I am starting a project on music pedagogy and was wondering if some nice person could please explain the UK system to me. GCSE and ALevel etc.

I live in the U.S. which does not have a system like the ABRSM or Entrance requirements much beyond a performance audition for College or University.

GCSE and A-level are completely separate to the graded music exams offered by boards such as the ABRSM, TrinityGuildhall and LCM.

GCSE's are taken in the final year of Secondary School (age 16), which is the end of compulsory education in the UK. Most students take GCSEs in English (usually both Language and Literature), Maths, Science (either a combined 'Double Award' worth 2 GCSEs or three separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics). It is common to also do at least 1 Humanities subject (history, geography or RE), a language and an arts or technology subject. It is normal to take between 8-10 subjects, although some schools make students do a lot more.

A-levels are optional, but are one of the main qualifications used for university entrance. They are taken at the end of Sixth-Form, aged 18. It used to be that most students would take 3 A-levels, but the norm now seems to be 4-6 in the more elite schools (although I don't believe students who take 5 or 6 A-levels can possibly be doing the minimum of 10 hrs study per week which is supposed to be required for each subject...) . A-levels changed to a modular format around 10 years ago, so the exams are taken over a 2 year period (between ages 16 and 18) and modules with lower grades can now be retaken until the student gets the grades they want (something which a lot of us working in the HE sector don't agree with).

Entrance to conservatoires in Britain is by audition. You do not need to have passed Grade 8 , but you do need to be playing at grade 8 distinction level or preferably above. Conservatoires can also ask for A level qualifications, but the marks don't need to be very high in comparison with universities. At Birmingham they stipulate two Es at A level, for example.

You need much higher grades at A level to study music at a top university, the offers can be three As for Oxbridge or AAB, ABB, but there are other universities that accept lower grades. Again, you usually need to audition at Grade 8 distinction level, but some courses accept a lower standard.

To put this in context for someone completely unfamiliar with the UK system...A-levels are graded A to E for passes, N for "only just failed" (still an actual fail, but nearly a pass!) and U for unclassified (fail).
GCSEs are graded A* to G, all passes; and U for a fail.

At the age 16 level there were two different sets of exams previously (prior to 1987), O-levels and CSEs. O-levels were for the more academic, CSEs for the less academic. A GCSE A*-C is equivalent to an O-level, and a GCSE D-G is equivalent to a CSE pass. This may seem like ancient history, but you will still find that GCSE A*-C is the more usual measure (e.g. for a school's ranking) than all passes.

In case you are curious:
GCSE: General certificate of secondary education
A-level: Advanced level
(O-level: Ordinary level & CSE: Certificate of secondary education)

Just in case it may be relevant, it's worth pointing out that students can be 15 when they take GCSEs and 17 when they take A levels.

Also, no-one has yet mentioned the Scottish system which has several important differences such as length of secondary education, Highers, etc.

If this is a piece of acadmic research I would recommend looking at an official website to make sure the facts are absolutely accurate.

The A* grade is also now available for A level.

An A-level is taken in two parts, AS usually at the end of the lower sixth/year 12 and A2 at the end of upper sixth/year thirteen (candidates can take exams younger). Although there's a lot of talk about large numbers of subjects being common, in my experience of highly selective schools, the norm is to take four, or at most five, subjects to AS, and then drop one and focus on three (or four) for A2. There are some "subjects" like General Studies and Critical Thinking which don't require much teaching (ducks to avoid flamethrower) that are inflate the number of A levels taken.

A couple of years ago an A* grade was introduced at A2. Sought-after universities/courses are increasingly asking for A*AA, or A*A*A. There has been a perceived 'grade inflation' over the years, hence the attempt - I believe at least partly lobbied for by universities who need to select these candidates - to separate out truly good performances.

The A2 result is actually based half on the AS results, and half on the A2 exams. (So if you work your socks off and get 100% in your AS results you're sitting pretty for A2). But to get an A* at A2 you need to achieve 90% or over in your A2 exams (and in specific modules for math(s), I believe) as well as having achieved 80% or over at AS.

As Czerny said, Scotland has a different system which is definitely worth looking at.

I was told that to get an A* at A level in music you needed to get A* in all the four music papers individually.

OK, didn't know that, despite daughter taking A2 in the first year the A* was available! Probably a good thing she didn't know.

This does all give OP the general idea that UK (excl. Scotland) national exams are constantly changing (=being tinkered with) and few people know what's what.

(Music performance) grade exams, however, do seem to enjoy stability for all that we occasionally moan. There'll be all the OP needs to know on the ABRSM, etc., sites I should think? Got to dash but I expect somene can post the links.

And to add confusion, the current A-level is divided in to A2 and AS (Advanced Subsidiary), the AS taken at the end of the first year.
But there used to be another qualification called an AS (Advanced Supplementary) - this was basically half the syllabus of the full A-level, taken over the two years.

There were also S-levels, which you could take on top of an A level, where you got distinction, merit or unclassified (you didn't do these standalone, you generally only did these in subjects where you were predicted to get an A).



If you're not totally confused, Wikipedia is actually quite useful:
GCSE
A-level (including AS, old and new forms)

For those who'd like to have some nostalgia:
CSE
O level
S-level


This page shows how the qualifications fit together in a framework, along with other qualifications. You'll find that the accredited music exam boards (AB, TG, LCM) describe music grade exams within this framework.

OP - It's probably worth mentioning that these exams do not form part of an all-encompassing certificate or diploma, but are awarded as single subjects. So there is no such thing as a High School Diploma, as in the States, or Intermediate or Leaving Certificate as in Ireland, or Realschulabschluss or Abitur as in Germany ... all systems in which I think it's true to say that you have to achieve an overall mark average over a set range of subjects to be awarded the qualification. At least with GCSEs and A-levels you get recognition for the subjects you have passed.
(I don't think I'd ever have got to Uni had I had to continue with maths after scraping through at O Level!)

Also, the OP needs to be clear that the graded music exams offered by boards such as the ABRSM, Trinity-Guildhall and LCM are independent of the general education system and are entered for on a private, individual basis, not restricted to school students.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Baccalaureate yet.....popular in many schools now instead of A levels. I have no idea whether you can do music as an option in that.

Isn't there also an international GCSE or A level which is more highly regarded than the domestic one and which some schools do instead?

I presume you mean the International Baccalaureate.

As of 11 September it was not in the English Baccalaureate, much to the annoyance of many muicians, including those of the ISM. Gove has had some good ideas, but I don't think the English Baccalaureate was one of them.

The Scots system is a mystery to me - and I currently have a teenaged offspring going through it ....

So, yes - there are the parallel English and Scottish courses, with exams in a bigger range of subjects taken at about the age of sixteen, give or take a year or so, and then exams in a narrower range taken either at seventeen (Scotland) or eighteen (England). This range of subjects is a matter of some choice, so the last compulsory music tuition happens at about fourteen - after this, pupils can opt out. Music learning as part of one of these academic subjects used to need supplementation with instrumental lessons to a reasonably high level - my understanding is that this aspect of musical learning has shifted focus somewhat.

The Scots have Standard Grades when the English are doing their GCSEs - but there's also a thing called Intermediate, and the thought, from what I understand, is that the former may be phased out at some point in favour of the slightly more demanding Intermediate level. The Scottish education websitey thing is about as clear as mud on all this though . A year later than Standard Grades come Highers - in fewer subjects than Standard Grades, but with a broader sweep than A levels. Ambitious Scots will then stay on a further year and complete Advanced Highers or do a few A levels as well. It is possible to head straight up to university from Highers though - and this may be the reason why in Scottish universities the first degrees are four year courses instead of three as they are in England. As well as schools offering the various courses necessary to do these qualifications, people can apply to do them at later ages, through various further education colleges.

Separately from all of this comes the learning of musical instruments and for many, though not all, some theory to help with certain aspects of practical learning. Instrumental lessons are very often taken privately, out of school hours, but limited places exist within schools for kids to get tuition within school hours. This sometimes, but not always, involves taking the music pupil out of part of a standard school lesson, and is usually not that generously timed. Private lesson arrangements vary, but generally would have more time for the pupil. I think most schools in which there is a reasonable amount of instrumental tuition provided also try to run an orchestra. There is no across the board, routine, catch-all learning of instrumental playing in our schools. Kids doing music lessons, be that at school or privately, are often offered exams as a means of measuring progress, and this is where the exam boards come in. ABRSM is one, but there are others, notably Trinity Guildhall and the London College of Music: all set their own requirements for examination, but offer grades which are numbered in the same way and probably test to the same level for each grade: there's a bit of snobbism about that in the various camps though, with some thinking that their non-favoured boards are "dumbing down" the testing of musicians. Universities though will accept a grade 8 as grade 8, whatever the board. Grades can be taken by candidates of any age, so are also done by some adult learners, again as a way of measuring progress.

As well as this many towns run musical performance festivals, and have youth orchestra arrangements. The competition festivals can be used as a complement to the exam system, or indeed instead, with kids preparing music and performing it to small audiences with an adjudicator there. The winners in each class may then go on and perform in some sort of gala concert, depending on how the festival is run.

OP here,

So I think I have a general understanding of the exams as they compare to the US system. Where can I go to find a scope and sequence or curriculum of what a person would study to prepare for the exams?

Thanks

The exam boards publish the syllabi. The main boards are OCR, Edexcel and AQA. (there may well be others, particularly outside England) Their websites should give details.

SQA is Scotlands only exam board.

Yep, that's right. You must have got an A in all four units and above a certain percentage for the A2 units - I forget exactly what but a very high A - in order to get an A*. Last year the girl who got an A* in my class got 78/80 in unit 3 and 116/120 in unit 4, as well as As in nth AS modules.

N as a grade doesn't exist anymore.

I also suggest you have a look at the International Baccalaureat Organisation wesbite. This qualification is becoming increasingly common in the UK. Interestingly though, while it is highly regarded in the UK and Europe, (and often considered more academically challenging than A Levels) I have been told it is not rated as highly in the US.

For those interested, music is one of the Group 6 "Arts" options, alongside Drama and Art, and anothers I don't recall. Unlike the other subject "Groups" that make up the IB Diploma, you can opt out of Group 6, and take a second Language, Science or Humanity instead. The course was considered 'tough' by the students taking it, but was broadly similar to the A Level as far as I could tell, with score studying, recitals, etc. I seem to recall that the Standard Level requires a performance of around 30 minutes at G5-7 level, and the Higher Level around 45 mins at G7-8 level, but its a long time since I looked into it. (7 years, to be precise!)