cohort could look like, book a call with Henna or email henna.zafar@barbri.com.
