SRA Continuing Competence 2025: Why everyday should be a school day for law firms

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has published its 2025 annual assessment of continuing competence, building on insights from the 2024 report. 

This latest assessment signals a shift from guidance and encouragement to a more proactive and enforcement-focused approach, with important implications for solicitors, COLPs, and law firm managers.

In this article, we outline what has changed, what actions the SRA is taking, and what firms should be doing now to remain compliant.

From reflection to action

In 2024, the SRA emphasised the importance of reflection and encouraged solicitors to take ownership of their professional development and to engage meaningfully with their learning needs. The key areas of focus in 2024 included family law and landlord and tenant work, where client complaints were on the rise.

Now, in 2025, that focus has deepened and expanded – this year’s approach reflects a clear shift in priorities.

There is now a greater emphasis on ethics and professionalism, with reflection expected to cover ethical duties and broader professional obligations, not just technical legal knowledge. The regulator has also moved from just offering advice to taking enforcement action, with solicitors who failed to meet the updated declaration standards in 2024 facing practising certificate restrictions or mandatory remediation.

In addition, emerging risk areas such as criminal and civil law have come under closer scrutiny, driven by a rise in competence-related complaints that has prompted a new wave of training record reviews and thematic inspections. Alongside these measures, the SRA has significantly strengthened its communication and outreach efforts, launching targeted education campaigns for high-risk sectors and reporting a 158% increase in engagement with its online competence resources.

Key learnings from the 2025 report

The SRA’s findings highlight several themes:

• Reflection remains patchy, with many solicitors still approaching it as a box-ticking exercise, with limited attention to ethical and regulatory competence.
• Sector-specific challenges, with complaints relating to criminal and civil practice rising sharply, demonstrating a need for focused professional development in these areas.
• Enforcement is effective – firms and individuals who ignored updated declarations or failed to engage meaningfully with competence requirements have been subject to restrictions and supervision.
• Awareness is growing but uneven – the SRA put in place digital communication enhancements after its 2024 report, resulting  in increased website visits and engagement metrics, but some solicitors and firms are still unaware of the SRA’s guidance and warning notices, suggesting a continued reliance on COLPs for awareness rather than proactive education.
• COLPs will be in the spotlight next- the SRA confirmed that they have completed a thematic review to explore how compliance officers for legal practice (COLPs) approach their roles and responsibilities. Their findings will be published within the next 12 months and we await the outcome with interest.

Actions the SRA is taking

The regulator has set out clear steps for the year ahead:

• A heads-up to criminal and civil law firms who should expect targeted reviews, inspections and proactive scrutiny, with findings due to be published in late 2026.
• The SRA are looking to bolster training rules and will consult on making reflective practice and ethics training more formalised, potentially introducing new regulatory requirements.
• The SRA will further enhance their guidance and communications with more practical tools and clearer resources being rolled out to support firms.
• Continued enforcement – non-compliance will lead to interventions ranging from mandated remediation plans to restrictions on practising rights.

What law firms can do to support their solicitors

The 2025 update raises the bar for firms of all sizes. Key implications include:

• Quality over quantity in reflection – firms must support solicitors in reflecting on the full scope of their practice, including ethics, professionalism, and client care, not just legal updates.
• Preparation for regulatory scrutiny – firms in criminal and civil practice areas should proactively review competence records and ensure learning frameworks are up to date.
• Improve their systems and records – managing comprehensive records of training, supervision, and learning activities will be critical to demonstrate compliance during reviews or inspections.
• Internal communication and training – staff should be reminded of their obligations and given easy access to relevant SRA guidance, notices, and resources.
• Strategic compliance planning – firms should anticipate future regulatory tightening and integrate competence planning into their overall compliance strategy.

Next steps for compliance leads

• Review and update training policies and competence frameworks.
• Conduct an internal audit of competence records, especially for high-risk practice areas – and act on your findings.
• Schedule structured reflection and ethics-focused learning sessions.
• Keep an eye on the upcoming SRA consultation and prepare to respond.

 

How Enderley Consulting can help

We work with law firms to improve their practice management. We can help you simplify compliance, enhance your internal communications, and develop practical frameworks for continuing competence.  This can include drafting policies and templates right through to training staff on reflection and ethics, to help your practice stay ahead of the regulatory curve.

Get in touch today to discuss how we can support your firm.