This may only make sense to teachers in Scotland...

Up until the last few years, I've sometimes had pupils taking S grade or Higher, with piano as their first or second instrument. This has been fairly simple and straightforward, depending on the aptitude or level of the student, you prepare them for the exam to the best level they can do. Grade 4 (approx) played well will give you a high Standard grade pass, Grade 5 and above for a high grade at Higher.

However, lately folk go into 3rd year (for those south of the border, that's the year they choose their subjects) and when you ask if they're taking S grade music, they say, "No, I'm taking Intermediate 1". But they don't seem able to explain what this is. Sometimes they talk as if it's at a level with Standard grade, sometimes as if it's higher, or different in any case.

I'm looking at a site now which seems to say that a Foundation (lowest) pass at S grade could lead to Intermediate 1, a General pass could lead to Intermediate 2 and a Credit (highest) pass could lead to Higher Music.

However, I had a new pupil start an hour ago, and her school isn't doing Standard Grade! Just the 'Intermediates'.......

I don't really care what's going on, but I need to understand a little so I can prepare my pupils for their exams in 2 years time. Does anyone understand this, and can they summarise it a little....?

Please?

As a Scottish victim student, I hope I can help you Alder .

Until a few years ago, every pupil followed the route Standard Grade - Higher Grade - Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (now known as Advanced Higher). However, a new set of courses are gradually being introduced, under the main title of 'Higher Still'. This includes Int. 1 - Int.2 - Higher.

As you probably know, SG is split into 3 parts - Foundation, General and Credit, with the final grades being foundation - 5 or 6, general - 3 or 4 and credit 1 or 2.

Int.1 is supposed to be the equivalent of general level SG. An A at int. 1 is roughly the same attainment as getting a 3 in General SG.

Int.2 is meant to be the equivalent of a very high credit pass at SG, ie a 1.


There's not really any need to follow on from Standard Grade with an intermediate 1/2 course, unless...a pupil has achieved a grade 2 award at credit Standard grade, in which case an int. 2 course could be used to 'bridge the gap' between SG and Higher.

It's really rather confusing, but I hope this helps a little.

That does help, thanks.

What's really throwing me now is that some schools seem almost to be dropping the Standard grade and just doing Int 1 and 2.

Which is fine provided I know what level the kids need to be at when the exams come round...

Yes, I think the plan is eventually for all Scottish schools to ditch SG entirely.

Its actually a bit simpler than that, there's a document here that explains the Performing section.
It used to be a Grade higher as you thought i.e. Gr. 5 for Higher etc but they lowered it at all levels for the most recent intake along with a few other changes.
The only real difference between Int.2 and Credit is that many schools and teachers consider them a better preparation for Higher. It used to be used for people who had done badly in Credit so that they could do a different course rather than covering the same ground again.

National Qualifications.....Standard Grade.........Board, Rockschool etc
Access 3...........................Foundation................Grade 1 and above
Intermediate 1.................General.....................Grade 2 and above
Intermediate 2.................Credit........................Grade 3 and above
Higher................................................................Grade 4 and above
Advanced Higher................................................Grade 5 and above

The standards have definitely dropped - a few years back a pupil had to be roughly grade 7 to do Advanced Higher I seem to remember......and grade 3 just to do standard grade......

And they try and tell us, "No, no, standards are getting higher...!"

and I thought it was complicated here down south!
Relieved I don't have to get my head round this one!

HI, hope i can help

To be honest there is no difference between the criteria for Int1 and General, or Int2 and Credit

THe only difference is that the Intermediate exams produce better atainment figures for the school in question, in turn making the school look better

If you recieve an A at int2 this is slightly higher than a credit 1 but not by far, usually students who go from standard grade to Int2 find that Int2 is a revision course of their standard grade with a little bit of higher thrown in!

hope this helped
Micky-d

Indeed! When I was at school more than a few years back you had to be grade 7ish to do Higher -- there wasn't an Advanced Higher in those days.

(hobbles off muttering to self)

Hello,

Just thought I would add my tuppence worth as a music instructor working in Scottish Secondary Schools.

Some schools basically feel that the progression through Higher Still, i.e. Int 1 or 2, Higher then Advanced Higher makes more sense than sticking with the "old" Standard Grade, then onto the Higher Still courses afterwards.

(Interestingly, some schools are considering reverting back to Standard Grade since the changes to the percentages of each unit at Higher Still last session, however.)

The main thing not yet mentioned is the length of programme required at each level. Don't forget that there are 2 courses, Music with Performing and Music with Technology.

For Music with Performing :-

Int 1 4 minutes (minimum) on 2 instruments/voice
Int 2 4 minutes (minimum) on 2 instruments/voice
Higher 10 minutes on 1 instrument/voice and 5 minutes on 1 instrument/voice
Adv Higher 15 mins on 1 instrument/voice and 10 minutes on 1 instrument/voice
The candidates perform to an external examiner.

For Music with Technology :-

Int 1 4 minutes (minimum) on 1 instrument/voice
Int 2 4 minutes (minimum) on 1 instrument/voice
Higher 5 minutes (minimum) on 1 instrument/voice
Adv Higher 10 minutes (minimum) on 1 instrument/voice
The candidates are recorded internally and then assessed by an external examiner at the SQA.

Each instrument/voice is worth 30% of the total marks available regardless of which course the candidate is following.

Hope this helps,
Kirstie.

Just thought i should add, under the new system the examiner only hears one piece in full and 'samples' the rest of the programme. This generally means they start from the beginning and tell you to stop at some point although where you're playing a piece with movements they may ask you to play from the start of each (stopping you in each).

Thanks a lot for all of this! I'll be copying it to somewhere to keep...

The 'sampling' thing is just awful, I think. Can't explain exactly why I feel like that, but I know it throws me if I'm stopped in the middle of a piece by something outside my own head. Takes me a little time to get properly into the next thing. And if a particular amount of time has to be prepared for, and then the student gets stopped part way through each piece, can they run out of things to play....? Or does the examiner just stop?

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like a performance.

Generally they start with the piece they're going to hear in full then go on to the others. I think the examiners try to be helpful although it is an extra problem keeping an eye on them, they will eventually just tell you though so not too much to worry about.
The way they work it the exam doesn't literally last 10 minutes etc the important thing is that the bit of paper the examiner gets adds up to the right time (or over).

I agree - I was furious when I found out that my pupils, having worked so hard on all their pieces all year, and having worked with me in putting together a varied and contrasting programme, don't get the chance to show what they've done. I think it's disgraceful - a complete slap in the face and lack of respect and consideration for the pupils......To me it makes all the practice and lessons almost seem like a complete waste of time over the year if that's how shabbily the exam board think of them - they haven't got the decency to hear the whole programme - it's only 4 minutes at standard grade anyway!!!!! And the way tehy start with the piece they want to hear all the way through is bad aswell, as it may be the piece that we carefully planned as the 3rd piece (for example) in making up our performance programme........ I usually teach my pupils all about how to build a good programme and how best to order pieces etc........

So do they choose the order of the pieces? I've only had one pupil go through this since it came in, and their principle teacher of music knew the examiner, to some extent, so they got to do their full performance, in the order we'd picked as far as I'm aware. But I've at least 3 who've just gone into 3rd year and a few others coming up in 1st and 2nd, so I'm trying to get ahead of the game.

If the examiner chooses, I wonder what criteria they use to pick. If the pupil had some at, say, grade 4 and one at grade 5 would they pick the grade 5? Or a more technical classical piece, even if it was grade 4. Man, this is too complicated... And there are a lot of outside instrumental teachers trying to work this out!!! (At least if you worked in the school you could always ask someone...)

Oh!! And!!

This business about having to send pieces away for the grade to be verified? I've been told in the past that this doesn't need to be done if the pieces come from an exam book, with the grade marked on it. Does anyone know if this is still the case? Because that makes it fairly clear and simple. However, if everything has to be sent away, it has to be done months before the exam, long before you even know if the student can play it! While with the exam books - I have plenty of them from past years - you have some leeway, can change to different ones if they don't suit.

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

The order is decided by the examiner, they just changed the system for the most recent group so your pupil may have sat it under the old system.
The examiner doesn't pay any attention to the grade of the piece as far as i know, as long as it meets or exceeds the right standard for the exam, the choice of which one is random but obviously some examiners are more sympathetic than others.
The pieces don't need to be approved if they have already been approved (i think), for that centre, or if they are on or have been on a certified board's syllabus so Trinity, Guildhall, AB, LCM etc are acceptable. There is no need for them to come from the exam book so long as you can show they were/are on the syllabus so a copy of the syllabus should be fine. I'm not sure how they would look on different publications although presumably since the board accept them they should to.

The verification rule is rather confusing. Is it the case that even if one school has a piece verified, a school next door would also have to send it away to be verified? I *think* I heard of some schools having certain pieces allowed but other schools having the same music disallowed.

As a pupil, I hate the sampling technique. During my Higher performance, I was singing in 'public' for the first time, and to be abruptly stopped in the middle of a crescendo was rather unsettling.

I think the pieces need to be verified by individual centres, so inconsistencies obviously come up. It looks like they underestimated the amount of work required though, it seems that as it got towards the deadline they were approving pieces they had previously rejected as being below the standard.

The sampling is definitely not one of my favourite SQA dictates, oddly enough all the teachers seem to hate it as well so goodness knows why they changed it. The examiners seem to be as nice as possible about it though.

This is ridiculous! I only did advanced higher 2 years ago and had to play pieces at grade 7 level! Eventually it's going to get to the point where the exam isn't worth anything at all!

I know the feeling. I was doing pieces 2-3 grades above the standard required for the higher, and they still wouldn't let me just do AH. The way things worked out i could have done the same pieces i did for my Int.2, and still been a grade above the requirement.

How about letting the pupils sample the written questions? You know, answer one in full and then just break off mid-sentence for the rest!

Actually we already have that. In most subjects we're encouraged not to use complete sentences instead just stating the answer so instead of "You would use a bunsen burner to heat the water" it becomes "bunsen burner".

Just to add to what has already been said............

Regarding sampling - I found it very strange to be accompanying pupils and then told to stop but most examiners picked a sensible place and sometimes you could actually foresee where the "stop" was coming.

I did find it very frustrating that they took the pieces in a random order. I would have preferred them to hear the pieces in the order on the exam sheet and hear the piece they wanted in full as we went along rather than at the beginning.

Regarding verification of pieces - if you work in more than one centre you can have the pieces verified for all of the schools you are working in. If you are a private teacher, the school should be asking the pupils now which pieces they are preparing to check if they need to be sent away.

If there is any uncertainty, it is safer to stick to current exam pieces from AB, Trinity Guildhall, Rockschool, etc.

It is correct that the school next door must have their own verifications done. It does seem ridiculous that the SQA can't get a database of verified pieces up and running. The amount of wasted paper is awful.

The number of pieces sent to be verified must have been horrendous last year and there were some delays in having the pieces returned.

There is a window between May and October each year (I don't know the exact dates, sorry) to send music to be verified. I am just getting around to organising my copies to be sent away very soon.

Kirstie.