I'm a first time teacher who has put her Grade 3 pupil towards his exam in Nov/Dec. I was just wondering if you had any tips as to how to use the remaining time we have left before the music exam as effectively as possible? One of his pieces is still causing him problems, and his aural needs improvment too. How shall I divide the lesson time up so he gets the most preperation out of them (bearing in mind he has to rehearse with his accompanist too)?

Thanks!

I'm not a teacher, but thought i might respond anyway.
Ultimately its probably a good idea to remember the pieces are, generally, what passes/fails an exam so if you can get his piece sorted thats probably the most effective use. On the aural I think you're probably better targeting sections rather than the whole thing, if he's not able to do well in the A and B sections then just let it go and focus on the later sections.
If at all possible get him to at least attempt the whole 'exam' once or twice, if possible with someone he doesn't know/isn't familiar with administering, asking scales etc.

I'd agree that you should aim to get the most marks possible from the pieces. It's easy to spend ages on one or two dodgy scales at the expense of the pieces but look at where the bulk of the marks come from! And it can be difficult sometimes to decide whether or not to go on and on about a few imperfections even in pieces. I think there comes a point after which is can be counter-productive to try to 'fix' the odd small consistent error. The pupil can end up getting into such a tizz about one awkward bar that the other bits around that can start to unravel like a piece of knitting! So at times I think it's best just to let small things go, if the exam is imminent, and it looks unlikely that that little bit will make it on time. Continuity and rhythmic stability are more important than the odd wrong note - and the examiner won't know whether it was a one-off, or whether the child always gets it wrong! So when time is short, I'd tend to aim for a good overall 'performance', and try to boost confidence, rather than continue nit-picking.

Remember that one gets 1/3 approx of the marks just for trying - so if there is an area of the aural where he's a bit shaky, do encourage him to "have a go".