The Statement of Solicitor Competence Is Being Rewritten

On 8 October 2026, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) opened a consultation on proposed changes to the Statement of Solicitor Competence (SoSC) and the Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) that underpins the SQE. The consultation will run until 3 December 2026, and the changes, if confirmed, would take effect from September 2027.

The Statement of Solicitor Competence has not been substantially revised since it was first published in 2015. It defines what solicitors are expected to be able to do, at qualification and throughout their career, and it is the framework the SRA uses for its continuing competence requirements. The proposed changes follow feedback from more than 140 professionals across law firms, training providers, educational institutions, and representative bodies. This also sits alongside the SRA’s separate consultation earlier this year on strengthening the continuing competence requirements themselves, which proposed written records of learning, annual ethics discussions, and a new power to mandate specific development. Taken together, the SRA is reworking both what solicitor competence means and how solicitors are required to demonstrate they maintain it.

There are four areas included in the proposed updates, and each one connects directly to issues we have covered over the past few months:

Technology and AI

The SRA proposes to embed references to technology and AI throughout the existing competence framework rather than creating a standalone technology section. The changes would appear in three places: ethics and professional judgement (maintaining competence in light of developments in technology, including AI), technical legal practice (undertaking research and drafting documents, addressing concerns about AI hallucinations, and supervision (responsibility for overseeing the use of technology and AI by others).

This is in line with the SRA’s warning notice on the misuse of AI published in August, which made it clear that solicitors remain personally accountable for every output, however it was produced. Read our earlier guide, ‘More Firms Referred to the SRA Over AI-Generated Authorities’. The competence consultation takes that a step further: understanding and managing technology is being written into the definition of what it means to be a competent solicitor.

The Law Gazette has suggested the changes were also influenced by the Post Office Horizon scandal, where uncritical reliance on a technology system led to catastrophic outcomes. Whether or not that was a direct driver, the SRA’s stance is clear: legal professionals it supervises will be expected to understand the implications of the tools they use, not simply use them.

Professional Conduct and Ethics

Ethics is already the first element of the SoSC; the SRA wants to add further rules to strengthen it. Under the proposed changes, there will be a new set of competence expectations around prioritising ethical obligations when they conflict with each other, and understanding when and how to raise concerns about unethical behaviour. The scope is also being widened beyond the SRA’s own conduct rules to include other regulatory bodies a solicitor may be subject to.

For firms and legal practitioners, this reinforces something we have seen in recent enforcement activity: the SRA increasingly expects solicitors to exercise professional judgement rather than simply following tick-box procedures. A solicitor who follows the process but misses the ethical problem is not demonstrating competence.

Supervision

The consultation proposes a new, separate section on supervision competences. Until now, supervision skills have been embedded in a general section on working relationships. The change reflects the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Mazur, which highlighted the importance of effective supervision where work is delegated, and the SRA’s own Effective Supervision guidance. We also covered it in a previous article, ‘SRA Updates Supervision Guidance Following Mazur’.

The new competences would cover leading by example in promoting professional integrity, overseeing the use of technology and AI by those being supervised, and recognising and responding to health and wellbeing concerns in supervised staff.

For COLPs and managing partners, this is a shift worth noting. Supervision is moving from a background expectation to a defined competence that the SRA will assess and, if necessary, enforce against.

Health and Wellbeing

The consultation includes a set of new competences covering awareness of personal health and wellbeing, recognising when to seek support, and creating and promoting an inclusive and healthy workplace culture. This aligns with the SRA’s existing wellbeing guidance and reflects strong feedback from the focus groups that this should be formally recognised within the competence framework.

What Firms Should Be Aware Of

The SoSC is not just an academic framework for the SQE. It is the document the SRA points to when assessing whether a solicitor is meeting the continuing competence requirements. When those expectations evolve, the regulator is expecting every practicing solicitor to meet those new competence levels.

From September 2027, if the proposals proceed, solicitors will be assessed against a competence framework that explicitly includes technology and AI understanding, a new level of ethical judgement in conflicting situations, supervision as a distinct competence, and awareness of health and wellbeing. Training programmes, appraisals, and continuing competence records that do not reflect these areas will be out of step with these new regulatory requirements.

The consultation closes on 3 December 2026, and the SRA plans to publish its response along with the final versions of the SoSC and FLK in April 2027. Firms that want to contribute to the consultation can respond through the SRA’s online questionnaire.

How Our Compliance Specialists Can Help Your Firm

At the Regulation and Compliance Office (RACO), we work with law firms to review and strengthen their compliance structure, including how continuing competence is managed across the practice.

Firms already on our assisted compliance services will be contacted by our compliance teams with any required amendments to your policies, if or when any new rules come into force.  

For our members and non-members, if you need support preparing for the changes ahead or if you have concerns about your current compliance framework, contact a member of our team, and we will be happy to help.

We also offer various Training solutions. Whether you seek training on a 1-2-1 or group basis, online or in person at your chosen location, RACO has a range of training courses and mentoring programs to suit any legal practice. We can also design bespoke courses tailored to your firm’s needs. We have provided training to firms of all sizes, and our clients range from sole practitioners and CLC practices to multi-service firms with overseas offices.

Our approach is practical and proportionate. We help firms identify whether their current supervision arrangements are suitable, whether they are properly documented, and whether they would stand up to regulatory scrutiny.

Speak to Our Compliance Specialists

If you have any questions about how these proposals may impact your firm, or would like to review your current supervision arrangements, please get in touch with the team. Please call us on 0203 985 8550, complete the online enquiry form, or email us at info@regulationandcomplianceoffice.co.uk 

Read other related articles:

• SRA Proposals on Strengthening Continuing Competence Requirements
• More Firms Referred to the SRA Over AI-Generated Authorities
• SRA Warning Notice on the Misuse of AI – What Every Firm Must Do
• SRA Highlights Cyber Crime and AI in Latest Risk Assessment
• SRA Updates Supervision Guidance Following Mazur