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Practical Grades

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Music Theory

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Update 13 August 2020 – Music Exams

Unfortunately, there is still uncertainty around how and when we can begin to offer face-to-face Practical Grade exams, including Grades 1-8, ARSM and Diplomas. We recognise that the worldwide response to the coronavirus pandemic will continue to disrupt travel and large gatherings of candidates. We are monitoring the situation and doing all we can to get these exams up and running again. However, everything we do must be in line with guidance from both your government and the UK government to ensure the safety of learners, teachers, examiners and staff. 

We’ve now published further information about our remotely-assessed Performance Grades. We will be gradually rolling out Performance Grades internationally, starting before the end of 2020, following their initial launch in the UK. We’ll let you know more about future exam dates as soon as we can.  In the meantime, you can find out more about these exams here.

Performance Grades

We will be gradually rolling out Performance Grades internationally, starting before the end of 2020, following their initial launch in the UK. We’ll let you know more about future exam dates as soon as we can.  You can find out more about these exams here. We are providing further details as and when we are able to, and you can now read the full guidance document, which includes information about how you should record and submit a remotely-assessed Performance Grade once theses exams are available.

Introducing online Music Theory at Grades 1 to 5 – the headlines

What’s changing and at which grades?

We will be moving the assessment of Music Theory at Grades 1 to 5 to an online exam. We are confident that the online format will provide a more learner-friendly experience for candidates. We have been working on these developments for some time, but in response to the Covid-19 pandemic we have accelerated this work.

At the same time, we have updated some of the Grade 1 to 5 questions to bring them in line with a style of assessment commonly used across the education sector. In addition, there are a few minor changes to the syllabus itself. These changes apply to online Music Theory exams from 2020 onwards. Where online exams are not yet available and we are still offering paper-based exams, there will be no changes to questions and the exams will be based on the ‘from 2018’ Music Theory syllabus.

Please see this page for further details, including a useful syllabus summary.

We have recently shared additional resources to help teachers and learners become familiar with the new online exams. These include:

• Example Grade 5 exam questions in the online format
• A step by step guide, taking you through the exam process
• Video demos of how to set up the new exam, and what the new questions will look like

These new materials can be found on this page.

Please be aware that Music Theory exams at Grades 6 to 8 will continue as paper-based assessments for everyone worldwide. There are no changes to the questions or syllabus for these grades. We will offer these exams when we can do this safely and in line with government guidance.

When is it happening?

The first opportunity to take an online Music Theory exam varies across markets. All of the webpages have been updated with the relevant information, so please refer to our website for specific information for each country.

The following markets will have online Music Theory exams for Grades 1 to 5 in November or December:

•  UK, Republic of Ireland, Singapore, India, Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia, Malta

The international roll-out of the new online Music Theory exams for all other markets will take place during 2021, with preparations being made during the rest of 2020. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to ensure paper-based Music Theory exams for Grades 1 to 8 go ahead in all international markets this year where they can do so safely.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work out the best options for the safe delivery of our assessments. We will provide updates on the availability of all our exams and assessments as soon as we can. 

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