ABRSM EXAMINATIONS
Prep Test
The Prep Test is an ideal introduction to the experience of taking an exam.
Designed to be fun and relaxed, it provides a first assessment for beginners and encourages the building of good musical and technical foundations before students enter for graded exams.
Prep Test encourages the development of good technique and sound musicianship, and includes all the necessary skills beginners will need at this stage, such as sense of pitch and rhythm, controlled and even playing, accuracy and quality of tone, and the basics of musical perception.
Grade Exams
Grade Levels 1-8 are offered for those musicians who wish to study music in a systematic and balanced way.
Firm technical foundations are set through scales and arpeggios, notation skills through sight-reading, listening skills and musical perception through aural training.
Three pieces written in three different musical styles are prepared, challenging the student to explore the musical and technical facets of multiple genres of music.
ABRSM also offer a different route to musical progress through their remotely assessed Performance Grade Examinations. Here, candidates select and perform four pieces or songs, presented as a continuous programme: you choose your pieces/songs, practise your performance and – when you’re ready – record a video of your performance and send it to ABRSM for marking by an examination panel.
Theory Exams
ABRSM Music Theory exams are available for Grades 1–8. Developing musical literacy forms a key part of a rounded education for performers, composers and listeners of all kinds. An understanding of how written symbols relate to the elements of music, and having the skills to interpret and translate them into sounds, empowers us to communicate and experience music in a meaningful way. Music theory is a very practical subject that is completely entwined with performance and composition.
A longstanding ABRSM requirement is that candidates must pass Grade 5 or above in Music Theory (or in Practical Musicianship or any solo Jazz instrument) before they can enter for Grades 6, 7 or 8 Practical exams.
UCAS Points
The United Kingdom Universities’ and Colleges’ Admissions Service (UCAS) include grade music exams (Grades 6-8) within the UCAS tariff system, which is open to any student applying for a course of study in a UK university or other higher education institution.