top of page
logo
Study Materials

Failed SQE1? Don’t Panic - I Did Too. Here’s What I Changed

Alex Ferra
Sep 12
7 min read

Updated: Sep 15


You opened your SQE1 results and saw the word you had been hoping not to see:

Fail.

I know how that feels because I failed SQE1 too.

After all the hours spent studying, the notes, the revision and the sacrifices you made to prepare, it is difficult not to take that result personally.

You start questioning everything.

Did I not study enough?Am I simply not good at exams?Maybe I’m not cut out for this?What if I fail again?

But failing SQE1 doesn't necessarily mean you aren't capable of passing it.

In my case, I realised something important:

I didn't just need to study more. I needed to study differently.

And that changed the way I approached my next attempt.


FLK2 Practice Questions: https://amzn.eu/d/00OWkndb

Review notes available here: https://amzn.eu/d/0hefvrir and https://amzn.eu/d/0i7SAMPf

SQE1 MCQ Strategy: https://amzn.eu/d/04jafgSK


My First Mistake: I Thought More Studying Meant Better Studying

When preparing for SQE1, it is very easy to measure your progress by how much material you have covered.

Another chapter finished.

Another set of notes completed.

Another evening spent reading.

It feels productive because you're putting in the hours.

But there is a problem.

SQE1 doesn't test how many pages you've read. It tests whether you can retrieve the right information and apply it to a scenario when several answers may look plausible.

I realised that I had spent too much of my preparation taking in information and not enough time forcing my brain to retrieve and apply it.

So when I prepared again, I changed the balance.

I Stopped Relying So Much on Passive Reading

Reading has its place. You obviously need to understand the law before you can apply it.

But repeatedly reading the same material can create a dangerous feeling of familiarity.

You look at a rule and think:

"Yes, I know this."

Then you close the book and try to explain it from memory.

Suddenly, it's much harder.

That was one of the biggest changes I made.

Instead of constantly asking:

"Have I read this?"

I started asking:

"Can I remember this without looking?"

After studying a topic, I would close my notes and test myself.

What is the rule?

What are the exceptions?

What is the deadline?

Who has the burden?

What happens if one fact in the scenario changes?

If I couldn't answer, I hadn't learned it properly yet.

I Started Using Active Recall

This became a much bigger part of my preparation.

Instead of simply rereading a topic, I tried to retrieve the information before looking at the answer.

Sometimes I wrote down everything I could remember about a subject.

Sometimes I turned headings into questions.

Sometimes I explained a concept to myself without looking at my notes.

The method itself wasn't particularly complicated.

The important part was that my brain had to do the work.

Reading gives you the information.

Active recall asks you to find it again.

And that is much closer to what you need to do in an exam.

I Did More Practice Questions — But I Changed How I Used Them

Practice questions became much more important in my second approach.

But simply answering hundreds of questions isn't enough either.

The real learning often happens after you answer the question.

Every time I got something wrong, I wanted to know why.

Was it because I didn't know the legal rule?

Had I forgotten an exception?

Did I misread an important fact?

Did I fall for a plausible distractor?

Did I change an answer I originally had right?

Was I rushing?

This turned mistakes into information.

Instead of seeing a wrong answer as another little failure, I started treating it as a diagnosis:

This is something I need to fix before the real exam.

Getting a question wrong during revision is far better than discovering that weakness on exam day.

I Created a Mistake Log

One of the most useful changes was keeping track of the questions and concepts I repeatedly got wrong.

You don't necessarily need anything complicated.

For each mistake, record:

Topic → What I got wrong → Correct rule → Why I got confused

After a while, patterns begin to appear.

Maybe you aren't struggling with Business Law generally.

Maybe you're repeatedly confusing specific company procedures.

Maybe Dispute Resolution isn't your problem.

Perhaps limitation periods or costs are.

That distinction matters.

"I'm bad at this subject" is difficult to fix.

"I keep confusing these two rules" is fixable.

Your weaknesses need names.

I Stopped Trying to Make Perfect Notes

This was another important lesson for me.

Beautiful, comprehensive notes can make you feel organised, but there comes a point when creating more notes becomes another form of procrastination.

SQE1 covers a huge amount of material.

You cannot keep rewriting everything indefinitely.

My notes needed to help me revise, not become another textbook.

So I focused more on concise information:

  • key rules;

  • exceptions;

  • deadlines;

  • tests;

  • procedures;

  • distinctions that were easy to confuse; and

  • points I repeatedly got wrong.

The question became:

"What will I actually need when I come back to revise this?"

not:

"How can I include everything?"

I Started Revisiting Topics Instead of Studying Them Once

Another mistake is believing that because you understood something in October, you will automatically remember it in January.

You probably won't.

There is simply too much information.

So instead of treating subjects as completed:

Business Law ✓ Done

I started thinking of revision as a cycle.

Learn → test → revisit → test again.

A topic wasn't finished simply because I had read it once.

I needed to come back to it.

The subjects I found difficult came back more frequently. Topics I remembered well required less attention.

That made my revision more targeted.

I Stopped Giving Every Topic Equal Time

This was another important change.

When you create a timetable, it is tempting to divide your hours neatly between subjects.

But your brain doesn't care about your perfectly symmetrical timetable.

If you consistently score well on one topic and poorly on another, why give them exactly the same revision time?

My weaker areas needed more attention.

That meant allowing my study plan to change according to my performance.

Your revision plan should respond to your results.

If practice questions reveal a weakness, the timetable should change.

I Practised Mixed Questions

When you study one topic and immediately answer questions on that topic, your brain already knows what area of law it needs to search.

The real assessment isn't always that convenient.

So as my preparation progressed, I started mixing subjects and topics.

Now I had to identify the issue before I could answer it.

That added another layer to the practice.

It also helped me move away from memorising isolated rules and towards recognising which rule a scenario was actually testing.

I Started Practising Under Time Pressure

At the beginning, accuracy mattered more than speed.

But eventually I needed both.

So I gradually introduced timed practice.

This helped me learn when I was spending too long debating between two answers and when I needed to make a decision and move on.

It also helped build concentration.

SQE1 isn't just a knowledge test. It requires you to maintain your judgement across a long assessment.

That needs practice too.

Most Importantly, I Stopped Treating My First Result as Proof of My Ability

Failing an important exam can quickly become personal.

I failed becomes:

I'm a failure.

Those are completely different statements.

The first describes the result of one assessment.

The second turns that result into an identity.

My first SQE1 attempt gave me something I didn't have before: evidence.

It showed me that my original preparation method wasn't producing the result I needed.

So instead of simply repeating the same preparation and hoping for a different outcome, I changed the method.

That is the lesson I would give anyone preparing for a resit.

If You Failed SQE1, Don't Immediately Start Studying Again

Before opening your books, analyse your previous attempt.

Ask yourself honestly:

What worked?

What didn't?

Which subjects were weakest?

Was I actively testing myself or mostly reading?

Did I complete enough practice questions?

Did I analyse my mistakes?

Did I revisit material regularly?

Did I practise under timed conditions?

Was my study timetable realistic?

Then build your new strategy around those answers.

Because if your first approach didn't work, your goal shouldn't simply be:

Study harder.

It should be:

Study differently.

A Simple SQE1 Resit Strategy

If I were starting again after receiving an unsuccessful result, I would structure my preparation around four things:

1. Learn

Make sure you genuinely understand the underlying law.

2. Retrieve

Regularly close your notes and force yourself to recall the information.

3. Apply

Complete plenty of single best answer questions and learn to apply the law to factual scenarios.

4. Review

Track your mistakes, revisit weak areas and keep testing them until they improve.

Then repeat the cycle.

Learn → Retrieve → Apply → Review → Repeat.

Your revision becomes an active process rather than months of consuming information.

Failing SQE1 Doesn't Mean Your Journey Is Over

If you've just received an unsuccessful result, you may not want to hear motivational clichés.

So I won't give you one.

Instead, I'll tell you what helped me:

Use the result.

Use it to identify what needs to change.

Your first attempt has given you information about the exam, about your knowledge and about the way you study.

That means you aren't starting again from zero.

You're starting again with experience.

I failed SQE1.

Then I changed the way I studied.

And if you're preparing for a resit now, perhaps the most useful question isn't:

"How can I study more this time?"

It is:

"What am I going to do differently?"

That question can change your entire preparation.

Preparing for Your SQE1 Resit?

At SQE Exam Mastery, I create SQE revision resources based around something I learned through my own preparation: having more information isn't always the solution.

What matters is being able to organise it, revise it, retrieve it and apply it.

If you're preparing to sit SQE1 again, use your previous result as the starting point for your new study plan.

Identify your weak areas. Build a structured revision schedule. Practise consistently. Keep track of your mistakes.

And this time, don't just repeat the preparation you did before.

Change the method.

Comments

bottom of page