Firstly I note the poster is in NZ.
In the UK on a PPL Skill Test the candidate is the PIC for the entire flight, heights to fly are the decision of the PIC not the examiner, who should not give any such direction. The only time the examiner may require the candidate to climb to a specific height/altitude is to complete items of general handling that require a minimum altitude. If the examiner did request a height in controlled airspace the candidate should question it, but if the examiner allowed him to infringe after giving the wrong information the examiner is equally to blame - he is the legal commander of the aircraft. I suspect there is more to it than you claim.
I recently failed a candidate for busting a MATZ not illegal in itself but it was one of three things, the altitude was wrong, the heading was wrong by 60 degrees and the candidate failed to identify the turning point by 10 miles indicating a lack of spacial awareness. Ironically, his overall performance on the Nav section was better than average, he just lost the plot and ran out of luck at the wrong time.
An Examiner should not do anything in a test that he has not briefed before the test!
Last edited by Whopity; 5th July 2010 at 16:14.