I am enjoying the piano jazz exams. (age 50, piano teacher for 20+ years, very nervous in exams) I am now on Grade 5 and guiding some of my older piano pupils who would have given up the piano as they did not want to go past Grade 5.
Are the jazz grades going to be awarded points with the ucas as with the theory and other practical, even if the jazz does not go into 6-8. Surely the skills needed from grade 1 are on a par with grade 4-5 classical. (Actually I do not see why all the grades cannot be accounted for the point system).

No don't be silly! Grade 1 is grade 1 regardless of whether it is jazz or classical.

However it does appear Jazz Grade 5 carrys a little more weight given that it excempts students from having to take the grade 5 theory exams.

Personally i still teach my students grade theory even though i know i don't have to because i still feel it is very useful. It goes without saying though that jazz has its own theory with its own merits.

If the jazz grades are accredited by QCA (which I assume they are: does it say foundation and intermediate on the certificates?) as intermediate and foundation then they can't be given UCAS points. Only 'Advanced' qualifications can get UCAS points as they're considered on the same level as A-levels, intermediate ones such as GCSEs and grades 4 and 5 can't be used to get into university, they won't accept GCSEs as substitutes for A-levels so why should they accept other qualifications classified as the same standard as GCSEs? When grades 6-8 come out (assuming they are accredited) they will be given UCAS points.

As for jazz grade 1 being the same as classical grade 5 I'll just say that if you'd said that the other way round I know many people would come down on you claiming that you are being incredibly snooty. Therefore, I don't think it's acceptable to say jazz grade 1 is harder than classical grade 5, nor is it true.