The comparison comes as the regulator points to several groups that tend to perform less well on the SQE, including LPC grads taking SQE2 under transitional arrangements, resitting candidates, overseas-qualified lawyers and candidates whose first language is not English. It forms part of a new SRA report, The SQE: Four Years On — Facts and Figures, which looks at almost four years of assessments taken between November 2021 and July 2025. The SRA says that LPC grads — many of whom are asked by their future training firms to complete SQE2 — should, in particular, be aware that the exams are “more demanding” than the LPC. For SQE2, around 30% of variance is explained by a candidate’s SQE1 performance and university ranking. The regulator recognises that White candidates continue to have higher overall pass rates, but reckons ethnicity alone explains only a small proportion of the difference in outcomes.