On 8/10/26, the SRA published (yet another) consultation, this time in relation to the Statement of Solicitor Competence (SoSC) and the SQE Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK).
The SoSC was first published in 2015 and times have moved on considerably since it was first drafted, particularly in the ethics space. Its purpose is to define the standards of competence the SRA expect of solicitors at the point of qualification and throughout their professional legal career as a practising solicitor. It covers ethics, professionalism and judgement; technical legal practice; working with other people; and managing yourself and your work.
The SRA wishes to make various amendments to generally bring the SoSC up to date but also specifically wishes to add the following, to address:
- the growing importance of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the existing competences of ethics, professionalism and judgement (including maintaining the level of competence and knowledge to be able to practise effectively), technical legal practice (including its use for research and drafting) and supervision (of those using technology and AI).
- the importance of being able to prioritise conflicting ethical obligations and when/ how to raise concerns about ethical issues or unethical behaviour.
- supervision specifically – as a separate section within the ‘Working with other people’ section – aligned with the SRA’s Effective Supervision guidance.
- the importance of solicitors managing their own health and wellbeing and those who they supervise, and the importance of promoting an inclusive and healthy workplace culture – as a separate section within the ‘Managing themselves and their own work’ section.
Whilst the SRA is also reviewing the FLK (which sets out the core legal principles and rules that all SQE candidates must understand and be able to apply) and is proposing various amendments, they have decided not to add any additional practice areas, despite some requests for this.
If you wish to influence the outcome of the consultation, please respond by Thursday 3 December 2026. The link can be found here. Any proposed changes following the consultation are not planned to come into effect until September 2027.