How long did you study?

I am often asked how long I took to prepare for SQE 1. Candidates usually expect one definite answer: one month, three months, six months. In practice, time alone does not reflect how someone actually studied.

How long you need will depend on:

• Your existing commitments
• Whether you are working while preparing
• Family or personal responsibilities
• Whether you have prior exposure to law
• How you structure your study time

I did not study full-time. I built consistency gradually and introduced more structure as the exam approached. What made the difference was not how early I started, but when I shifted from passive content review to practising SQE-style multiple-choice decision-making under exam conditions.

Why time can be misleading

When someone says they studied for one month and another person says three, it may sound like a significant difference. However, if you look at the actual hours spent, it may not differ at all.

For example:

• One person studies 6 hours a day for one month
• Another studies 2 hours a day for three months

Both complete a similar number of study hours. The difference is only in pacing.

Hours matter, but only if used well

Two candidates may study for the same number of hours and still make different progress.

Time spent reading passively does not have the same impact as time spent applying the law through questions, testing recall, and practising decision-making under pressure.

This is why asking "How long did you study?" does not always provide useful guidance.

Trust your approach

If someone mentions they have been studying for six months, do not panic. Everyone's circumstances are different. The meaningful comparison is not in how long it took, but in how effectively they used the time they had.

You know your own capacity better than anyone else. Trust your process.