SQE1 FLK2: Complete Guide to Functioning Legal Knowledge 2

Introduction

FLK2 is the second Functioning Legal Knowledge assessment in SQE1, typically sat the day after FLK1. Like FLK1, it consists of 180 single best answer multiple-choice questions sat over approximately five hours and twenty minutes in two sessions.

FLK2 covers seven subject areas that span property, private client, criminal law, and professional ethics. Many candidates find FLK2 more challenging than FLK1 because it includes subjects — such as land law, trusts, and solicitors accounts — that are technically demanding and require precise application of detailed rules.

This guide covers each of the seven FLK2 subject areas, explaining what is tested, how to approach your study, and where candidates commonly struggle.

The Seven FLK2 Subject Areas

1. Property Practice

Property Practice is one of the most heavily tested areas in FLK2. It covers the practical aspects of buying, selling, and leasing property, both residential and commercial.

Key topics include:

• The conveyancing process: Pre-contract stage (searches, enquiries, survey), exchange of contracts, pre-completion stage (requisitions, completion statement), completion, and post-completion (registration, SDLT)
• Freehold transactions: The Standard Conditions of Sale and Standard Commercial Property Conditions, title investigation, and the buyer's and seller's obligations
• Leasehold transactions: Granting leases, assignment of leases, landlord's consent, and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (security of tenure for business tenants)
• Co-ownership: Joint tenancies and tenancies in common, the four unities, severance, and the effect of co-ownership on sale
• Registered and unregistered land: The Land Registration Act 2002, first registration triggers, overriding interests, and the unregistered land system
• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT): Thresholds, rates, and filing requirements
• Planning: The requirement for planning permission, enforcement, and the role of local planning authorities

Study approach: Property Practice requires you to understand the conveyancing process as a whole and be able to advise at each stage. Practise with scenarios that ask you to identify the next step, the correct search, or the appropriate contractual provision. Focus on the differences between freehold and leasehold transactions, the requirements for registration, and the rules on SDLT. Many questions will test your ability to read a scenario and apply the Standard Conditions of Sale.

2. Wills and the Administration of Estates

This subject covers the law of succession, including the creation and validity of wills, the intestacy rules, and the administration of estates.

Key topics include:

• Validity of wills: The requirements under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 — the testator must be 18 or over, the will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or at the testator's direction in their presence), and witnessed by two witnesses who must each attest and sign the will in the presence of the testator
• Testamentary capacity: The test from Banks v Goodfellow (1870) — the testator must understand the nature of the act, the extent of their property, the claims to which they ought to give effect, and must not be affected by any disorder of the mind
• Revocation of wills: By a later will or codicil, by destruction, and by marriage or civil partnership (section 18 of the Wills Act 1837)
• The effect of divorce: Section 18A of the Wills Act 1837 — gifts to former spouses lapse on divorce
• Intestacy: The intestacy rules under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (as amended), including the statutory legacy, the surviving spouse's entitlement, and the rules where there is no surviving spouse
• Personal representatives: Executors and administrators, their appointment, duties, and powers
• The administration process: Obtaining the grant of probate or letters of administration, collecting assets, paying debts, and distributing the estate
• Inheritance tax: The nil-rate band, the residence nil-rate band, the transferable nil-rate band, exempt transfers, and potentially exempt transfers

Study approach: Wills questions often present a factual scenario and ask you to determine who inherits, whether a will is valid, or how the estate should be administered. You must know the intestacy rules precisely, including the current statutory legacy figure and the order of distribution. Be comfortable with the requirements for a valid will and the circumstances in which a will can be challenged. Inheritance tax calculations appear regularly, so practise computing the IHT liability for different estate scenarios.

3. Solicitors Accounts

Solicitors Accounts tests your knowledge of the SRA Accounts Rules and the principles of accounting as they apply to solicitors' practices. Many candidates find this subject technically demanding.

Key topics include:

• The SRA Accounts Rules: The obligation to keep client money separate from office money, the duty to account to clients, and the requirements for client account reconciliations
• Client money and office money: The distinction between client money and office money, mixed receipts, and the rules on when money must be paid into or withdrawn from the client account
• Double-entry bookkeeping: Recording transactions in the client ledger and office ledger, cash account entries, and the treatment of bills and payments
• Interest on client money: When a solicitor must account for interest and how it is calculated
• Breaches of the Accounts Rules: Common compliance failures and their consequences
• Financial statements: Profit and loss accounts and balance sheets for a solicitors' firm

Study approach: Solicitors Accounts is a subject that rewards practice. The rules are precise, and mistakes in double-entry bookkeeping entries are easy to make under time pressure. Work through as many practice scenarios as possible, recording the correct entries for each transaction. Make sure you understand the fundamental principle: client money must be kept separate from office money at all times, and any shortfall on the client account must be replaced immediately. Practise identifying whether a receipt is client money or office money, as this is the basis for many questions.

4. Land Law

Land Law covers the substantive law of real property in England and Wales. It overlaps with Property Practice but focuses on the legal principles rather than the conveyancing process.

Key topics include:

• Estates in land: The freehold estate (fee simple absolute in possession) and the leasehold estate (term of years absolute)
• Interests in land: Easements, restrictive covenants, mortgages, and estate contracts
• The Land Registration Act 2002: Registrable dispositions, the register of title, priority of interests, and the concept of overriding interests under Schedules 1 and 3
• Trusts of land: The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA), the powers and duties of trustees, and the rights of beneficiaries
• Co-ownership: The imposition of a trust of land where there is co-ownership, the distinction between legal and beneficial ownership, and the resolution of disputes under section 14 of TOLATA
• Mortgages: The creation of legal and equitable mortgages, the mortgagee's remedies (possession, sale, receiver, foreclosure), and the equity of redemption
• Easements: Acquisition by express grant, implied grant (Wheeldon v Burrows, section 62 of the LPA 1925), prescription, and the characteristics from Re Ellenborough Park [1956]
• Covenants: The distinction between positive and restrictive covenants, the rules on passing the benefit and burden of covenants (at law and in equity), and the doctrine in Tulk v Moxhay (1848)

Study approach: Land law is conceptually demanding and requires precise knowledge of the statutory framework. Focus on understanding the difference between legal and equitable interests and the consequences for third-party purchasers. Be able to work through the priority rules under the Land Registration Act 2002, particularly in relation to overriding interests. For easements and covenants, know the requirements for creation, the rules for enforcement against successors in title, and the available remedies. Practise with scenario-based questions that test whether an interest is binding on a purchaser.

5. Trusts

Trusts law covers the creation, operation, and breach of trusts in England and Wales.

Key topics include:

• Express trusts: The three certainties (certainty of intention, subject matter, and objects) from Knight v Knight (1840), and the requirement of constitution (transfer of legal title or declaration of self as trustee)
• Resulting trusts: Automatic resulting trusts (failure of an express trust) and presumed resulting trusts (voluntary transfers and purchase in the name of another)
• Constructive trusts: Common intention constructive trusts in the family home (Lloyds Bank v Rosset [1991], Stack v Dowden [2007], Jones v Kernott [2011]), institutional and remedial constructive trusts
• The duties and powers of trustees: The duty of care under the Trustee Act 2000, investment powers, the power of delegation, the power of maintenance and advancement
• Breach of trust: Personal and proprietary remedies, the measure of liability, defences (consent, exemption clauses, section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925), and tracing
• Charitable trusts: The Charities Act 2011, the definition of charitable purposes, the requirement of public benefit, and the cy-pres doctrine
• Private purpose trusts: The general prohibition and the recognised exceptions (trusts for the maintenance of graves, animals, and the saying of masses)

Study approach: Trusts questions frequently test the three certainties, the creation of constructive trusts in the family home, and breach of trust. For the three certainties, practise identifying whether each certainty is satisfied on given facts — questions often hinge on whether words are sufficiently certain to create a trust. For constructive trusts, know the distinction between the approach in Stack v Dowden (joint names cases) and Lloyds Bank v Rosset (sole name cases). For breach of trust, be comfortable with the calculation of liability and the operation of tracing rules.

6. Criminal Law and Practice

Criminal Law and Practice covers substantive criminal offences, defences, and criminal procedure.

Key topics include:

• Offences against the person: Assault, battery, actual bodily harm (section 47 OAPA 1861), grievous bodily harm (sections 18 and 20 OAPA 1861), and the distinction between the mens rea requirements for each offence
• Homicide: Murder, voluntary manslaughter (loss of control and diminished responsibility under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009), involuntary manslaughter (unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter)
• Property offences: Theft (Theft Act 1968), robbery, burglary, fraud (Fraud Act 2006), and criminal damage
• Inchoate offences: Attempt, conspiracy, and encouraging or assisting crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007
• General defences: Self-defence, intoxication (voluntary and involuntary), duress, insanity, and automatism
• Criminal procedure: The role of the magistrates' court and the Crown Court, classification of offences (summary, either way, indictable only), the plea before venue and mode of trial procedure, bail, and sentencing
• Evidence: Burden and standard of proof, competence and compellability of witnesses, hearsay, and bad character evidence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003
• Police powers: PACE 1984 powers of stop and search, arrest, detention, and interview

Study approach: Criminal law questions require you to identify the correct offence and apply the actus reus and mens rea elements to the facts. Practise distinguishing between offences that share similar facts — for example, the difference between section 18 and section 20 GBH lies in the mens rea (specific intent to cause GBH for section 18, versus intention or recklessness as to some harm for section 20). For criminal procedure, know which offences are tried where, the bail regime, and the basic sentencing framework. For police powers, be comfortable with the PACE codes and the requirements for lawful arrest and detention.

7. Ethics and Professional Conduct

Ethics and Professional Conduct permeates the entire SQE1 assessment. Questions on ethics may appear as standalone questions or may be woven into scenarios from any other subject area.

Key topics include:

• The SRA Principles: The seven overarching principles that apply to all those regulated by the SRA, including acting in a way that upholds the rule of law, acting with integrity, and acting in the best interests of each client
• The SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors: Duties regarding competence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, client money, and undertakings
• The SRA Code of Conduct for Firms: Duties of law firms in relation to governance, compliance, and systems
• Conflicts of interest: The duty to avoid own-interest conflicts and client conflicts, the exceptions that permit acting with informed written consent, and the "substantially common interest" and "competing for the same objective" exceptions
• Confidentiality and disclosure: The duty of confidentiality, the circumstances in which disclosure is permitted or required, and the duty of disclosure to the client
• Undertakings: What constitutes an undertaking, the obligation to fulfil it, and the consequences of breach
• Money laundering: Obligations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, reporting suspicious activity, and the offence of tipping off

Study approach: Ethics questions can appear anywhere in the exam, so study this subject early and keep it in mind throughout your preparation. Focus on being able to identify conflicts of interest in complex scenarios, understanding when confidentiality can be overridden, and recognising when an undertaking has been given. Many ethics questions present a scenario where a solicitor faces a dilemma, and you must identify the correct course of action under the SRA standards. Know the SRA Principles and the key provisions of both Codes of Conduct.

How to Prepare for FLK2

Address the Technical Subjects Early

Solicitors Accounts, Land Law, and Trusts are technically demanding and require significant practice time. Do not leave them until the end of your preparation. Start early and build your understanding progressively.

Connect Property Practice and Land Law

These two subjects overlap considerably. Property Practice tests the conveyancing process, while Land Law tests the underlying legal principles. Studying them in parallel — or at least being conscious of the connections — will reinforce your understanding of both.

Practise Extensively

As with FLK1, there is no substitute for question practice. Research across seven meta-analyses and 48,000+ learners confirms that practice testing produces dramatically better retention than passive study. Complete hundreds of practice questions for each FLK2 subject and review every incorrect answer thoroughly.

Manage Your Energy

FLK2 is sat the day after FLK1. After a gruelling five-hour exam, you need to recover overnight and perform at a high level again the next morning. Do not spend the evening after FLK1 looking up answers or cramming. Rest, eat well, and get a good night's sleep.

Focus on Application

FLK2 questions, like all SQE1 questions, test your ability to apply the law to scenarios. Knowing the rules is necessary but not sufficient — you must be able to use them to advise a hypothetical client. Practise reading scenarios carefully, identifying the relevant legal issue, applying the correct rule, and selecting the best answer from five options.

Start Preparing for FLK2

FLK2 is a demanding assessment that tests some of the most technical areas of English law. With thorough preparation, consistent practice, and a structured approach, you can pass with confidence.

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