The main difference between Performance Award and, so called, normal exams is that a Performance Award has slightly less educational weighting with the governments exam regulators OFQUAL, they are also a recorded only exam. This makes it slightly less work that the traditional ‘Grade’. As such your certificate will state ‘level’ rather than Grade.
The Performance Award is 3 pieces from the equivalent syllabus, without any technical work, Scales, Aural or Sight reading.
The Performance Award lends itself to students who are enjoying playing out of enjoyment rather than for academic achievement, but who still want to achieve a goal in the form of a critique from a professional examiner.
One of the positive aspects of recorded exams is that they can be entered at any time, which takes the pressure off in terms of deadlines. This can give the candidate a lot of freedom to ‘get in the zone’ where they can take a really good recording that will give them the best possible chance of a high mark. We can make as many videos as necessary to give the candidate the best mark possible.
To make the entry we will send an invoice to cover the cost of the exam, and we will need your child’s data of birth and confirmation of the correct spelling of their name, – This is how their name will appear on the certificate and it will cost you later if you need to change it once it has been printed.
Here is a table of this years exam fees:
Mark forms and certificates
Usually the results are issued within two to three weeks of the exam, depending on how busy the exam office is at the time. All candidates receive an Examination Report Form which provides comments for the critique and the marks awarded for each exam element, the total mark and the result category, Unsuccessful, Pass, Merit or Distinction.
Thinking about results
Most candidates pass their exams. This can give a great sense of personal achievement as well as motivation for future learning and music making. When looking at results it helps to remember that success starts at the pass mark and also that exams are just one part of a student’s musical learning and progression.
Once the exam has been submitted
We feel it’s important to celebrate doing the exam, rather than waiting for the results to have a celebration. So what better excuse to treat your child and to celebrate their achievement, they have worked hard and deserve a reward!
May we take this opportunity to wish you lots of luck, we are really proud of all your work and can’t wait to hear all about it!
KInd regards
Claire, Steve, Emily Joanna, Gosia and Tiago