QUOTE

You can send in a note when you make the entry of any dates the student is not available.

It's great if the Board is able to take on board important requests of this kind. And clearly it stands more chance if you ask early on in the process.

But how would it work with online applications? Linking a postal or e-mail note with an online entry is going to be extra work for someone! It's simpler if you can attach a note to a paper appication form - isn't it??

Maggie

I've send an email to the appropriate region immediately after making the online entry, including the reference number and my applicant number. I get the usual 'we have noted your preferences and will do our best to comply' answer a few hours later.

OK - I see. Thanks very much Andante in c!

Maggie

I put a note in with my application about time of day, because my accompanist had limited availability, and they didn't reply or anything but they gave me a morning exam.

QUOTE

I've send an email to the appropriate region immediately after making the online entry, including the reference number and my applicant number. I get the usual 'we have noted your preferences and will do our best to comply' answer a few hours later.

I've done this too - always works! Although they always say they can't make any promises (obviously), I've never had a clash if I've warned them in advance about school trips etc.

QUOTE (Gae @ Apr 13 2005, 10:33 AM)

Wouldn't it be a good idea if there could be a section on the forum for accompanists to register or put their details up for others to contact?

Our local exam centre actually keeps a list of accompanists, and if new accompanists come to exams they can add their details... seems like a very very sensible plan to me.

Taking exams in an international centre causes problems for us as we seem to have a holiday either just before or at the start of each exam period. This causes havoc with practising as my students are often on holiday, sometimes until the day before their exam.

i voted for plenty of advance notice.

even though i do LCM exams ive just recieved one of 3 dates which the exam could be on!!

i don't know how practical this, but maybe a friendly face in the exam room, to ease the nerves or make it not so formal, some of my examiners chatted to me and others were very strict which made me even more nervous, i suppose a parent/teacher could sit in the room, no?????? sorry this is very naive but what me and my friends at my music school think, sorry for being on the teachers forum :-S!

I wouldn't want a parent or teacher in the exam room with me

perfect solution for that is, have a friend as your accompanist... was really reassuring when I did my flute exam to have a friend, someone who was "on my side", in there, even if it wasn't for the whole exam!

While my sister was waiting for me. she told me another pianist was listening to me play and guessed (right as well) that I was grade 6, that's a scary thought, all my mistakes!

Maybe because they knew the pieces?!

I have recently needed to enter candidates in small groups on different entry forms because of problems finding suitable dates which would suit everyone in one go, which then means that if there is someone with a problem who needs to be re-arranged, I can swop among my candidates, and of course, phone the Board to confirm that's ok. If this hasn't been possible, our local rep has been fantastic at trying to rearrange candidates. I would always enter them if they're going to be ready and want to do the exam, rather than postpone for a whole term.

I voted facilities. A good time for the exam is worthless if it is at a centre with such poor facilities. I remember a warm up room with a piano so badly out of tune it was difficult to have a final run through, and that was my grade 8 clarinet! I've even heard of warm up rooms with no piano at all and piano candidates there. And worst of all even centres with NO warm up room.

Similar obviously appies to the exam room itself, and how well equipped it is, well lit, warm etc.

A good time is obviously convenient but it counts for nothing if the venue is so ill equiped to prepare properly and do the exam.

For me as an adult learner with a full time job that often sends me travelling, the most important thing is plenty of notice. When I did my Grade 8 I was asked my preferred date for a meeting - I didn't know the date of the exam so I didn't express a preference. In the event, it clashed. My work were very understanding and let me miss the meeting on that occasion, but had I known sooner when the exam was, I could have arranged the meeting for a different date.

I would say that the convenient date would be important because if you had a dentist appointment for example, then you wouldn't be able to do it. I also think it's important to have plenty of notice so you can get more practise time.

Car Expert

I would put good venue facilities, including acoustic. My local ABRSM centre have the exams in a room which isn't very recital-friendly, it's essentially a really big practice room. It was always hard to really give a sense of performance there.

That was one of (many) reasons why I switched to Trinty after Grade 5, as the venue is the City Church, which let's you pretend you're giving a big solo recital to lots of people, rather than having to play to all the precussion instruments and two harpischords being stored in the exam room.

I know it's not really possible but it would be great to be able to try out the piano in an exam for at least 15 mins or so, preferably a few days before the exam.I know you are given a short time at the start of an exam to try it out but this is barely a minute. Most other instrumentalists have the luxury of playing their own instruments which makes such a difference. A concert pianist would never go on stage and give a recital on a piano he hadn't tried before - why should an examinee be any different ?

You can contact your local representative to see if you can try out the piano beforehand but because some of the venues are used for other things outside of exam periods, I guess it is a bit difficult.

I think I do my piano exams at the centre you're talking about, Stantonbury. It is a very strange sort of room, although it was better than some exams where it was at this ladie's house, and the warm-up piano was a keyboard on the woman's bed.

Did you mention this to your HLR? (Probably me - I suspect you were in St Austell?). You have a valid point - presumably you are a singer, the pianists wouldn't notice the 'kitchen' part of the room, having their backs to it. There are all sorts of reasons why a venue is selected, the most important being that it is quiet, not overheard, and convenient to get to. Any suggestions for alternatives would be sympathetically considered.

I've voted for plenty of advance notice, though I think that this has to go along with 'convenient date' for this to work.

I think that the board's current arrangements creates equity issues for adult learners. Most adult learners have a range of commitments that cannot easily be rescheduled. Two weeks notice is not sufficient, in many cases, to re-arrange work and / or childcare commitments. I believe that in not taking the needs of adult learners seriously, the board runs the risk of excluding many such learners.

I voted for a convenient date, because I have to get an accompanist for my singing candidates. In practice, I ring the local rep to see what week they have requested, then ring my regular accompanist to find out what days he can do in that week. I then put my entries in on line, request the same week as the local rep, and send the board an e-mail requesting a specific date. I find that they are very helpful. I have at least 12 candidates each entry, so the convenient date is for the accompanist, rather than the pupils! Most of my candidates are adults or adolescents, and I have no problem with them getting time off work, school or college.
We are very lucky that we have a church for our exam venue, which has a waiting room, and a room with an electric piano, which is fine for warming up singers. I think they hire in the piano in the church for piano candidates.
All in all, I'm very pleased with the way things are run in my area.

Ann

Almost everyone I speak to seems to have got the week they specified as preferred.

This has not happened for me recently - and this time is worse than usual; having asked for week 5 I got week 2 - which is a huge difference. Of course I warned my pupils as I always do that the exams start at the end of February and that after mid term they really only have polishing time. All are ready except for one poor child who's been unwell and had a really shaky term until two lessons ago - it is really bad luck for this one. I can't help wondering why - if so many got their preferred week- my date is so far adrift.

Anyone from the board available to comment please?

That's bad luck. Might it be worth asking if there's a later cancellation for the child who has been ill? One of the teachers I'm accompanying for this term asked for week 5 and got week 3, with a date that clashed with a school trip for one of the two candidates I'm booked for. That means two 20-mile round trips for me and double my travel costs to each candidate. On the other hand, I suspect that so many people ask for the final week that the chances of everyone getting it are probably nil. I don't remember ever hearing of a teacher getting the final week when they didn't ask for it. I suppose there may be centres that are only booked for that week where it could happen.

Sorry this is a belated response. I hadn't looked at that thread for quite a long time.

Thanks da capo for your kind response. I didn't think it was worth asking for special arrangements - especially as there hasn't been any comment from the board.

I voted for convenient time, mainly as I have to take 8 school children to an exam soon, in the City centre starting at 9am - worried about rush-hour traffic in a mini-bus and parking etc. Because of this, having to leave school at 8am is something I'm not looking forward to (and travelling 20 miles to get to school!) - city centre venues with no easy parking adds to exam stresses. (Aarghhhhhhh)

I don't know whether this poll had any influence but I would like to comment on how exam appointments seem to have gone out much sooner this session.
Thanks to AB staff for that.

I agree with catch22 to know something about the examiner.
Would it be possible on the entry forms and internet forms to request certain dates and maybe indicate morning or afternoon appointments?
Aligator

I'd endorse most of the above. I use the online application form - it "feels" very focused around school-age/student candidates. You are warned that not all centres can do all dates (fair enough) but no hint is given about what dates the centres can do - adult students with a car could often access several different venues and would be happy to do so if it meant they could book a date around work/home commitments... If the flexibility just isn't there then it's essential that the dates are quickly notified - so that work/life can be juggled around if possible - one candidate this year spent weeks not knowing if she was going to have to move a hospital appointment/cancel the exam. Finally if when a date is offered the candidate notifies quickly enough that they can't make the date a "transfer" over to the next session rather than losing the entry fee would seem appropriate (students with other exam boards seem to get this pretty much automatically). Having said all of that I sent a very picky email as a backup to an exam entry this year and although I got no reply (irritating that - like email into ether) my requests were accommodated 100% - so a big vote of thanks to ABRSM staff there....

RE. dates, I know of a young man who is skipping his grade 4 exam (piano) this time because he cant be guaranteed his chosen week and is desparate to avoid clashing with his GCSE's. His parents are not impressed to learn that they may not get a refund should there be a clash. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Any suggestions?

E-mail the Board and explain the predicament. If he's prepared to be a bit flexible as to which centre he goes to, they may be able to sort things out.

Date with plenty of advance is definetely needed for me because i work full-time!!

Facilities really matter though because i've been to centres with the Piano out of tune and i really really hate that!

I am lucky and always enjoy a good venue and facilities. I agree with Cath22 that a little knowledge about the examiner would be nice.

The most important thing for me is to have a suitable date. I work full time so need sufficient notice to be able to juggle my committments, not only to sit my own exams but also to be there to support any of my pupils who may be entered for their own exams.

i think having a suitable date is really important ( and that comes from an experience)

You see , last year ,when i was studying piano grade 5 , i worked REALLY HARD on this grade , but , i would finish my school exams on june 9th and my piano exam was set to be on the morning on june 10th!

So all the hard work i had been doing all over the year was lost because of the date of the exam...

I was so dissapointed beacause in that grade i hardly passed when my teacher and i expected a distinction...

I've accepted dates and times as notified because I am able to give maximum priority to music examinations. Notice has been very good, and I'm assuming that it always will be.

Facilities is the biggie - warm venue (but not too hot), car parking, access, waiting room, warm-up instrument if possible - nice piano in a space with nice acoustics.

George

I don't think the whole year's lessons need to be devoted to exam prep in order to make sure a student is reasonably prepared even if the exam is earler than expected.

I think the waiting time may be determined by where you exam comes in that examiner's 'tour'. If you are at the end of his two/three weeks you shouldn't have long to wait because that's when he returns the mark sheets to the board. If you are at the beginning you will have to wait for the tour to finish...

W

I voted "other" because I feel that it is probably a combination of all these factors in roughly equal proportions. I used to worry about dates etc. until this summer. One of my pupils had a family holiday booked which I had not been aware of. I found it very easy to get the Associated Board to find an alternative venue and date. Just a few seconds on the phone was all it took and an obviously very harrassed but very efficient employee of ABRSM arranged a venue in the leafy suburbs of Belfast as an alternative to my normal venue of Bangor, N. Ireland. This was a blessing in disguise as the girl concerned and her parents were delighted with the new discovery, speaking about the pleasant atmosphere, the (in their opinion) better ambience, acoustics, instrument, etc. So I will allow her to be entered there in future and indeed offer the same choice to any other interested pupil/parent. I had always considered that one couldn't be entered in a centre too close to one's home; however, the candidate in question shed a different light on this by saying that it created more of a sense of occasion to have to travel to the examination and to have the adrenaline flowing as a result. It wouldn't be my natural instinct, but then I'm male and perhaps I am less inclined to think along such lines! ABRSM builds insufficient flexibility to the extent that we don't have to obsess about the minutiae too much.

As a parent, I would like plenty of notice of the exam time and date. Taking time off work to ferry my children is not something I can do with a few clicks of my fingers!

EXAMS ON A SUNDAY!!!!!


Why can't we have exams available on a Sunday?
This would make it so easy to avoid clashes.
I'm aware of the religious reasons against it but what about other religions such as Muslims and Jews - they may still be examined on a Friday or Saturday. And of course you could ask for that day to be avoided just like Saturday.
Like it or not Sunday is no longer a sacred day and I personally would welcome it greatly.

No reason at all why you can't enter candidates for any centre they'd like to go to. I had two pupils, a mother and daughter who were doing a theory exam, but they'd booked their family holiday to clash with the exam date. Luckily they weren't going abroad for the holiday, and although they live (as I do) near Norwich I entered them for the Portsmouth exam centre and they both took their theory exams in Portsmouth in the middle of their holiday week! No, it's not something I'd choose to do on my holidays, but they didn't want to miss the exam and have to take it next session, the holiday was already booked.... so it seems the least undesirable option. I had no trouble entering them, though of course I made them a separate entry from my other candidates who sat their theory exam in Norwich as usual.

A saturdays only option would be good. I prefer a saturday as weekday exams cause me problems getting out of school to accompany pupils.

I also agree with Cath22

Speak for yourself! Thus spake the Curate's wife! I had to accompany some Trinity Exams on a Sunday. Never again! Sunday is special. I now refuse to both teach or do exams on Sundays. That day is given to God and my family.