Hi there, that curious about the highest mark that you can get in an music exam...mine's seem to stuck on 135.....I find the same problem with my friends too, none of them seem to get more than 135 no matter how hard they tried...is there a rule to examiners that they must not give canidates more than 135?? I wondered.

I got 133 for Grade 3 clarinet.....such a shock

A long, long time ago I got 142 for one of my exams - I think it was grade 3 piano. Haven't managed anything like that since, though.

Whoa, you're soo good....never get anything higher than 135 myself

i get 130 two times, which is my highest.

Not anymore . I only got 126 for my grade 6. I'm not complaining, though, I wouldn't dare!

Why on earth have you done 130-144 category? 134 for Grade 5 piano.

I reckon it'll be sooooooooo disappointing if a person get 129...which means one more mark will change a level....

I got 136 for grade 4 flute, and I know Charlotte (AKA July) got 138 (wow!) for grade 6 flute.

I got 138 for grade 8 organ.. my first ever organ exam (it was >20 years in the making though from when I started actually playing...)

My highest was grade one piano: 127. My wife's highest was grade four oboe: 145. The highest for one of my pupils was: 142 - that was grade 2 piano.

My highest is 128 - G1 french horn; highest pupil is 138 - G1 piano

That's amazing! HOW on earth did she do it??? She must have got the highest mark in the country. My niece got the highest mark for piano in the States which was no big deal, really as there may be others higher than her but not in the States! I don't think she is that good, really especially it's not even her fav instrument. Her fav and love of her life was her viola and she's good at this instead. But, knowing the American mentality, well, they asked her to go on TV!

I understand from a very experienced teacher that no one ever get beyond 145. Can someone on the forum prove me wrong? Any 146???

I'm sure my teacher got 146 for one of her exams when she was young. I'll ask her when i see her.

Hmmm, should be interesting to know! I meant 146 or above for violin.

Thanks, violinist.

PS.
Since you live near me, if your teacher is good relationshipwise and also technically, it'll be very good to know as parents at school sometimes ask me for recms? I tell them about VN's teacher but they invariably moan - Too far!

Tess

I managed to get 147 for my Grade 1 clarinet - I was REALLY thrilled! The highest I've had a pupil get is 145 for Grade 5 treble recorder.

I was thinking that too, that's the band I would say it's most likely for someone's highest mark to be in and it's all in the same option, judging by the poll results it is too! All of my resutls lie in that category, highest and lowest .

I know people on here have said they've got more than 146 in the past, or have known someone who has got 149, I didn't get the impression that they had any reason to be not telling the truth. I'm sure there's no difference in the highest marks one can get on certain instruments: after all it's the same examiners for all instruments: I doubt they have anything specific against violinists!

There's a discussion in this thread in which some trustworthy people say they have observed or had marks higher than 145 .

I got 138 for grade 6 flute! I still can't believe it (even though it was in April!)

Ditto! Maybe it was a mistake by the author.

139 in Grade 5 saxophone, after a big stumble in my last piece. It was going so well, then I took my eyes off the music for a second (to look at the metronome marking, would you believe) and made a big blob. Although I was thrilled with my overall mark, I've always thought 140 might have been nice.

Highest for a pupil is also 139. The highest mark I've ever actually seen (one of my ex-teacher's other students) was 144.

The man who accompanied me for my last exam was an examiner for 30 years. He said they weren't supposed to give 99, 119 or 129 marks, although I'm sure that doesn't stop it happening occasionally. But it might explain why I see both 118 and 120 so frequently.

In theory, 100% isn't unusual. Highest personally was 93% in Grade 5, and a pupil just got 96% in Grade 2.

i got 120 and 130 for two times each........

looking at the poll results the 130 - 144 band is too broad. All sons cello marks are in that band so I added my vote there. His best was 140 and the highest of anyone I know personally is 142.

I was thrilled to get 141 for my treble recorder grade 6.
My highest pupil got 145 for grade 1 piano.

They tend to round up or down. Which, after doing about 100 mock exams for my pupils, isn't as unfair as it sounds. Quite often I'll be unsure whether to award them, say, 24 or 25 for a piece, then they'll end up with 119 but I'll know whether they deserve the merit or not.

One of my friends got 120 in her Grade 8 flute. When she held her mark sheet up to the light, she found pencilled-in marks, which added up to 119, and she'd been rounded up. Have to say it's worked the other way for me, have had 118 twice and 128 once. It does make me wonder whether I was rounded up in my grade 5 clarinet as a child, when I got 100 marks! I recently had a student who got 100 marks too, although usually she would have done better. She just mucked up on the day, but managed to scrape through!

I got 144 for Grade 5 organ about 20 years ago! However, I really should have been pushed to do Grade 6 instead at the time my teacher then wasn't in to skipping Grades!

I've posted this before and I'll post it again. A friend of a friend examines for the AB, and in one session actually gave 150/150. He had a bit of a run-in with the powers that be, but his argument was "you didn't hear this candidate play". He must have won as he's still examining!

I suppose full marks in theory are more likely as the answers are either right or wrong, particularly in the lower grades.

I know a few people who have got full marks in theory papers. I only got one Q wrong in my G5!

I got 135 for grade 1!! And 97 for grade 1 theory and 93 for grade 5 theory.

127 for grade 8 flute. two of my friends got 137 for grade 8 oboe and viola!

CD22 got 137 on grade 6 piano...lol

128 for grade 5 sax

i got 142 for my grade 8 piano... I know, i didn't believe it either!

I think if there was no possibility of getting 150 or close to it, there wouldn't be any point in marking out of 150, if that makes sense. There has to be a possibility, however slight, that really good interpretation + musicality + technical excellence + doing well in all the supporting tests = 145 or more, otherwise the last 5 or 10 marks would not really "count", ie you'd be getting marked out of 140 or 145.

Flippin heck! And you're only 15! How depressing!
Edit: Sorry, forgot to add: Well done!.

Good grief. Theres a nice mode there at around 130



Now thats enough to make me feel awful

With Trinity exams you get a medal if you get the highest mark in the country. They award one for each type of exam Speech and Drama / Music etc but I am fairly sure all the instruments are just lumped together not a different medal for each. The grades don't have a separate one just the top mark in any grade so in my experience it tends to be won by a lower grade exam although some of the awesome marks listed on here for higher grades make me think I could be wrong about that!
Does ABRSM have a similar system of recognising the highest mark??

I got 143 for Grade 5 trumpet I think that an ex-peripatetic's (sp?) son from my music service got 148 on Grade 8 percush... not 100% sure though!!

I'd _love_ to know who voted "below 100"... a forum "wit" or a real-life experience?

The ABRSM have prizes for high marks, although they're often regionalised e.g. highest mark in the county mostly they are awards set up by people donating money specifically for it (not too good if one is in New Zealand ). The Annual Reviews list all of the prize winners for each year. The prizes do vary but most of them aren't that big (it's the achievement of getting them that's important really) YAP won one once and it was £7...


Probably someone who has only taken one exam and failed it, there have been a few people around who have done this at various times. I'm quite suprised no one has voted for extra marks yet though . I suspect the fact that most people have a genuine answer to the poll prevents too much silliness.

WELL DONE!


Maybe it was some other board or something and actually they passed...

Wow!! That's amazing-well done! I thought 137 was good for me... that was in g6 piano...
Who voted for the 150 thing? I've never known anyone who's got full marks! Apart from in grade 1 theory...

ive never had 113 in Grade 4 Descant Recorder self taught

i feel appauling!

How can everyone be sooooooooooooooooo good at top marks.....
ahaa........I feel small now.....

i`m tiny

But didn't you get something like 138?

I got 85 out of 100 (distinction) on my grade 8 trinity (trombone) a few years ago.

I started music last September so I have only sat for one exam. It was 137. Wasn't expecting it. I remember mum being shocked and my teacher laughing out loud. Nice surprise!

Violinutter

That's a fantastic mark! Which exam was that in?

In my county, there are various prizes to be won, but only on violin and piano at the moment I think. The prizes are donated by wealthy individuals and awarded to the highest marks in grades 6, 7 and 8. A friend of a friend won a violin prize last year with 144 marks in grade 7, which presumably was the best mark in the county that year. The local HLR (who lives just down the road from me) has a very gifted student who won a piano prize. It was also for grade 7 and I think he got 144 marks too.

Wow...everyone's marks are so good!! Well done!!
I got 95% in g5 theory it was my 1st exam and I'd only done theory for a year so I'm quite pleased about that... even though i think 've forgotten half the stuff!