‘Looming generational crisis,’ study finds
A lack of funding support for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is turning aspiring lawyers away from criminal law, a study has warned.
The research, led by Dr Susan Rockey from the University of Exeter Law School, found that without financial support to cover SQE fees, younger aspiring solicitors are being priced out of one of the profession’s most essential yet least well-paid areas.
The study warns of a “looming generational crisis” in the duty solicitor scheme, which provides people detained at police stations or appearing in magistrates’ courts with access to legal advice and representation regardless of their ability to pay.
But with most duty solicitors now aged 45 and over, the system’s future is at risk as senior lawyers approach retirement and too few trainees and juniors are joining to replace them.
“The current age imbalance threatens the sustainability of criminal defence provision in England and Wales,” Dr Rockey said. “With younger solicitors believing entry into the sector as difficult, due in large part to the financial burden of self-funding the SQE, the profession faces a looming generational crisis. At the same time, demand for police station advice continues to rise, compounding the strain on an already overstretched and ageing workforce.”
Dr Rockey surveyed nearly 200 aspiring solicitors about whether SQE costs act as a barrier to specialising in criminal legal aid. She found a clear link between the level of SQE fee funding and the perceived ease of entering the sector. Full or substantial funding was widely viewed as an enabler, while lack of funding was consistently cited as a barrier, particularly among those with working-class backgrounds.
The study points to the Ministry of Justice’s failure to offer training grants to criminal law firms to support trainee solicitors with SQE fees as a key factor driving the shortage of younger duty solicitors. Without such support, firms have even “fewer tools to attract and recruit the next generation,” Dr Rockey warns.
By contrast, in commercial law, The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2026 shows that most City firms not only cover their future trainees’ SQE fees but also provide maintenance grants of up to £20,000 while they study.
When asked whether full funding of their SQE fees by criminal legal aid firms would make specialisation easier or more difficult, 183 respondents (95%) said it would make it easier. Support remained high for 75% funding (91%), but fell sharply at 25% funding, with almost all respondents saying no funding would make entry harder.
“There is an urgent need for systemic reform,” Dr Rockey said. “The Ministry of Justice must consider committing to fully funding training for aspiring CLA solicitors. Failure to act risks entrenching the current trajectory toward collapse, with serious consequences for access to justice, the rule of law, and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.”
She added that “restoring generational diversity within the duty solicitor workforce is not merely a workforce issue; it is fundamental to safeguarding the future integrity and fairness of the criminal justice system itself.”
The study concludes that duty solicitors form a crucial link between communities and the justice system, but that a “stark demographic imbalance” risks eroding public trust — particularly among younger and more diverse communities who “may feel poorly represented by a workforce that does not reflect their lived experiences.”