Blaire Masters passed the notarial practice exam on her first attempt.
About Blaire
"I completed my LLB at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College, between 2018 and 2021, graduating in May 2022. Unable to secure a practical vocational training (PVT) contract immediately after university, I decided to commence my LLM in Maritime Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2022, completing and passing my course work with only my dissertation still to complete.
In January 2023, I was fortunate enough to secure articles with ENS and was admitted as an attorney in August 2025. I worked as a Trainee Associate at ENS until February 2026 and have since been out of practice. My legal background at ENS consisted of insolvency, dispute resolution, general litigation, and maritime law."
On enrolling at the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law
"I decided the best notarial course for me was the self-study option, receiving the course material and recordings. This provided a more flexible study approach and allowed me to study at my own pace.
I started studying in June 2026 and gave myself three months to prepare. The course assisted by providing comprehensive instructions in terms of how to file the notes and how they would be referred to and used during the course. The course was well structured in terms of dealing with each section by going through the theory, drafting the notarial documents, and working through examples. A holistic approach to each section was provided before moving on to the next section."
Blaire's notarial exam tips
- "Giving yourself enough time to prepare is crucial to avoid cramming close to the exam, which will not be effective considering the amount of content expected to be covered as set out in the syllabus.
- Studying the theory of each section in detail is essential to the foundation of understanding any questions that may arise, for example, being able to list the various documents that are to be lodged in the Deeds Office for specific notarial deeds, procedures to be followed, or explaining certain concepts in detail.
- Learning the structure and contents of every notarial deed in detail is key. Spotting certain notarial documents to draft runs the risk of not knowing how to draft even the simplest of documents that could come up in the exam.
- Aspects like party and property descriptions, Master's Office references, company descriptions, as well as formatting requirements in your drafting, should be memorised to ensure those marks are secured.
- Practicing past papers can and should be used to test your time management and understanding of questions, but should not be used as a way of spotting.
- Practice drafting the actual notarial documents by putting pen to paper, as merely studying them could also run the risk of blanking."
"Seeing the pass rate can be quite daunting, but remind yourself that preparation, practice, and good time management are key. Studying and memorising rejection errors (errors resulting in the Deeds Office rejecting a document, and often include formatting and party descriptions errors) would assist in losing fewer marks. As indicated to us during the course, these rejection errors take 50% off a question, so securing these marks becomes crucial and could very well be one of the many reasons for the low pass rate."
On facing challenges
"Being unemployed as a young professional who has also recently been admitted has many challenges; one being the assumption of lack of experience or competence based on years in practice. Splitting my time between searching and applying for vacancies while studying brought constant inner conflict that one task was taking up more time than the other.
I had to remind myself often that securing a job and furthering my legal background and expertise are both of equal importance and that becoming a notary in itself makes any practitioner, not just myself, more employable."
What's next?
"As I placed my LLM in Maritime Law on hold to complete my PVT, I intend to complete my degree and graduate in the near future.
After completing the Course in notarial practice, it has now become a goal to complete the conveyancing course through the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law and become a conveyancer."
Last updated on 19 October 2026.