How Many SQE2 Mocks Should You Do? (The Honest Answer)

If you’re preparing for SQE2 and you’ve Googled “how many mocks should I do,” you’ve probably found either a suspiciously specific number or nothing useful at all. Here’s what I’d actually recommend — based on my own experience sitting SQE2 as part of the very first cohort, and from working with thousands of candidates since. My recommendations Start mock practice early — no later than week 4. If you’re earlier than week 4 of your revision, build mocks in from the start rather than waiting until you “feel ready.” If you’re already past week 4, start now. There’s no benefit to delaying further — every week without timed practice is a week the application skill isn’t being built. Aim for at least 2 mocks per assessment type, per subject — 48 in total. That’s a deliberately specific number, and it’s there for a reason. It gives you enough repetition across every FLK subject and assessment type to genuinely build the skill, rather than getting lucky on a handful of questions and assuming you’re ready. Practise under timed conditions. Always. The pressure of a strict time limit is part of what SQE2 tests — and the only way to get comfortable with it is to practise under it repeatedly, not occasionally. For orals — practise out loud, every time. Client interview: practise with a partner where possible, running through the scenario as if it were the real thing. Advocacy: practise out loud — in front of a mirror, or self-recorded so you can watch it back. Reading through a scenario in your head is not the same skill as performing it live, and the orals demand the latter. Review every mock — properly. This is the part most candidates skip, and it’s the part that actually builds improvement. Don’t just do a mock and move on. Go through your answer against the marking criteria. What did you cover well? What did you miss? Where was your structure off, and where did you lose time? I kept a running document I called “rules to remember” throughout my own prep — every time a mock revealed a legal point I’d missed or got wrong, it went straight on the list. By the end, it was a genuinely useful revision tool: a live record of exactly what I needed to go back over, built entirely from my own mistakes rather than a generic outline. I’d recommend doing the same. Why the number matters less than the review The instinct to count mocks makes sense. You want to know whether you’re doing enough. But the number on its own doesn’t tell you that. Ten mocks without proper review is less valuable than five mocks where you go through the model answer carefully, understand exactly where you lost marks, and take one clear learning into the next session. Before you ask “how many,” ask: am I getting the most out of the ones I’m doing? What most candidates underestimate The time per mock is longer than people expect when you include the debrief. A timed mock question might take 45 minutes. A proper debrief — going through the model answer, comparing it against the marking criteria, noting the pattern — takes another 20 to 30 minutes on top of that. That’s over an hour of focused work per question. It’s not light. But it’s the kind of work that actually moves your score. Candidates who skip or rush the debrief often plateau even when they’re doing mocks consistently. The volume isn’t the problem. The missing feedback loop is. Should you cover every assessment type equally? Not necessarily. Know which areas you’re weakest on and weight your practice accordingly. Your strongest areas need maintenance, not rescue. Your weakest ones need more time and more thorough review. If you’re a resitter, you have specific results data on which stations gave you the most trouble. Start there — but don’t let your stronger subjects go cold in the process. Quality versus quantity — the honest version 48 mocks, properly debriefed, will do more for your score than twice that number rushed through without review. The goal isn’t to log the highest possible number. It’s to build the application skill — the ability to take facts you’ve never seen, identify the issues, and write a structured response in the time available. That skill comes from timed practice with feedback. Volume helps. But the review is what converts it into a pass. If you want to practise with questions that come with model answers — inhousew’s mock bank is available here.