*Pretends to be shocked*The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned aspiring lawyers that the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is “more demanding” than its predecessor, the Legal Practice Course (LPC). 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. 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.