What to Do in the Last 5 Days Before SQE2
The last five days before SQE2 are not the time to learn anything new.
That might sound obvious. But it’s where a lot of candidates go wrong — panic-reading subjects they haven’t touched, cramming outlines cover to cover, trying to fill gaps that realistically aren’t going to close in the time you have left.
Here’s what to do instead.
The rhythm that works
Each day follows the same basic pattern: active recall in the morning, speedy mocks in the afternoon.
It’s not complicated. But it’s deliberate — and that deliberateness is the point. The morning sessions keep your knowledge sharp and retrievable. The afternoon sessions put it into practice quickly. Together, they replicate the core skill the exam demands: knowing the law and being able to apply it.
Don’t flip the order. Active recall first, while your brain is fresh. Speedy mocks second, once you’ve warmed up.
Mornings — active recall
Close everything and retrieve.
Pick a subject, set a timer, write or say out loud everything you can recall — the legal framework, the key rules, the exceptions, the structure of a good answer. Then open your outline and check. What came out cleanly? What was vague? What didn’t come out at all?
The gaps you find are your focus for the next session. Not everything in the outline — just the things that aren’t sitting where they need to be yet.
Rotate through subjects regularly to ensure you cover them all equally. Keep it moving. Keep it active.
Afternoons — speedy mocks
This is not about sitting a full mock under exam conditions — that work should already be done by now.
A speedy mock looks like this: read the instructions, then quickly jot down the key points you’d cover in your answer. The law you’d apply, the structure you’d use, the issues you’d flag. Fast, focused, no frills.
It’s a rapid-fire application exercise — testing whether you can take a scenario and immediately identify what matters. Do several in an afternoon. Keep them short. Keep them honest.
If a speedy mock reveals a gap — something you couldn’t identify or apply cleanly — that feeds straight back into your active recall the next morning. The two sessions work together.
Woven throughout — the details that matter
Alongside the morning and afternoon sessions, use the five days to revisit three things consistently:
Marking criteria. Know what the examiners are looking for in each assessment type. Not in a vague sense — specifically. What gets you the marks? Make sure every speedy mock you produce is being evaluated against that, not just your own sense of whether it felt right.
Answer structures. These should be automatic by now — but run through them anyway. Out loud if possible. For each assessment type, can you produce the structure without thinking? That’s the standard. If there’s one that still feels uncertain, give it extra attention this week.
Drafting templates. Revisit templates. Not to memorise them word for word, but to make sure the format and key components are completely familiar. Under pressure, a solid template is a lifeline.
The day before your first assessment
Keep it light. A short morning active recall session is fine — a brain dump or two, a few structures out loud. Nothing more.
Sort your logistics. Know where you’re going, how long it takes, what you need to bring. Prepare everything the night before so the morning is calm.
Your mental energy on exam eve is better spent resting than revising. You’ve done the work.
The morning of
Familiar routine. Eat something. Move if that helps you.
A brief glance at key structures is fine if it settles you — but brief. Don’t open everything in a last-minute panic. It won’t help and it will spike your anxiety right before you need to be at your sharpest.
Trust what you’ve built. Go in.
inhousew’s SQE2 outlines are designed as active recall tools — structured exactly for the kind of morning sessions described above. Pair them with the mock packages for speedy mock practice throughout your prep. Find everything at inhousew.com.