ABRSM believe in the importance of all-round musianship, and this forms the basis of the exam.
ABRSM believe in the importance of all-round musianship, and this forms the basis of the exam.
To become an all-round musician, students need a range of interlocking skills in performance, techniques, notation, listening in musical perception as well as knowledge, understanding and creativity.
ABRSM EXAM REQUIREMENTS
- ABRSM exam subjects are listed at www.abrsm.org/exams.
- For the graded exams, there are normally eight grades, numbered progressively in order of difficulty from 1 to 8. ARSM (Associate of the Royal Schools of Music) is a post-Grade 8 performance-only diploma exam.
- Candidates may be entered for any exam irrespective of age. The Candidate’s date of birth must be stated on the entry form for ARSM exams, but is optional in all other cases.
- Candidates for graded exams are not required to have previously taken any other grade in the same subject. However, the following prerequisites for entry apply to ABRSM Exams as set out below. Please note that ABRSM will not permit a Candidate to sit an ABRSM Exam if these prerequisites are not satisfied.
- Practical Grades 6, 7 and 8: Candidates must already have passed one of the qualifications listed at www.abrsm.org/prerequisite. This must have been passed before the closing date for the Practical Exam and a copy of the certificate or mark form must be supplied at the time of entry, except for ABRSM qualifications gained after 1 January 1994 and taken in the UK or Ireland (for which supporting documents will only be required in cases where ABRSM is unable to verify the qualification from its own records).
- ARSM: Candidates must already have passed ABRSM Grade 8 in the same subject or one of the alternatives listed at www.abrsm.org/prerequisite-arsm This must have been passed before the closing date for the ARSM exam. A copy of the certificate is not required at the time of entry (although ABRSM may request one later). If the certificate is not provided to ABRSM upon request, the prerequisite will not have been satisfied and entry into the exam will be cancelled without any refund of fees paid or payable. You can view the full prerequisite for ARSM at this link.
- ABRSM graded music exams and ARSM are regulated in England by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and the corresponding regulatory authorities in Wales (Qualifications Wales) and Northern Ireland (CCEA Regulation). They are part of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) in England and Northern Ireland. In the UK, ABRSM’s Grade 6–8 exams can contribute towards entry into higher education through the allocation of UCAS points (→ Reg. 17l). For further information, see www.abrsm.org/regulation.
