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.
To make the entry I 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 isn’t possible to change it once it has been printed.
Since the COVID-19 lockdown situation, the London College of Music, also known as LCM (which is also the Registry of Guitar Teachers RGT) have adapted. There are now three ways you can sit your exam, in this article we are focusing on virtual Exams.
Virtual Exam: This option is brand new. The teacher on the students behalf makes an appointment via the Exam Coordinators to do the exam in a Zoom Meeting. These are considered to be equivalent to live exams, in that they are the full grade. However the platform is different.
The dates are not restricted to the second half of each term, so it can be more flexible in terms of deadlines. However these dates can happen inside school hours. This should be marked as an educational absence (I can give you a supporting letter) and it should not affect your school attendance figures.
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:
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. I find it helps to remember an old proverb:
“it’s not about the absence of fear it's about become the master of fear”
We hope that with nurturing and support our students will learn how to deal with nerves and taking exams can actually help with this. Other ways to help include:
Accepting nerves as normal;
Performing regularly in front of others;
Taking mock exams;
Arriving in good time at the exam center;
Taking a few calm breaths before the exam itself.
Before the exam you will be sent the exam confirmation you will be expected to set up your children camera and log in to Zoom as per the instructions on the confirmation letter.
On the day of the exam, we suggest that you do everything you can to be relaxed and warm up. Have 10-15 before the exam appointment calmly playing the piano, your teacher will help you make a plan for this. You may be asked to display your confirmation letter
How long does an exam take?
A Grade 1 exam lasts for around 12 minutes. As the grades get higher the exams gradually become longer, with Grade 8 taking around 30 minutes.
In the exam
When candidates go into the Zoom meeting exam room the examiner welcomes them and confirms their name. Sometimes there are two examiners in the room. One is there to run and mark the exam and the other is there as an observer. This is an essential part of our training and quality assurance processes. If there are two examiners present, this will not affect the marking or results and the steward on the day will explain this to candidates before they go into the room.
During the exam, there may be short pauses between pieces or songs and sections. This is nothing to worry about – the examiner will just be writing comments on the mark form.
The order of the exam
Candidates can do the elements of the exam in any order. This is something that the candidate and teacher can decide together before the exam. You will have worked out the order with your teacher and it should have been given to the examiner in advance.
What about mistakes?
Examiners understand that candidates can make mistakes in an exam which they might not have made in lessons or practice. Examiners also recognise when candidates recover well from a mistake, and they take this into account in their marking.
In most cases, exam results match teachers’ expectations but sometimes teachers might be surprised by a candidate’s result. This might be because they are comparing it with the singing or playing that happens in lessons, whereas examiners can only mark what they hear on the day. At the heart of a graded music exam is a live performance to an examiner and being able to perform in this situation is an important part of taking an exam
Mark forms and certificates
In the UK and Ireland, we issue candidates’ results within two to three weeks of the exam. All candidates receive a mark form which provides a clear, helpful record of what happened during the exam. It 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.
Successful candidates also receive a certificate. The certificate celebrates their achievement and provides a record that they have met the standards set in their exam. All certificates incorporate security features to ensure that each one is unique and cannot be reproduced.
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.
There are various reasons why candidates might not do as well as expected. Perhaps they were not quite ready for the exam or were overcome by the performance situation on the day. While it is naturally disappointing if a result does not reach the pass mark, it is important to keep this in proportion. The value of the exam is just as much in the progress made during the preparation time as in the assessment itself.
After the exam
In my own experience, 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 the children to celebrate their achievement, and take them for cake!!
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 and Steve