Practise the client interview
you can't rehearse alone.
Instruct puts you in front of a realistic AI client under real time pressure, then scores the session against the SRA's own published Performance Indicators for the SQE2 Client Interview - the same standard you'll be assessed on. Book a session, run the interview, get a structured debrief in minutes.
Most client interview preparation happens alone, with nothing that responds like a real client
Most preparation before the SQE2 Client Interview happens in front of a mirror or a patient friend reading from a made-up brief. It is useful for pacing, but it cannot do the one thing that actually determines whether an interview holds up under assessment conditions: respond like a real client. A friend reading a script will not get anxious about cost, will not need a technical term explained twice, and will not notice when you rush past what's actually worrying them. If you're preparing for a resit, the stakes are different again - you already know what went wrong once; Instruct is built to test whether it's actually fixed.
"Demonstrate client-focus in their approach to the client and the issues - i.e. demonstrate an understanding of the problem from the client's point of view and what the client wants to achieve, not just from a legal perspective."
SRA Performance Indicators for Client SQE2 Interview Assessment - the standard every Instruct debrief is scored againstA friend reading a script is not a client
Real clients are anxious, confused by jargon, and sometimes reluctant to say what's actually bothering them until they're asked the right way. A rehearsed run-through with a friend cannot replicate a client who needs "insured risk" explained twice, or who only raises their real concern halfway through.
Missed cues go unnoticed
Failing to explain a technical term in plain English, or missing the client's real concern beneath the legal issue, is exactly what the SRA's Performance Indicators mark down. Solo practice has no mechanism to catch it - you only find out when an assessor scores you down for it.
Performance goes unmeasured
A mirror cannot tell you that your listening technique held for the first five minutes and slipped the moment the client got anxious, or which of the five SRA dimensions actually needs work. That level of precision requires a different approach.
Formal mock interview days are rare and costly
Real mock client-interview days exist, but they are expensive, infrequent, and oversubscribed relative to the number of candidates who need them before every sitting. Most candidates get one or two before an assessment - if they can get a place at all.
A practice and assessment environment for the SQE2 Client Interview
You book a session and face a realistic AI client who responds in character, under time pressure, exactly as a real client would. The session is scored against the SRA's own published Performance Indicators for Client Interview - five weighted dimensions covering listening, plain-English communication, professional conduct, client-focus, and building trust.
Instruct's clients are not reading from a fixed script. They hold a consistent set of concerns, respond to how you question and explain things, and will stay anxious or confused if you rush past what matters to them - exactly as a real client would. When you use unexplained jargon or miss a real concern, the debrief notices, exactly as a real assessor would.
- Client Interview - the first of several planned SQE2 stations, with two scenarios live today spanning Property Practice and Wills & Intestacy
- Realistic AI client, responsive to your own questioning and explanations
- Fixed 25-minute session clock matching the real SQE2 time limit
- Scored against the SRA's own published Performance Indicators, not a proprietary rubric
- Structured debrief on completion - grade, dimension breakdown, and full transcript, emailed as a record you can keep
Choose your session
Book a session at app.inquera.ai/instruct/buy. Choose practice mode, or assessment mode to match the real SQE2 standard exactly.
Read your brief
Before the session begins, you receive the case papers for the scenario - who the client is and what they've come to discuss. This is the only information you hold when the interview starts.
Run the interview
You take instructions from a realistic AI client for the full 25 minutes - listening, questioning, and explaining the position in plain English, exactly as the real assessment requires.
Get your debrief
Within minutes, you receive a structured debrief: overall grade, a breakdown across the five weighted SRA dimensions, the full transcript, and qualitative feedback on what worked and what to change - emailed as a record you can keep.
Two scenarios live today. Scored against the SRA criteria you'll actually be assessed on.
Client Interview is scored against the SRA's own published Performance Indicators - not a proprietary rubric you have to translate against what you'll actually face.
Commercial Property Fire Damage
You take instructions from a client whose leased commercial premises have been damaged by fire, alongside a separate, pre-existing dispute over a faulty heating system. Scored on the format's own weighted criteria for listening, plain-English explanation, and client-focus.
Estate Without a Will
You take instructions from a client whose father has died without a will, working through a family situation the intestacy rules do not resolve cleanly - a long-term cohabiting partner with no automatic entitlement, and an estranged sibling with a claim of his own. Scored on the same weighted SRA criteria for professional conduct, client-focus, and building trust.
Further SQE2 stations
Two Client Interview scenarios are live today. Further SQE2 oral stations and additional Client Interview scenarios across other practice areas are on our roadmap - get in touch if there's a specific station you'd like to see first.
The Instruct debrief
Every completed Instruct session generates a structured debrief - your overall grade and score on the SRA's own A-F scale, a breakdown across the five weighted Performance Indicator dimensions, the full transcript, and qualitative feedback on what worked and what to change. It's emailed to you as a record you can keep.
The debrief is built for self-review before a resit or your next sitting - a precise account of where your technique held and where it needs work, cited to the moments in your own transcript, not a general impression.
Before your SQE2 sitting or a resit
Run Client Interview the week before your sitting. The debrief shows exactly which SRA dimension needs the most work, cited to specific moments in your own transcript.
A record you can bring to a study partner or mentor
The debrief is yours to keep - a precise, objective account you can bring to a study group, tutor, or mentor, if and when you choose to share it. Nothing is shared automatically.
"Because the fire damage counts as what your lease calls an 'insured risk' - essentially, a risk your landlord has to insure the building against - the cost of repairing it should fall on her insurance, not on you having to pay for it yourself."
Turn 9 - Communication & ExplanationAssessed against the standard you'll actually be examined on
Every Instruct debrief dimension is mapped directly to published SRA standards. There is no proprietary rubric to translate against what you'll actually face.
Every Instruct debrief is scored against the same five dimensions published in the SRA's own Performance Indicators document (reviewed 2 December 2024) - the criteria that actually determine your assessment outcome, not a rubric we've written ourselves.
- Listening & effective questioning
- Communication & explanation suited to the client
- Professional conduct, courtesy, and respect
- Client-focus in approach to the client and the issues
- Establishing an effective relationship to build trust and confidence
Client Interview is one of 16 assessments that make up SQE2, spanning 6 skills and 5 areas of practice. Instruct's format mirrors the real assessment's own structure and timing, not an approximation of it.
- 10 minutes to review the client's papers before the interview
- 25 minutes to conduct the interview itself
- One of 16 total assessments across 5 areas of practice
- Client Interview - one of 6 skills examined across SQE2
Instruct takes SQE2 day pressure seriously
Preparing for the SQE2 Client Interview alone is isolating - there is no colleague to spot what you missed, no tutor to catch a rushed explanation before it costs you marks. Real mock interview days are rare and expensive relative to how many candidates need them before every sitting. Instruct is not a replacement for a real mock, and it is not a guarantee of a pass. It is a private, available-when-you-need-it space to face something that responds like a real client, as many times as you need to before the sitting that matters.
Practise privately
Run a session from anywhere, at any time - no booking a room, no waiting for a mock interview day with a place available.
Under real time pressure
The session runs to the same 25-minute clock you'll face in the real assessment. There is no pause button and no do-over mid-session - exactly the pressure that a mirror or a script-reading friend cannot replicate.
A precise record of where you stand
A completed session does not guarantee a pass. But it gives you something a mirror cannot: a dimension-by-dimension account, cited to your own transcript, of exactly what to work on before you sit the real thing.
Built for the individual candidate
Instruct is a pay-per-session, self-serve tool today - no subscription, no institutional sign-off, no course administration required to book your first session.
"How do I get realistic client interview practice before the assessment?"
Book a Client Interview session against a realistic AI client who responds to your own questioning and explanations, under the same 25-minute clock and SRA criteria you'll be assessed on. No script, no friend reading lines - a client who can catch you out.
"I need to prepare for a reassessment without booking a full mock interview day."
Run the session as many times as you need, in assessment mode, and get a precise dimension-by-dimension debrief after each one. Pay only for the session you book - no waiting list, no minimum commitment.
"Can we book this for a cohort of candidates?"
Instruct today is built for the individual, self-funded candidate. Cohort booking and provider administration are on our roadmap, not available today - get in touch if this is what you need and we'll let you know when it's ready.
Book your first session
Choose practice or assessment mode and start. Pay only for the session you book - no subscription, no institutional sign-off required.