I'm having a slightly longer break (because I can ) in my diploma, do I need to state this on the front of my programme notes or do I tell the examiners when I go in?

What do I wear? Can I wear something skimpy ?

i always wear a suit of some sort for organ exams (as much as i wish to play in skirts or dresses)....

Well, if you're most comfortable in skimpy...

Seriously, wear something comfortable. Unlike TG exams, you aren't assessed on stagecraft, so marks aren't awarded or deducted for dress. Go for something dressy if it helps you get in to performnce mode, but (clean) jeans and shirt if you'll otherwise be fretting about wardrobe malfunctions.

Make sure you can actually play in what you intend to wear and that you can stand up for 35+ minutes in the shoes you'll be wearing.

I tend to get very hot whilst playing, but didn't know quite what the temperature would be like, so wore a dress with a jacket I could remove if necessary. I also made sure my hair was pinned up so that I didn't get too hot.

For both the two I've done I went for semi-formal - black trousers, coloured top. I plan to do the same for my next one on July 19th.

This time the centre will have air-conditioning - a relief after last time, when I took it the hottest day of the year and there was none! I was pretty hot, to say the least... I still didn't regret clothing choice, though.

Just make sure you're comfortable. Skimpy is fine as long as it's decent (male examiners, by any chance...? )

I heard a Trinity Rep. advise someone that what you might wear for a lunchtime/afternoon recital would be ideal. Trinity, for example, state that attire should be appropriate for a public recital (including accompanist/ page-turner!), but need not necessarily be formal. Not sure if this will be of any help or how much importance the A.B. place on appearance, but I would have thought the Trinity guidelines would be appropriate across the different boards.

On the subject of breaks - I want to take advantage of the 5 min break allowed and during this time I intend to mop down/change my clarinet reed and dry the clarinet out with the pull through, then re-tune etc.

Should I just get on with this or should I explain this to the examiners?

Just do it - I did on my 1st attempt (not the 2nd - well just brief retuning - as I didn't want to outstay my welcome again).

I wore a long white dress in July, and black trousers with a maroon sparkly top in December - they were comfortable at 20 weeks pregnant and appropriate for Christmas.

Good luck all!

So it's sort of smart-casual, but not too casual type of thing?

About the skimpy clothing: when I went for university interviews some actually specified that candidates shouldn't display cleavage!!

ABRSM didn't mention anything on the letter, though...

Anyway, I don't suppose anyone will go into an exam wearing hot pants and a boob-tube, so slightly skimpy would be alright in my opinion.