NCA Exams Preparation Strategy

Since I have been approached by a number of fellow NCA candidates regarding appropriate preparation strategy for the NCA examinations, I thought I should write an article explaining my own understanding of groundwork required to clear the exams (considering that it is not feasible for me to answer each person individually). Before proceeding please understand that preparation methods/materials mentioned in the subsequent paragraphs are according to my subjective view of the examinations and the sole purpose is to provide the reader with just an idea about how to go about preparing for the exams. Every individual should study keeping in mind his/her own capabilities.

First of all, it is important to note that the NCA examinations are completely open book with no limit on the amount of paper-based study material that one can take into the examination hall. What this means is that you don’t need to memorize lengthy legal doctrines and tests. But that doesn’t mean that the exams are a piece of cake and one can simply find answers in the examination hall without any kind of preparation. NCA exams test you, among other things, on your ability to identify the relevant legal issues, recognize the applicable rules of law, and apply those rules to the facts of a particular situation. So, while one might not need to memorize the legal concepts, one should be able to quickly locate them in the study material and apply them on issues presented in the examination.

Secondly, in my opinion, there isn’t any particular need to take coaching for the NCA exams. The syllabus given on the NCA website is pretty clear and detailed and has been prepared in a way that is conducive to self-study. Frankly, while preparing for the exams, I never felt like I needed extra assistance to understand the material.

Thirdly, I would suggest that one should read the entire “required reading material” given in the syllabus at least once. The syllabus of subjects like Canadian Constitutional Law and Canadian Criminal Law contain a number of judgments. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If the textbooks mentioned in the syllabus seem like a hefty investment, one may pay particular attention to “analysis of law” parts of the judgments. They explain the relevant law corresponding to the topic under which they’re mentioned. If you’re planning on not buying the textbooks, reading the judgments in detail would clear a lot of concepts. The majority of case law and legislative resources needed are available free of cost on CanLII, www.canlii.org. But if you plan on buying textbooks, in my opinion, there is no particular need to read the entire judgments. You may just read the short summary given at the beginning of judgments. It is prudent to not skip the dissenting parts of judgments. Also, one should not skip various legal articles and commentaries given in the syllabus (particularly the ones mentioned in the Foundations of Canadian Law syllabus). Please note that I read everything in the required materials including the textbooks. So if you’re thinking of cutting corners, do it at your own peril.

Fourthly, one should arrange complete notes for each subject as soon as possible. There is no particular need of preparing your own notes. You can buy them online from websites such as NCA-tutor.com (I used them and found them pretty good). If you find them to be somewhat expensive, there are other individuals selling the notes prepared by them at competitive prices online. Also, don’t forget the principle of caveat emptor while buying notes from unknown people. Before making any payment for the notes, it would be sensible to request the vendor to give a preview of the notes and index/table of contents of the notes to see if it matches with the current NCA syllabus for the subject. If the notes are not in accordance with the latest version of the syllabus of the subject, they might be redundant.

Finally, another piece of study-material that I used during the exams, was pro forma answers prepared by “battlaw resources”. Please note that the specific topics covered in the said resources/study material may or may not be useful in the exams. But I found them particularly helpful in understanding how to answer the questions asked in the examinations. They also contain a specific section with 1-2 line description of relevant judgments which can be used as it is in your answers. Their website also contains a link to the notes prepared by students of various Canadian Universities if one feels like referring to those. 

To conclude, it is imperative to understand that just because some person relied only on the notes and cleared the exams, doesn’t mean everyone would. It is always good to be fully prepared when you appear for exams. That being said, the questions asked in the examinations never seemed beyond my preparation (except may be Foundations of Canadian Law but that is the story for another day). There is no need to be intimidated by the sheer volume of syllabus, it is doable. You just need to get more than half the entire exam right to get through. So, download the latest version of the syllabus from the NCA website and get on with it.

All the best!