Abrsm

“Every music lesson should include a ‘fun’ section where pupil and teacher interact… the easiest way to integrate this into a lesson is when teaching scales and arpeggios. Instead of this being a chore, or something learnt by rote, try turning it into a musical dialogue – for instance, accompany the scale by playing a bass line, low down on the keyboard.”
Tim Richards, Jazz musician/educator and ABRSM Jazz examiner shared his views on introducing improvisations in piano lessons.
https://gb.abrsm.org/…/introducing-impr ovisation-in-y…/1020/

“I have finished my Grade 8 Practical and what’s the next exam I should take?” is a question from many candidates.
ARSM is a new diploma that’s all about performance. It is for anyone who passed ABRSM Grade 8 Practical or equivalent. There’s no need to prepare for a viva voce, quick study or write programme notes. This letter-bearing qualification can help bridge the gap between Grade 8 and DipABRSM.
Learn more: abrsm.org/performance-arsm

Thanks Jeremy from ABRSM for sharing his favourite #ABRSMPiano pieces with us. Share with us at bit.ly/2yAXcE8 the link to your video of you playing up to 5 minutes of any of the medley pieces (bit.ly/2Kb9QLo). One winner will randomly be drawn from all ABRSM social media channels to get £50 worth of products from our online shop (or equivalent amount in local currency) (shop.abrsm.org). Competition closes at 23:59 on Tuesday 31 July 2018. This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. For full T&Cs see: bit.ly/2zhrT1s #makemusicday #makemusicdayuk #stp150 #eltonjohnpiano

Do you want one as well? Just wonder if the visitors need to play any secret tune to get in? 🎹🎹🎹🤔😝 #FridayFun

ABRSM Piano Roadshow is coming to Scotland this autumn! Discover the new #ABRSMPiano repertoire with examiner Anthony Williams through practical demonstrations and exploration of various musical approaches to teaching the music set for Grades 1 to 8. With thanks to our headline sponsor Allianz Musical Insurance. Supported by Casio. More info: bit.ly/2N7V3lA

Children spend more time at home than any other place. This is especially true at the preschool age, but even after kids begin school, home is still the predominant source of most experiences. Here are some suggestions on how to create a musical home environment by incorporating any of these simple steps into your daily routines. http://www.pbs.org/…/m…/creating-a-mu sical-home-environment/

ABRSM supports and sponsors the NYO Inspire programme which provides free leadership and orchestral training opportunities and a progression route for young talented and dedicated players of grade 6+ standard. We are proud of all of the students who will be performing in a four-day tour of secondary schools in the West Midlands. Watch the live stream of them performing in Walsall at 2PM (BST) today! www.facebook.com/NYOGB/

We are proud to be the principal sponsor of the NYCGB, who will be performing at the opening night of the 2018 BBC Proms!

Congratulations to Kristopher from the Bahamas who have achieved a Merit in Grade 6 Piano, and Distinction in Grade 6 Cello and Grade 8 Flute. Kristopher’s next destination will be studying Music Performance and French in Canada. All the best to Kristopher and we wish you every success in your future! #ABRSM #MyCertificate

Playing a piece at sight is a complex and multi-layered skill. Efficient sight-reading skills are connected to rapid-fire responses to familiar patterns and good sight-readers have learnt to automate many of the basic responses so that any cognitive effort can be directed towards the less familiar elements of the score. Need help with your sight-reading? Learn more here: bit.ly/2L2aewf #ABRSMPiano

As the summer RPS Women Conductors workshops draw closer, we hear from Gabrielle Woodward – a former workshop participant – about her journey as a conductor and how, through opportunities like the Women Conductors programme, she aspires to forge a career. Last chance to apply: https://royalphilsoc.wordpress.com/

Which three would you pick? 💊💊💊🎹🎶🎵 #FridayFun

Have you tried playing any of the medley pieces? Download the score which contains 21 pieces from our new #ABRSMPiano Syllabus beautifully arranged by John Madden: bit.ly/2Kb9QLo. (Watch the full version here: https://youtu.be/Vwd3ekDZ7Lw)
Share with us at bit.ly/2yAXcE8 the link to your video of you playing up to 5 minutes of any of the medley pieces - you could be the lucky winner of £50 worth of products from our online shop (or equivalent amount in local currency) (shop....abrsm.org). One winner will randomly be drawn from all ABRSM social media channels.
Competition closes at 23:59 on Tuesday 31 July 2018.
This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. For full T&Cs see: bit.ly/2zhrT1s
#makemusicday #makemusicdayuk #stp150 #eltonjohnpiano
See More

If you missed the webinar of the #ABRSMPiano Syllabus 2019 & 2020 by The Curious Piano Teachers you can now watch it here http://bit.ly/2lC4y0S

This is an interesting article about a critic who stepped up to the podium to find out what does a conductor do.
http://nymag.com/…/cl…/classical/feat ures/conductors-2012-1/

"Where's the Best Seat in the Concert Hall?" Does anyone have this same question in mind? #TuesdayThoughts
Read the suggestions here on the WQXR Blog: bit.ly/2lVyNQF

“A set of pieces that will enlighten and encourage young learners in their progression”. Thank you to Matthew Clayton for a wonderful review of the #ABRSMPiano Syllabus 2019 to 2020.
Read more on his views on Grade 1 to Grade 5 pieces here: https://www.musiceducator.co.uk/…/Revie w-of-the-new-ABRSM-P…

A recent study by PNAS found that children who learned to play the piano were much more able to detect the sounds of consonants, vowels and pitch. Read full article: https://www.classicfm.com/…/piano-lesso ns-make-children-sm…/

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Dame Colette Bowe for her contributions to the ABRSM in the past years as the Chair of ABRSM Governing Body. At the same time, a warm welcome to Tony Hales, the new Chair of ABRSM.
Read more: bit.ly/2KiXHIu

What do you see in this picture? 🎹🧐🤓

Thank you ABRSM for your guidance and system, thanks to your exams I followed years ago (up to grade 8, classical piano), a whole new (musical) world opened up to me!

My daughter has been doing ABRSm exam board since she was 9 . She’s 10 now , she’s doing violin grade 3 , piano grade 3 and singing grade 3 in November / December. Why we love this board , simply because it creates musicians not performers. I highly recommend the board but you need to know , you need to practice and don’t rush grades .

My 7 years old daughter just finished her grade 2 piano exam on the 8th of March 2018. After her exam she said examiner was very friendly. Before she entered the room she was very nervous but came back to me a smily happy confident girl!!! I am happy too. Just one thing I don't like that it takes too long to announce the result. Well grade 1 took a long time. Hopefully this time would be quicker.

I took my grade 4 piano exam on 22nd March and was very pleased to receive a call from my piano teacher last night with my results. Considering there have been a couple of bank holidays in there too, that's a great turn around. Thank you!

Good to get results and certificates in good time this session. But disappointed that the language used in the feedback is not suitable for the youth of today... "emerging colours latterly" was a favourite of the examiner for my students, all of whom are under the age of 18.

The exam experience always seems positive for most of my students, particularly in the past 5 years. Before that, some of the examiners were rather friendless, and after over 40 years of entering candidates with the ABRSM, I'm delighted to note improvements in this area. However, by the time the marks and comments sheets arrive, most of the candidates have forgotten how they performed. The time span is far too long and I can recall, at best, I've had results back in 10 days. Not so now!

My exam was very well organised, examiner was professional The marking was fair or rather bit generous. What I didn't like was the examiner did not check the identity, making the certificate worthless. (The exam experience is still good though!)

Waiting time for the result published online is way too long, getting the feedback sheet is ridiculously long. ABRSM you should work on reducing the waiting time or enabling to view the marking sheet online. ( I am still waiting exam on 6th December)

For over 15 years I have used the ABRSM and never have I known the phone lines be so bad. For over a week I have tried to contact someone about changing or cancelling a pupils exam as she was unable to attend due to a family bereavement. I never got through, I am still trying, and her exam was meant to be Wednesday.

Very disappointed as I always use ABRSM

I have been using the ABRSM for exams for over 30 years and have always found the exam system and feedback a useful tool to augment my teaching and to motivate pupils.

Alas, this new system where we only receive marks and then wait weeks for the actual comments is having a negative impact on pupil enthusiasm (and mine!).

It is making me seriously consider whether this exam board is currently giving enough consideration and support to the musicians and teachers of the future, who need quick feedback on their work. By the time the comment sheet arrives, with the comments and opinion of a seasoned examiner, we have moved on and it has become irrelevant.

I have also raised a complaint. In this instance about the non-show of an examiner and I have so far had no response (complained on 16th March with numerous follow ups). No satisfactory explanation has been given, no apology offered and no communication received. Very very disappointing and I hope this will be rectified soon with apologies to all the many children and teachers involved on 7th March 2018.

I am so disappointed that CD's are no longer available with the new syllabus.

Are we getting the exam results anytime soon? Why do we have to wait for so long? We are usually happy with ABRSM, but for the 2017 results (both summer and fall) there had and has been a huge delay.

I’ve been training my pupils for years with ABRSM but now it’s time to change that. Sadly over the past 3 years or so ABRSM’s customer services have become a huge nightmare with people who are rude and do not care about pupils or teachers.

Having discussed with a number of teachers and pupils we have agreed that the changes with ABRSM in their grade syllabus and attitude of customer services had now led myself and others to offer students an alternative.

ABRSM has Lost it’s roots and has become a milking business machine. Remember your dealing with emotions in this industry and a machine has no emotions.

Promises of staff returning calls to parents and teachers do not exist.

You lost your way and certainly your Gold Standard.

You will have to establish better relations with the public and pupils.

I've never had a bad experience, however, my student has still not got a date for this summer exam period and it's impossible to ring them! Just been on hold for 30 mins again with no answer but it's just as much as I can do with my spare time!

I normally never make posts such as this but I have to say that I'm feeling very frustrated and let down by the ABRSM today. I was due to sit my Diploma exam this week, I applied before the deadline and received confirmation that my application had been received. However, by the Friday before the scheduled exam period for Irish candidates I had still not received an exam date or time. I proceeded to contact the helpline and was told that the Diploma team were on lunch break and that they would call back later. When they did not call me later, I rang back and was told that the Diploma team had gone home but that they would call me back on Monday. I was not contacted by the Diploma team on Monday and had to call the helpline once again. When I finally got through they told me that my exam was scheduled for the very next morning. If I had not made that phonecall and finally been put through to someone who could tell me my exam date and time, I would have missed the exam. I should not have to ring the ABRSM multiple times, getting put on hold for 15 minutes every time, and beg to get my exam details.

I have been trying to find out whether the new woodwind syllabus audio can be downloaded to multiple devices, for use in schools eg,, I left a message on the download team number, no one got back to me.... E mailed, after a couple of days someone got back to me and asked a question. I responded to this straight away, and over a week later I am still waiting for my answer... This is not good!!!

I have been entering students for exams with ABRSM for many years but I have to say that I am totally dissatisfied with the time some of my students are having to wait for results. Having spoken directly to the ABRSM within the last few days, I am beginning to feel like I am being fobbed off with excuses about checks being done on the examiner and test centre and my pupils are on the receiving end of a somewhat outdated and lacking administration system!



I do feel that this needs to be sorted out and soon because you are not offering the support to us as teachers by taking what appears to be an ridiculous amount of time to issue some results. My pupil is now completely demotivated and said to me today that it’s not worth him doing piano exams as he has convinced himself that the reason it’s taking so long is because he has failed! We try so hard to motivate our students, focus on every positive and encourage them into the wonderful world of music - if the support is lacking from what I have always considered the best examination process, maybe it is time to look at alternative boards.



I feel very let down, ABRSM.

I am really disappointed with the system this time round, last time my daughter sat a practical exam there was confusion with her exam entry and she had been"forgotten" to be added along with other students, there was then a huge delay on her results and now the same again. She had a terrible experience with the warm up instrument which completely knocked her confidence right before the exam (8th March), the examiner was notified of her nerves due to the situation and she did say he was lovely and set her at ease. The tutor complained and got a very vague response to the situation. Online you state that the results will be issued roughly between 16th and 29th March to which we are still waiting so my daughter is even more worried due to the delay, and in the mean time the website has been down (31st March) and now the phone lines have been down. I know the website states a rough estimate but there is no explanation as to the delay and the time exceeds that which you state online. I now have a very upset 11yr old who is convinced she has failed her exam and just wants some answers.

After lots of preparation my son took his grade 2 exam and came out of the exam happy and confident he had done well. When the results came he had not done as well as he had hoped. Comments on his results form did not tie in with his experience of the exam. For example the comments said that he had had to repeat parts which he says never happened. I then noticed that the date on the results form was wrong. I am convinced that he has been given the results of a different person. I emailed Abrsm and they told me that they have lodged an appeal and would endeavour to get back to me within 4 weeks. More than 4 weeks passed and I had heard nothing. I emailed Abrsm yesterday and got no reply so I phoned them today and was told someone would get back to me this afternoon. It is now the evening and I have heard nothing.

Thank you ABRSM for your guidance and system, thanks to your exams I followed years ago (up to grade 8, classical piano), a whole new (musical) world opened up to me!

My daughter has been doing ABRSm exam board since she was 9 . She’s 10 now , she’s doing violin grade 3 , piano grade 3 and singing grade 3 in November / December. Why we love this board , simply because it creates musicians not performers. I highly recommend the board but you need to know , you need to practice and don’t rush grades .

My 7 years old daughter just finished her grade 2 piano exam on the 8th of March 2018. After her exam she said examiner was very friendly. Before she entered the room she was very nervous but came back to me a smily happy confident girl!!! I am happy too. Just one thing I don't like that it takes too long to announce the result. Well grade 1 took a long time. Hopefully this time would be quicker.

I took my grade 4 piano exam on 22nd March and was very pleased to receive a call from my piano teacher last night with my results. Considering there have been a couple of bank holidays in there too, that's a great turn around. Thank you!

Good to get results and certificates in good time this session. But disappointed that the language used in the feedback is not suitable for the youth of today... "emerging colours latterly" was a favourite of the examiner for my students, all of whom are under the age of 18.

The exam experience always seems positive for most of my students, particularly in the past 5 years. Before that, some of the examiners were rather friendless, and after over 40 years of entering candidates with the ABRSM, I'm delighted to note improvements in this area. However, by the time the marks and comments sheets arrive, most of the candidates have forgotten how they performed. The time span is far too long and I can recall, at best, I've had results back in 10 days. Not so now!

My exam was very well organised, examiner was professional The marking was fair or rather bit generous. What I didn't like was the examiner did not check the identity, making the certificate worthless. (The exam experience is still good though!)

Waiting time for the result published online is way too long, getting the feedback sheet is ridiculously long. ABRSM you should work on reducing the waiting time or enabling to view the marking sheet online. ( I am still waiting exam on 6th December)

For over 15 years I have used the ABRSM and never have I known the phone lines be so bad. For over a week I have tried to contact someone about changing or cancelling a pupils exam as she was unable to attend due to a family bereavement. I never got through, I am still trying, and her exam was meant to be Wednesday.

Very disappointed as I always use ABRSM

I have been using the ABRSM for exams for over 30 years and have always found the exam system and feedback a useful tool to augment my teaching and to motivate pupils.

Alas, this new system where we only receive marks and then wait weeks for the actual comments is having a negative impact on pupil enthusiasm (and mine!).

It is making me seriously consider whether this exam board is currently giving enough consideration and support to the musicians and teachers of the future, who need quick feedback on their work. By the time the comment sheet arrives, with the comments and opinion of a seasoned examiner, we have moved on and it has become irrelevant.

I have also raised a complaint. In this instance about the non-show of an examiner and I have so far had no response (complained on 16th March with numerous follow ups). No satisfactory explanation has been given, no apology offered and no communication received. Very very disappointing and I hope this will be rectified soon with apologies to all the many children and teachers involved on 7th March 2018.

I am so disappointed that CD's are no longer available with the new syllabus.

Are we getting the exam results anytime soon? Why do we have to wait for so long? We are usually happy with ABRSM, but for the 2017 results (both summer and fall) there had and has been a huge delay.

I’ve been training my pupils for years with ABRSM but now it’s time to change that. Sadly over the past 3 years or so ABRSM’s customer services have become a huge nightmare with people who are rude and do not care about pupils or teachers.

Having discussed with a number of teachers and pupils we have agreed that the changes with ABRSM in their grade syllabus and attitude of customer services had now led myself and others to offer students an alternative.

ABRSM has Lost it’s roots and has become a milking business machine. Remember your dealing with emotions in this industry and a machine has no emotions.

Promises of staff returning calls to parents and teachers do not exist.

You lost your way and certainly your Gold Standard.

You will have to establish better relations with the public and pupils.

I've never had a bad experience, however, my student has still not got a date for this summer exam period and it's impossible to ring them! Just been on hold for 30 mins again with no answer but it's just as much as I can do with my spare time!

I normally never make posts such as this but I have to say that I'm feeling very frustrated and let down by the ABRSM today. I was due to sit my Diploma exam this week, I applied before the deadline and received confirmation that my application had been received. However, by the Friday before the scheduled exam period for Irish candidates I had still not received an exam date or time. I proceeded to contact the helpline and was told that the Diploma team were on lunch break and that they would call back later. When they did not call me later, I rang back and was told that the Diploma team had gone home but that they would call me back on Monday. I was not contacted by the Diploma team on Monday and had to call the helpline once again. When I finally got through they told me that my exam was scheduled for the very next morning. If I had not made that phonecall and finally been put through to someone who could tell me my exam date and time, I would have missed the exam. I should not have to ring the ABRSM multiple times, getting put on hold for 15 minutes every time, and beg to get my exam details.

I have been trying to find out whether the new woodwind syllabus audio can be downloaded to multiple devices, for use in schools eg,, I left a message on the download team number, no one got back to me.... E mailed, after a couple of days someone got back to me and asked a question. I responded to this straight away, and over a week later I am still waiting for my answer... This is not good!!!

I have been entering students for exams with ABRSM for many years but I have to say that I am totally dissatisfied with the time some of my students are having to wait for results. Having spoken directly to the ABRSM within the last few days, I am beginning to feel like I am being fobbed off with excuses about checks being done on the examiner and test centre and my pupils are on the receiving end of a somewhat outdated and lacking administration system!



I do feel that this needs to be sorted out and soon because you are not offering the support to us as teachers by taking what appears to be an ridiculous amount of time to issue some results. My pupil is now completely demotivated and said to me today that it’s not worth him doing piano exams as he has convinced himself that the reason it’s taking so long is because he has failed! We try so hard to motivate our students, focus on every positive and encourage them into the wonderful world of music - if the support is lacking from what I have always considered the best examination process, maybe it is time to look at alternative boards.



I feel very let down, ABRSM.

I am really disappointed with the system this time round, last time my daughter sat a practical exam there was confusion with her exam entry and she had been"forgotten" to be added along with other students, there was then a huge delay on her results and now the same again. She had a terrible experience with the warm up instrument which completely knocked her confidence right before the exam (8th March), the examiner was notified of her nerves due to the situation and she did say he was lovely and set her at ease. The tutor complained and got a very vague response to the situation. Online you state that the results will be issued roughly between 16th and 29th March to which we are still waiting so my daughter is even more worried due to the delay, and in the mean time the website has been down (31st March) and now the phone lines have been down. I know the website states a rough estimate but there is no explanation as to the delay and the time exceeds that which you state online. I now have a very upset 11yr old who is convinced she has failed her exam and just wants some answers.

After lots of preparation my son took his grade 2 exam and came out of the exam happy and confident he had done well. When the results came he had not done as well as he had hoped. Comments on his results form did not tie in with his experience of the exam. For example the comments said that he had had to repeat parts which he says never happened. I then noticed that the date on the results form was wrong. I am convinced that he has been given the results of a different person. I emailed Abrsm and they told me that they have lodged an appeal and would endeavour to get back to me within 4 weeks. More than 4 weeks passed and I had heard nothing. I emailed Abrsm yesterday and got no reply so I phoned them today and was told someone would get back to me this afternoon. It is now the evening and I have heard nothing.

Thank you ABRSM for your guidance and system, thanks to your exams I followed years ago (up to grade 8, classical piano), a whole new (musical) world opened up to me!

My daughter has been doing ABRSm exam board since she was 9 . She’s 10 now , she’s doing violin grade 3 , piano grade 3 and singing grade 3 in November / December. Why we love this board , simply because it creates musicians not performers. I highly recommend the board but you need to know , you need to practice and don’t rush grades .

My 7 years old daughter just finished her grade 2 piano exam on the 8th of March 2018. After her exam she said examiner was very friendly. Before she entered the room she was very nervous but came back to me a smily happy confident girl!!! I am happy too. Just one thing I don't like that it takes too long to announce the result. Well grade 1 took a long time. Hopefully this time would be quicker.

I took my grade 4 piano exam on 22nd March and was very pleased to receive a call from my piano teacher last night with my results. Considering there have been a couple of bank holidays in there too, that's a great turn around. Thank you!

Good to get results and certificates in good time this session. But disappointed that the language used in the feedback is not suitable for the youth of today... "emerging colours latterly" was a favourite of the examiner for my students, all of whom are under the age of 18.

The exam experience always seems positive for most of my students, particularly in the past 5 years. Before that, some of the examiners were rather friendless, and after over 40 years of entering candidates with the ABRSM, I'm delighted to note improvements in this area. However, by the time the marks and comments sheets arrive, most of the candidates have forgotten how they performed. The time span is far too long and I can recall, at best, I've had results back in 10 days. Not so now!

My exam was very well organised, examiner was professional The marking was fair or rather bit generous. What I didn't like was the examiner did not check the identity, making the certificate worthless. (The exam experience is still good though!)

Waiting time for the result published online is way too long, getting the feedback sheet is ridiculously long. ABRSM you should work on reducing the waiting time or enabling to view the marking sheet online. ( I am still waiting exam on 6th December)

For over 15 years I have used the ABRSM and never have I known the phone lines be so bad. For over a week I have tried to contact someone about changing or cancelling a pupils exam as she was unable to attend due to a family bereavement. I never got through, I am still trying, and her exam was meant to be Wednesday.

Very disappointed as I always use ABRSM

I have been using the ABRSM for exams for over 30 years and have always found the exam system and feedback a useful tool to augment my teaching and to motivate pupils.

Alas, this new system where we only receive marks and then wait weeks for the actual comments is having a negative impact on pupil enthusiasm (and mine!).

It is making me seriously consider whether this exam board is currently giving enough consideration and support to the musicians and teachers of the future, who need quick feedback on their work. By the time the comment sheet arrives, with the comments and opinion of a seasoned examiner, we have moved on and it has become irrelevant.

I have also raised a complaint. In this instance about the non-show of an examiner and I have so far had no response (complained on 16th March with numerous follow ups). No satisfactory explanation has been given, no apology offered and no communication received. Very very disappointing and I hope this will be rectified soon with apologies to all the many children and teachers involved on 7th March 2018.

I am so disappointed that CD's are no longer available with the new syllabus.

Are we getting the exam results anytime soon? Why do we have to wait for so long? We are usually happy with ABRSM, but for the 2017 results (both summer and fall) there had and has been a huge delay.

I’ve been training my pupils for years with ABRSM but now it’s time to change that. Sadly over the past 3 years or so ABRSM’s customer services have become a huge nightmare with people who are rude and do not care about pupils or teachers.

Having discussed with a number of teachers and pupils we have agreed that the changes with ABRSM in their grade syllabus and attitude of customer services had now led myself and others to offer students an alternative.

ABRSM has Lost it’s roots and has become a milking business machine. Remember your dealing with emotions in this industry and a machine has no emotions.

Promises of staff returning calls to parents and teachers do not exist.

You lost your way and certainly your Gold Standard.

You will have to establish better relations with the public and pupils.

I've never had a bad experience, however, my student has still not got a date for this summer exam period and it's impossible to ring them! Just been on hold for 30 mins again with no answer but it's just as much as I can do with my spare time!

I normally never make posts such as this but I have to say that I'm feeling very frustrated and let down by the ABRSM today. I was due to sit my Diploma exam this week, I applied before the deadline and received confirmation that my application had been received. However, by the Friday before the scheduled exam period for Irish candidates I had still not received an exam date or time. I proceeded to contact the helpline and was told that the Diploma team were on lunch break and that they would call back later. When they did not call me later, I rang back and was told that the Diploma team had gone home but that they would call me back on Monday. I was not contacted by the Diploma team on Monday and had to call the helpline once again. When I finally got through they told me that my exam was scheduled for the very next morning. If I had not made that phonecall and finally been put through to someone who could tell me my exam date and time, I would have missed the exam. I should not have to ring the ABRSM multiple times, getting put on hold for 15 minutes every time, and beg to get my exam details.

I have been trying to find out whether the new woodwind syllabus audio can be downloaded to multiple devices, for use in schools eg,, I left a message on the download team number, no one got back to me.... E mailed, after a couple of days someone got back to me and asked a question. I responded to this straight away, and over a week later I am still waiting for my answer... This is not good!!!

I have been entering students for exams with ABRSM for many years but I have to say that I am totally dissatisfied with the time some of my students are having to wait for results. Having spoken directly to the ABRSM within the last few days, I am beginning to feel like I am being fobbed off with excuses about checks being done on the examiner and test centre and my pupils are on the receiving end of a somewhat outdated and lacking administration system!



I do feel that this needs to be sorted out and soon because you are not offering the support to us as teachers by taking what appears to be an ridiculous amount of time to issue some results. My pupil is now completely demotivated and said to me today that it’s not worth him doing piano exams as he has convinced himself that the reason it’s taking so long is because he has failed! We try so hard to motivate our students, focus on every positive and encourage them into the wonderful world of music - if the support is lacking from what I have always considered the best examination process, maybe it is time to look at alternative boards.



I feel very let down, ABRSM.

I am really disappointed with the system this time round, last time my daughter sat a practical exam there was confusion with her exam entry and she had been"forgotten" to be added along with other students, there was then a huge delay on her results and now the same again. She had a terrible experience with the warm up instrument which completely knocked her confidence right before the exam (8th March), the examiner was notified of her nerves due to the situation and she did say he was lovely and set her at ease. The tutor complained and got a very vague response to the situation. Online you state that the results will be issued roughly between 16th and 29th March to which we are still waiting so my daughter is even more worried due to the delay, and in the mean time the website has been down (31st March) and now the phone lines have been down. I know the website states a rough estimate but there is no explanation as to the delay and the time exceeds that which you state online. I now have a very upset 11yr old who is convinced she has failed her exam and just wants some answers.

After lots of preparation my son took his grade 2 exam and came out of the exam happy and confident he had done well. When the results came he had not done as well as he had hoped. Comments on his results form did not tie in with his experience of the exam. For example the comments said that he had had to repeat parts which he says never happened. I then noticed that the date on the results form was wrong. I am convinced that he has been given the results of a different person. I emailed Abrsm and they told me that they have lodged an appeal and would endeavour to get back to me within 4 weeks. More than 4 weeks passed and I had heard nothing. I emailed Abrsm yesterday and got no reply so I phoned them today and was told someone would get back to me this afternoon. It is now the evening and I have heard nothing.