SURVIVING THE BOARDS: PRACTICAL TIPS FROM A CANDIDATE ATTORNEY

A guide to the August 2026 board exams

The board exams are set for 5 and 6 August 2026, and with them comes the familiar mix of pressure, preparation, and not nearly enough hours in the day. Having written boards myself, I wanted to share some of what I've learned — what worked, what didn't, and what I'd do differently. This follows on from the pieces I wrote last year on lessons learned as a candidate attorney, but this time the focus is squarely on exam strategy.

Here's a paper-by-paper breakdown.

Paper 1: Court Procedure

Court Procedure spans the High Court, Magistrates' Court, criminal procedure, civil procedure, and the RAF. The volume of material is substantial.

I used my IPCE notes alongside material from a company called Critical Law Studies, and that combination served me well. But the most valuable thing I discovered had nothing to do with the content of my notes — it was realising how much I was over-complicating my answers.

When I started working through past papers and comparing my responses to the model answers, the gap was clear. I was writing at a level of detail the examiners simply weren't looking for. The effect of that isn't just wasted time — it can obscure the point you're actually trying to make.

The common advice is not to bother with past papers because the questions don't repeat. That's true — they don't. But the structure, the style, and the type of reasoning the examiners expect are remarkably consistent from one sitting to the next. Past papers won't tell you what to answer, but they'll teach you how to answer, and for many candidates that's the more important lesson.

Paper 2: Wills and Estates

If there's one recommendation I'd make above all others, it's to attend the Van Eck classes. He runs roughly eight evening sessions in the lead-up to the board exams, and for Estates in particular, they're invaluable.

The reason Estates catches people off guard is that they approach it as a theory paper. It isn't. The paper is overwhelmingly practical — the Liquidation and Distribution account makes up the bulk of your marks. If you understand where every item goes and you get the majority of that question right, you've effectively passed.

There is theory to cover as well, and it shouldn't be neglected. But here is something every candidate needs to hear: there is never enough time in this paper. That's not a reflection of poor preparation — it's a known reality of the Estates exam.

What I found in practice was that I was spending so much time on the L&D account that I eventually had to stop halfway through, move on to the smaller questions, and then come back to finish what I could. If it brings any peace of mind — I did not balance my L&D account. I wasn't able to complete every section within it. But I put down every heading I could, included as much information as possible, and picked up marks wherever they were available. There are simple, free marks built into the L&D account that you should never leave on the table: include your executor's certificate at the end, and draft the opening heading before you even begin the body of the account. These take moments and they carry marks. I still passed.

Van Eck's classes are purpose-built for exactly this kind of preparation — he walks you through the L&D account methodically over those eight evenings, and it's structured around evening sessions, which recognises the reality that most candidates are working full days beforehand.

Paper 3: Ethics

Ethics has a reputation as the most difficult paper, and it's not hard to see why. The scope is vast — the examiners can ask you anything from drafting an acknowledgement of debt to drafting a will, and everything in between.

What I found, though, was that the answers they expected were far simpler than I'd anticipated. I had prepared for complexity and instead needed clarity. If your firm has given you exposure to a broad range of work across different practice areas, you may find that your practical knowledge and professional common sense carry you further than you'd expect.

My advice is to work through the Ethics past papers — not to memorise them, but to understand how the questions are framed and what a strong answer looks like. With only a month to go, learning every corner of this paper by heart isn't realistic for most candidates. A broad understanding across the full scope of the material will serve you better than deep mastery of a few isolated sections. Read through it, understand it, and trust that your practical experience has given you more than you think.

Paper 4: Bookkeeping

Van Eck also offers bookkeeping classes, typically a week or two before the exams and held in the evenings, similar to the Estates sessions. They're well worth attending if you can.

The same strategy applies here. There's one substantial question — typically a conveyancing question — and it carries significant weight. If you haven't had exposure to conveyancing work at your firm, this can feel intimidating at first. But it's not unlike mathematics in that respect: the difficulty is concentrated at the front end. Once you understand the fundamentals and build from there, the logic becomes intuitive. It's getting over that initial learning curve that matters most — after that, the pieces fall into place. Start with the big question, secure those marks, and then work through the smaller theory questions.

As with Estates, time is not on your side. I didn't balance my accounts in Bookkeeping either, and I still passed — because the majority of the marks sit within the work itself, not in the final balancing figure. If you've captured the substance, you're in a far stronger position than you might think.

One honest note: if you're sitting here reading this and you don't yet understand the difference between a credit and a debit, you need to start putting in extra time for this paper now. Bookkeeping is not a paper you can wing on general knowledge. The fundamentals take time to learn, and everything else builds on them. Start early, and treat it seriously.

The small marks matter

This applies to both Estates and Bookkeeping: headings and sub-headings carry marks. Half a mark here, one mark there — over the course of a paper, it adds up meaningfully. In the big questions, include as much detail and structure as you can.

And if it's any reassurance — even if your accounts don't balance at the end, you can still pass. If you've worked through the entire L&D account or conveyancing question, captured every figure and included every heading, but those final two balancing entries won't cooperate, that's perhaps two marks. Meanwhile, you've collected everything else. That outcome is far better than getting stuck on balancing figures and never reaching the rest of the paper.

Finding the time to study — and protecting it

I want to be direct about this, because I think honesty is more useful than vague encouragement: finding the time to study for boards while working full-time as a candidate is genuinely difficult.

I learned this the hard way. During one of my past writing sessions, I spent part of my study leave catching up on work — reasoning that if I cleared my desk now, I'd have uninterrupted study time later. The opposite happened. I kept working, and by the time I stopped, I had three full days left before the exam. That's a mistake I won't repeat, and I'd urge you not to make it either.

What I'd recommend instead:

Start early in the day. If you don't have Van Eck classes on a given evening, consider getting to the office early to study before work, then again after hours. Use your weekends deliberately.

Build a study schedule, particularly if you're writing more than one paper. Without one, I found myself drifting through a single paper's notes at a leisurely pace with no urgency to move on. A schedule forces you to allocate time across all your papers and actually stick to it.

If you can, and you're in the position to be able to say no, then say no. If you're on study leave and get asked to assist with something, consider honestly whether there is someone else who can handle it. If there is, protect your study time. I appreciate that as a candidate this isn't always straightforward, but your boards are directly tied to your professional future, and that has to come first.

Speak to your senior early. If your workload is already climbing and you're feeling the pressure a month or two before boards, raise it then — not the week before. Explore whether tasks can be delegated or redistributed in advance, so you don't find yourself buried in work at the worst possible time.

Planning your leave

Take as many days as your firm is able to give you. If you're writing all four papers, I'd suggest a minimum of leave from the Wednesday of the week before the exams — enough to do a thorough final pass without resorting to midnight cramming.

Where the rules allow, I'd recommend writing two papers per sitting. It lets you concentrate more effectively and give each paper the attention it requires. The rules have shifted and some candidates may now need to sit three at a time, but if you have the option, two-and-two is the stronger approach.

A final word

If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: if you don't have time to study everything in depth, make sure you've at least been through everything once.

A broad understanding of the full High Court section is worth more than a perfect recollection of the first few pages and nothing beyond them. A complete pass through the material at a reasonable depth will always outperform a partial deep-dive that leaves gaps. This is especially true for Procedure — get through all of it, even if it means moving faster than you'd like.

The boards are a significant milestone, but they're not insurmountable. With the right preparation, a realistic schedule, and the discipline to protect your study time, they are entirely within reach.

Good luck to every candidate sitting in August. You've got this.