I just accompanied my brother in his Grd. 6 Clarinet exam. He played both of his accompanying pieces amazingly well (Mozart concerto in A 2nd mmt, Silent Movie - Paul Harris). I listened to his study from outside the doory, and he completely stumbled his was through it, missing passages out completely and blurring phrasing, a complete lack of continuity... However He got 24 and 22 for his accompanied works (seemed FAR too low in my opinion) and 28 for his study! He said his scales were perfect, and I know he is an amaing sight reader, but these marks were also particularly low. I wondered if anyone has queried a result with the board before (remarks etc), what the procedure is, and is it worth it?

Anyone can query results with the Board - sometimes you don't get very far and sometimes you can make progress but I imagine that it is almost impossible for them to change the mark because only that one examiner heard the exam. Nobody can second-guess how your brother might have done had somebody else listened to him.

However, there are also strict time limits for making any complaint or query so check the examination regulations carefully to ensure you are within deadlines to do so. I'd recommend reading the regulations through and then decide how you wish to proceed.

However, be very wary of telling them you were listening at the door - my understanding is that nobody but the steward is allowed near the exam room when an exam is taking place (other, of course, than the candidate and the examiner) and there should have been a big sign up outside the exam room saying as much if you were in an ABRSM Centre. Certainly in the Centre I use with my candidates this is made very clear and the regulation stuck to closely.

Listening at doors is definitely not permitted!

But sometimes it's easy to hear well from the waiting room! Some people think that this is bad because they don't want people to hear; but I like it as I can instantly be reassured that all those tiny mistakes that I thought were huge problems were actually not so bad!

The best that you'll get out of an appeal, if successfull, is a free re-sit exam in the next exam term: they'll never change the mark, they can't as no one else heard the exam and they're not recorded. As oboist says though you may have to be quick as there are deadlines for appeals.

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But sometimes it's easy to hear well from the waiting room!

I don't think I've ever done an exam where you HAVEN'T been able to hear perfectly clearly from the waiting room everything that went on in the exam room- except when I took my grade 2 violin where the waiting room was halfway down the garden in the form of the garden shed!

I must admit that sometimes the abrsm markings can be very strange. But it all depends on how the examiner is usd to hearing the pieces being played. If you think about it, if an examiner has heard a piece being played my a proffesional, and then by a candidate, he is going to compare one to the other. I have done this before myself: not in exams but in everyday life. If an examiner is used to something being played really well and then hears it being played less well then he will mark it down quite a bit. It shouldn't happen, but it does.

Cool guys thanks a lot. I'm gonna have a look into regulations etc. but I, like most, people thought it would be a worthless persuit, after all I suppose when judging music it helps to be as highly skilled and educated as an examiner, but it boils down to opiion really. Oh, and leaving the exam room from the centre I and every candidate have played for is a huge corridor back to the waiting room. It's almost as loud in the corridoor as the exam room!

Thanks a lot again guys!

ALso... why would listening outside a door not be permitted. It's not like your able to influence a candidate.

I don't like to think that my teacher is actually listening to my exam. I'm performing for the examiner; knowing my teacher was waiting and ready to be critical would put me off!

One only has to read postings to this website to realise examiners are human, make mistakes and come in for an awful lot of stick!

Imagine if hosts of people listened outside the door - pressure on the candidate and pressure on the examiner too because each of those people would like to think they were as good as (or better) at judging the performance than the examiner. Imagine all the complaints to the Board if every performance was overheard and results questioned. Doubt we'd ever see the end of the disputes!

So, I guess that's why the Board asks people not to listen. To protect the candidate from pressuring parents and teachers and to protect the examiner from endless queries if someone doesn't like the decision. After all, it's an exam not a concert!

Can't think of another reason but maybe others can.

Thats a good point actually. I think abrsm would go out of business if more people could listen in and query exam results. I must admit, I am the sort of person to complain if I don't get the marks that I think I deserve. Not to the board, just to myself. But I still do it.