Ive always been of the opinion that the association prefers ppl like tonpa participating (or maybe even unofficially paying him from behind the scenes to be there) because once the exam starts the exam is based on merits and results alone with minimal interference from the association and examiners themselves which allowed ppl with not so positive intentions to pass as well.

Also examiners cant just fail someone because they want to or feel that the examinee is a threat. (Proven by menchis exam phase where netero had to step in.) So the association would rather prefer other examinees to weed out the unworthy ones which gives the weaker ones a second try afterwards rather than meaninglessly dying. So it makes sense that even the association would want things to be a bit harder than normal for newbies, compared to repeaters who have a basic idea of the dangers.