Free sample questions

Five SQE1 questions, five subjects.

Every question below is written for this page, in the same single best answer format used throughout the course: one stem, five options, one correct answer, and a citation. They are a sample, not an extract from the 3,400+ question bank, which is unlocked with a free account.

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Legal System of England and Wales

Sample question 1

A County Court judge is deciding a claim on which a Court of Appeal decision is directly on point. The judge believes the reasoning is wrong, and notes that the decision conflicts with an earlier House of Lords authority the Court of Appeal did not consider. What should the judge do?

A Depart from the decision by applying the per incuriam exception, since the earlier authority went unconsidered

B Follow the decision, since only the Court of Appeal can use the exceptions that let it depart from its own precedent

C Depart from the decision, since a conflicting House of Lords authority displaces it automatically in any court

D Follow the decision, but only once both parties formally consent to treat the reasoning as correctly decided

E Refer the point directly to the Supreme Court for a ruling before the County Court proceeds any further

The exceptions that let a court depart from an otherwise binding Court of Appeal decision, including per incuriam, belong to the Court of Appeal when reviewing its own past decisions. They are not available to a court lower in the hierarchy, which stays bound regardless of an unconsidered conflicting authority or its own view of the reasoning. That conflict is a ground of appeal, not a basis for a lower court to depart on its own initiative.

Authority: Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718 (the Court of Appeal’s own exceptions to precedent).

Constitutional and Administrative Law

Sample question 2

A licensing authority refuses a taxi licence under a policy that automatically refuses any applicant with any past conviction, regardless of its nature or age, without considering the applicant’s individual circumstances. Which ground of judicial review does this raise?

A Illegality, because a rigid policy applied without exception unlawfully fetters the authority’s discretion

B Irrationality, because no reasonable authority could ever adopt a policy of this general kind

C Procedural impropriety, because the applicant was not given a chance to make oral representations

D Proportionality, because the policy goes further than is necessary to protect public safety

E Legitimate expectation, because the applicant expected the authority to consider each case individually

A public body may adopt a general policy for consistency, but unlawfully fetters its discretion, a form of illegality, if it applies that policy as a rigid rule and refuses to consider whether a case should be treated as an exception. Irrationality concerns a decision so unreasonable that no sensible authority could reach it on its merits, not the mere existence of a policy. Procedural impropriety concerns fairness of process, not the substance of the policy, and proportionality is not treated as a free-standing ground in an ordinary domestic judicial review claim of this kind.

Authority: British Oxygen Co Ltd v Minister of Technology [1971] AC 610 (unlawful fettering of discretion).

Business Law and Practice

Sample question 3

A director causes her company to enter into a supply contract with another business that she personally owns. She mentions the arrangement informally to the finance director over lunch, but the matter is never placed before the board, and the other directors do not turn their minds to it before the contract is signed. Which of the following best describes the position?

A She has complied with her duties, because informally telling one other director satisfies the disclosure requirement

B She has breached her duty to declare an interest in a proposed transaction with the company, since disclosure must be made to the board

C She has breached her duty to avoid a conflict of interest, since this type of arrangement can never be authorised by directors

D She has complied with her duties, because shareholder approval is only required for transactions above a set financial threshold

E She has breached her duty to exercise independent judgment, since she allowed her personal interests to affect her decision

Where a director has an interest in a proposed transaction with the company itself, the duty is to declare its nature and extent to the board before the company enters into it. Telling one director informally, rather than declaring it to the board as a whole, does not satisfy this. This is distinct from the duty to avoid conflicts with the company’s business or opportunities outside a transaction with the company, which instead requires formal authorisation by the other directors, and a financial threshold for shareholder approval is not what makes a declaration under this duty necessary.

Authority: Companies Act 2006, s.177 (duty to declare interest in proposed transaction with the company).

Property Practice

Sample question 4

A buyer completes the purchase of registered freehold land with the help of a mortgage. Completion has taken place and the transfer has been signed, but before the buyer’s solicitor submits the application to register the transfer and the mortgage, a burglar unconnected with either party breaks into the property. Which of the following correctly describes the buyer’s position at the moment of the break-in?

A The buyer already holds the legal estate, because completion itself passes legal title to registered land

B The buyer holds only an equitable interest, since the legal estate does not pass until registration is completed

C The buyer holds no interest at all in the property until the application to register is submitted

D The buyer’s lender, not the buyer, holds the only interest that exists before registration takes place

E The buyer holds a legal interest, but the mortgage itself only becomes equitable pending registration

For registered land, a transfer (and a legal mortgage) takes effect at law only once it is completed by registration. Before that, the buyer holds an equitable interest under the contract and completed transfer, even though completion has already taken place between the parties, and even though an unrelated third party’s act, such as a break-in, does not itself affect who holds which kind of interest during the registration gap.

Authority: Land Registration Act 2002, s.27.

Wills and Administration of Estates

Sample question 5

A testator signs his will in his study without anyone else present. Later the same day, two neighbours come to the house together, and in their joint presence he acknowledges that the signature on the document is his own. Both neighbours then sign as witnesses, each in the presence of the other and of the testator. Is the will validly executed?

A Yes, because the testator acknowledged his existing signature in the joint presence of both witnesses together

B No, because a testator who signs alone can never later validate that signature by simply acknowledging it

C Yes, but only because the witnesses happened to arrive and sign at exactly the same time as each other

D No, because both witnesses must personally watch the testator’s hand as he writes his actual signature

E Yes, provided the neighbours are independent of the testator and have no interest under the will itself

A will is validly executed if the testator either signs it, or acknowledges an existing signature, in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, who then each sign in the testator’s presence. Acknowledging an already-written signature satisfies the requirement just as signing in front of the witnesses would. Witnesses do not need to watch the act of writing itself, only to be present when the testator signs or acknowledges the signature, and a witness who benefits under the will affects only whether that witness can keep their gift, not whether execution itself was valid.

Authority: Wills Act 1837, s.9.

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