Candidates in the Trust Account Supervisor (“TAS”) course sit two examinations; administration and supervision. In the past, candidates who failed some questions in those exams were able to resit similar questions in the failed areas, supervised by a lawyer of at least 5 years PQE and not a family/whānau member. This meant that there was flexibility for the lawyer in terms of when and where they could resit the exams, subject to the availability of their supervisor. However, it also had the effect that poorly prepared candidates could progress their qualification by a reductive ‘whittling down’ of the failed questions. There was also evidence of poor supervision of candidates in lawyer-supervised resits. The handling of client money is a paramount duty and the reputation of the profession is at risk if lawyers achieve a qualification without attaining the appropriate level of competence.

With these weaknesses and concerns in mind, the Law Society Board recently approved some changes to the current approach. Those changes are summarised:

• Removing the current ability for candidates to complete multiple resits on only the questions failed and replacing it with the following restrictions: i) only one resit is permissible on the failed exam/s before the course must be repeated and ii) the resit is on the full exam failed;
• Amending the conditions required for resit examinations so that candidates cannot be supervised by an external party and instead must attend resit sessions to be supervised by the Law Society or Law Society approved staff.

While there may be an inconvenience to unsuccessful candidates in that some delays and travel costs will be incurred, this will only apply to a relatively small number of candidates. Currently both re-examination and completing the course for a second time incur a cost for the practitioner – this has not changed.

These changes take effect from 1 July 2023.

Post 1 July 2023 the marking approach for TAS examinations will be:

• Candidates who pass all questions in both examinations will pass the examinations.
• Candidates who fail one question in either or both exam/s will pass the course but be advised of the error/s made.
• Candidates who fail two or more questions in either or both exam/s will not pass the course and will have to apply to resit the entire exam/s at a nominated resit venue and specified date.
• Candidates who fail the re-examination will not pass the course and will be required to re-complete the course prior to sitting the exam again.

It is intended that dates and venues of resits will be announced well in advance and will be advised to TAS candidates. The venues are likely to be Law Society branch offices in the metropolitan centres ie Auckland (twice), Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch and around 6 – 8 weeks after the completion of the original course. The 2023 dates of the TAS assessment days are:

Auckland 1 – Tuesday 28 March (current policy applies)

Hamilton – Tuesday 18 July (first assessment day under the amendments)

Wellington – Wednesday 20 September

Auckland 2 – Tuesday 17 October

Christchurch – Tuesday 7 November 

The tables below may assist: