Hey SARA: artificial intelligence and the future of music exams

The world of music exams has been changing in recent years, hastened by the needs of a pandemic-restricted society. While taking music exams online is now widely accepted and understood, one aspect likely to become increasingly important in coming years is that of artificial intelligence (AI).

The start-up business Online Music Exams is at the leading edge in terms of what AI can do for the exam process. The company has been developing a new format of exam delivery since 2013, its roll-out coinciding with the start of the pandemic. All based in the UK, musicians and teachers Alicia Lyons, Cliffy Cooper, and Sara Shevlin are the founders. ‘We originally built this platform with the idea of supporting the exam boards,’ says Lyons. ‘We wanted to help them reach remote parts of the world in an easier and eco-friendly way rather than sending examiners to India, for instance. With this platform, there is less admin to deal with and easier processes for examiners.’

It's important to note from the outset that Online Music Exams is not an exam board but is a vehicle for music exams, therefore it is not in competition with, for instance, Trinity, ABRSM, LCME, RSL or any other similar organisation.

The digital assistant

Looking at the actual exam process and what makes this different from other available formats, the candidate is guided through the entire exam process with the help of digital assistant SARA. SARA, in fact, is the voice of one of the founders of the company, Sara Shevlin. ‘Sara has such a lovely voice,’ says Cooper. ‘She is a musician and teacher, and we found that, in the schools, everyone felt calm and relaxed around her, and engaged. She is empathetic and we wanted to ensure this tonality came through in the AI.’

Currently, candidates select the language they would like the exam to be conducted in. However, the AI has been developed and is now being tested so that in the future, the AI will instantly recognise the language the exam candidate is speaking. SARA will soon be able to interact in 78 languages, in line with the global aspirations of Online Music Exams.

Working across the world

On completion of the exam, SARA then immediately sends the recording to be marked by an examiner who speaks the same language as the candidate and is a specialist in that instrument. Students then receive their marks within five days, but this is often within 24 hours. ‘If a student takes an exam in Singapore,’ says Cooper, ‘in the time they are sleeping that night, someone in the UK or the States, for instance, will mark their exam and then send it off for moderation. By the time the student wakes up they have their mark.’

There is no need to book the exam in advance and candidates can take their exam whenever they want to. The cost can be as low as £21, depending on the grade being taken, which compares favourably with exams from other companies, in part down to the low eco-footprint, with sustainability being so important for this company.

A tailored learning approach

While Online Music Exams was set up with these larger exam boards in mind, the business model also has another raison d’être. ‘We are positively disruptive in the sense that we have the ability to accredit other course providers,’ says Lyons. ‘We want to enable more routes to gain a music qualification. Part of the reason we want to do that is to encourage tailored learning and to reduce barriers of affordability.’

Cooper adds: ‘This tailored learning approach means that the door is open for those who can't afford weekly lessons but their parent, for example, can afford an online subscription. Through this they can have access to a structured approach to learning with an online course; then they can come on to our platform and take the exam at any time.’

The exams are aimed at everyone, from children through to adults, in any part of the world and in any genre or instrument, and for those with accessibility needs. ‘We are creating an alternative for exam candidates who suffer from anxiety in exams,’ says Lyons. ‘Also, adults don't necessarily want to go to a centre and sit with a lot of primary school children when they want to take their grade.’

Growing in reach

Each partner that steps on to the Online Music Exams platform has its own syllabus and course content. The partners can be anything from a music school, an exam board, or an online course provider to an individual educator. ‘If they are not accredited, we will work with them to create the exams and the syllabuses,’ says Lyons. ‘We work with different types of course providers and make sure they are of a certain standard, with a structured course. Then we help to get them accredited through the awarding organisation The Learning Machine (TLM). The beauty of this is that each partner can have a different syllabus, but they will all be of the same quality.’

The number of partners working with Online Music Exams is increasing. ‘Throughout the pandemic we took on more partners than we anticipated,’ says Cooper. ‘Last year we had to put a stop to the number of partners we took so that we didn't become a victim of our own success. Now we have caught up, we are inviting more partners to join us.’

Cooper and his colleagues designed the system from scratch. ‘We have a great and passionate team of tech people, and we engineered and curated it in the way musicians want it. This is developing further: we have a great guy in AI who is developing amazing things in the next six months to a year,’ says Cooper. ‘This will come from The Marking Tree, which is the tech side of the company, set up to improve accessibility to qualifications.’

Targeting UK teachers

For those concerned about the quality of the exams provided via Online Music Exams, there is reassurance in the number of hoops the company had to jump through with their awarding organisation under Ofqual, the government's regulating body for qualifications, before going live: a process which took several years to complete. The entire platform had to be assessed in terms of its security and safety of participating students. The company was also able to prove its strengths in, for instance, how it ensures integrity with examiners – who are required to have, as a minimum, a diploma in their instrument and five years teaching experience – and their training, and how quality is maintained, including checks on all teachers and examiners throughout the world. As well as the exams being accredited by TLM, they also receive credits from the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF).

Online Music Exams is currently reaching out to individuals and course providers in the UK: ‘We want teachers, students and schools to know there is an opportunity for them to create and achieve qualifications in the UK,’ says Cooper. ‘We have teachers here who are brilliant at what they do: their students love them, they have such a great way of teaching and a great method, enabling their students to reach a high standard. We are calling to those teachers and asking why they don't have their own accredited course. Why can't we increase the opportunities for everyone to follow the route they want and still get the same accreditation? We are doing this in many parts of the world. Now it's the UK's turn.’

Online Music Exams key points

• No booking required and exams can be taken at any time
• Affordability of exams, which start at £21 each
• Exam results and digital certificates usually issued within 24 hours
• Instrument- and language-specific examiners
• Has the ability to accredit courses and exams run by individual educators or educational establishments
• Choice of exams with an increasing number of global partners offering their own music exams
• Tailored learning
• Every exam is moderated by the awarding organisation The Learning Machine (TLM), which is regulated by Ofqual
• Has RQF and EQF approval
• Exam candidates are coached through the exam by the interactive AI voice, SARA
• Only exam platform to offer online exams in sight-reading and improvisation
• Grades 6–8 count towards UCAS points
• Ability for course providers to offer face-to-face recorded exams abroad that are also independently moderated
• Soon to deploy a system that enables exams to be marked live anywhere in the world while being recorded for moderation purposes
• The exams are eco-friendly and sustainable.

www.onlinemusicexams.org