SQE results day reactions are taking over TikTok — and it’s emotional chaos

‘POV: you just opened your SQE1 results and…’

Earlier this week, aspiring solicitors across the country received their results for the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). But this year, checking results wasn’t the only thing on their minds—many chose to record the moment and share it on social media!

In true 2025 fashion, the exam day drama has spilled over onto TikTok, with videos showing the highs, lows and unfiltered stress of SQE1 results day racking up thousands of views.

Some TikTokers nervously filmed their screens, visibly shaking as they opened their results. Others screamed, cried or collapsed in relief when the word “PASS” (or not) appeared.

Watch on TikTok

One student nervously checks her screen for the results, before breaking down in tears of joy after passing.

Another recorded the moment they found out they didn’t pass, letting her followers know that “it wasn’t meant to be this time – remember that’s okay!”.

Watch on TikTok

This TikTok trend follows a growing culture of law students sharing their SQE journeys online — from prep course reviews to “day in the life” vlogs and brutally honest debriefs. But the results day clips might just be the rawest content yet.

Watch on TikTok

Legal Cheek has previously reported on the chaos that can follow when results go wrong — including a rounding error last year which led to some students being wrongly told they’d failed, with firms even pulling training contracts as a result.

And the SQE isn’t exactly getting cheaper. As reported this week, exam fees are set to rise again in September 2025. SQE1 will go up to £1,934 and SQE2 to £2,974, taking the total cost to nearly £5k — just for the assessments. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says the price hike is to cover inflation and translating the exams into Welsh.

So while TikTok might be the place to laugh (or cry) through SQE1 results day, it’s also a reminder that qualifying as a solicitor can be an expensive — and emotional — rollercoaster.