Sitting exams is a lovely aspect of music education, there are so many areas of personal development that improve from taking an exam, it can really boost your confidence, technique, repertoire and experience. When the time comes It’s a bit of a complicated process, so please allow me to explain.
We now offer two ways you can sit your exam, in this article we are focusing on recorded Exams. (please see here …..for face to face exam).
To make the entry we will need; Your child’s data of birth and a copy of photo ID (it can be passport, zip card etc).
The first difference between Recorded Exams and Live Exam is that there is slightly less weighting in terms of academic certification, as such your certificate will state ‘Step 1 (Recorded)’, or ‘Grade 1(Recorded)’. The pieces are the same however the discussion and technical work is reduced. The reduction is, that there are no aural or sight reading elements or discussion with the examiner. However for Grade 1 and above there are 4 standard questions that create a Music Awareness element that will make up for the reduction in the other areas of syllabus.
Another difference between recorded and virtual exams is that the Recorded Exam can be entered at any time, unlike the live exam which has 3 exam periods a year.
We make all the videos in our lessons, during your normal lesson time with your teacher. Alternatively we can do it in zoom for those of you who have virtual lessons. The benefit of this is that you will not have to attend an appointment missing time off school or work.
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 exam entry we will send an invoice, and request the full name and DOB of the person entering the exam.
Here is a table of this years exam fees:
Here is some really helpful information about the exam, what is expected on the day, how long it will last, and how best to support your child if they feel nervous.
It’s natural to feel nervous!
Some candidates will feel nervous before or during their recordings. This is totally normal, many performers feel this way. We find it helps to remember an old proverb:
“It’s not about the absence of fear it's about become the master of fear”
Setting up
As mentioned earlier, we can make all the recordings inside your usual lessons, there is very little expectations on your here. Virtual lesson students will just need to make sure the camera has a good angle of the student and the instrument.
Each recording needs to be introduced by the student, including the title and composer and cannot be edited in any way, you may find it helps to practice this in advance.
Mark forms and certificates
The exam board will usually issue the results within two to three weeks of the exam. All candidates will receive a mark form which shows the marks awarded for each exam element and an overall total mark. The comments on the mark form give an indication of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to our marking criteria. The certificate celebrates their achievement and provides a record that they have met the standards set in their exam.
After the exam
We feel it’s important to celebrate doing the exam, rather than waiting for the results to have a celebration. So what better excuse for a treat (possibly cake!!)
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Claire by email on - claire@westonshaw.com
Kind regards
Claire, Steve, Emily, Gosia and Tiago