Championing music learning through challenging times: ABRSM

ABRSM exists to inspire and support the musical achievement of learners and the emergence of the pandemic has challenged everyone committed to supporting this mission.

We've been working, wherever possible, to bring structure and certainty in the wake of events that forced the immediate shutdown of our worldwide operations and left learners and teachers alike facing the consequences of the sudden and open-ended interruption of hundreds of thousands of examinations.

Our clear focus on supporting the progression of learners has remained one of the constants amidst the rapid changes about us all, with our reduced staff operating from home to find the best possible ways of reopening learners' progression paths at the earliest possible opportunity and in safe and sustainable ways.

We have made real progress. Over the last five months in the UK we've provided adapted assessments for students to take critical, higher-grade exams to gain Ucas points and progress to higher education; we've restarted private exam visits where possible and safe to do so; and we've accelerated our digitisation programmes to offer different ways to progress in the light of travel and social gathering restrictions that may well stay in place into 2021.

Evolving support for music learning

Our progress also includes the development of a unique online exam, with thousands of candidates registered to take their Grade 5 Music Theory exam on 26 August, and the creation of ABRSM's brand new Performance Grades, an exciting complement to our existing Practical Grades. The following gives a more detailed outline of key ABRSM developments since March this year:

Performance Grades

This remotely assessed exam is all about performance, providing opportunities for candidates to create their own performance in their home or elsewhere, featuring four pieces of music that are special to them. Performance Grades put the performer at the heart of the qualification, encouraging musical autonomy, and they recognise the skills of communication, interpretation and storytelling that sit at the heart of every successful musical performance.

They are not replacing our existing Practical Grades but offer an additional progression route – students can switch between our Performance and Practical exams as they progress through the grades. Practical Grades and Performance Grades share repertoire lists. The exams are equivalent in demand and value to our existing graded music exams, but have a different emphasis, with a focus on performance.

Performance Grades will be available in the UK and Ireland from autumn 2020 at Grades 1 to 8 and ARSM for all our instrumental and singing syllabuses. (www.abrsm.org/performancegrades)

Online Music Theory exam

In response to Covid-19 we have brought forward our plans to offer the assessment of Music Theory at Grades 1 to 5 as online exams that can be taken at home, at school or a place with IT facilities arranged by the applicant. We are confident that the online format will provide a more learner-friendly experience for candidates, offering more convenience and several more exam dates throughout the year than paper-based exams.

Online Music Theory exams at Grades 1 to 5 will be available in the UK and selected countries in November, and we will be extending the offer to other countries during 2021. Grades 6-8 will continue as paper exams under Covid-safe conditions, and will be available on set dates at fixed venues.

Digital downloads

For the first time, we have made a selection of pieces from our Piano syllabus available as digital sheet music downloads. ABRSM's Piano syllabus 2021 & 2022 comes into effect on 1 January 2021, with a year's overlap to the end of 2021 for those wishing to use the 2019 & 2020 syllabus for longer. The new syllabus has completely revised repertoire choices and list structure. 48 pieces from across the lists for Initial to Grade 8 are now available as downloads. As the new repertoire lists are the same for the long-standing Practical Grades and ABRSM's new Performance Grades, downloaded pieces can be used to prepare for both exams.

Digital downloads are available from ABRSM's online shop – https://shop.abrsm.org – and all major digital retailers. The selection complements ABRSM's best-selling ‘Piano Exam Pieces’ books, which are now available worldwide.

Practical Grades in Public Centres in the UK

We have been monitoring and exploring options to resume face to face exams in the autumn. We have developed Covid-secure arrangements and are pleased to confirm that we will open the booking period on 28 September, and run an extended session of Practical Graded Music exams at Public Venues in the UK and Ireland from 9 November to 19 December. We have made improvements to the booking process in light of customer feedback since launching the online booking portal earlier this year.

Bookings can be made at any time to run a Private Visit for Practical Grade exams.

‘Play On’ – inspiration for teachers, learners and parents

We know that teachers, parents and education providers everywhere are united in their desire to inspire musical achievement and by their belief in the enormous value of music and music education. We wanted to support and motivate them, so early into lockdown, we launched ‘Play On’, a dedicated area of our website designed to support the community of teachers, parents and learners through and beyond these challenging times. It is updated daily and carries a mix of features, offers of free pieces, tutorials, competitions, advice guides and expert views. It also has details of our FutureLearn course ‘Becoming a Better Music Teacher’, which has seen over 20,000 registrations in the past year. The wonderful classroom learning resource, Classical 100, is now available to families and individual teachers and has seen a further 3,000 downloads since April.

Play On, and its rich content, is a reflection of our commitment to supporting individual musical journeys, giving the musical community new inspiration, advice and opportunities to grow as musicians. If you haven't already taken a look, check out Play On at www.abrsm.org/playon

Working with you

We're proud of what we have achieved in this unprecedented period and know that our improved offer will make music and music learning more easily accessible for tens of thousands of learners.

However, we know too that the dizzying speed at which we have had to adapt to the world around us has had inevitable implications for teachers and learners. For example, online solutions make music learning more accessible for the majority, but do not suit everyone, and we remain focused on making sure that no learner is left out.

We strive constantly to find ways in which we can develop our offer and best serve the needs of teachers and learners. However, we are only too conscious that the speed of progress and volume of information we have communicated has put additional pressure on many of you. We owe heart-felt thanks to loyal teachers, schools and organisations around the world for supporting us and bearing with us during this period as we have worked rapidly to resume exams wherever we can.

The challenges are not over but there will be opportunities too as we continue to respond both to the impact of Covid-19 and deliver on our commitment to make our syllabuses more representative.

We look forward to continuing our partnership as we forge ahead through this period of flux, and to supporting you in the changes necessary to help your students to progress in their music.

We are actively adding guidance and FAQs to our web pages and very much welcome feedback and dialogue to identify where we can improve the support that we give you so that, together, we can inspire the musical achievement of learners.

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