I've had a look around for material to try to help me bridge the gap to theory grade 8 (have decided that self-study of practical musicianship is not really possible because there are lots of subjective difficulty questions and I may not be asking myself the questions I need to answer) but everything seems to breathe a sigh of relief and stop at grade 5. Only the AB books appear to continue after grade 6 (my current level) but have no answers in them. Is there any series, etc. that I can buy which has actual answers with it too? I'm quite used to home study, I'm taking an OU degree so really don't want to hear "You need a teacher" - I don't, so long as I can find a good quality course with answers, otherwise I could fill in the whole book and do it all badly!
Just as an aside, there is a real disconnect in levels here. To be considered equivalent to grade 6 theory you must have a second year music course, to be considered exempt from grade 8 theory you have to have a 3rd year music course instead. But if you have grade 8 practical and grade 8 theory this only counts instead of an A level in music, so how come A level music is not the reverse equivalent so it would stand in the place of grade 8 practical and theory? I've covered a high degree of complexity of material in the early years of a music course, it just doens't happen to match precisely with the curriculum of the theory papers, but then neither does PM or jazz, it's just a point where you can say you are ready to enter for diplomas.