Appropriate Professional Experience

If you are taking a diploma, you may be able to apply to offer Appropriate Professional Experience (APE) as a substitution for the entry requirements listed in the qualification specification.

For information about Recognition of Prior Learning, read our Recognition of Prior Learning Policy.

How to apply

Read the information on this page and in the qualification specification for your diploma. Then complete and send us the form at the bottom of this page, attaching your supporting documents. 

We must receive your form at least six weeks before the date you book your diploma.
We will send you an email to let you know if we have approved your application.
When you are ready to book your diploma, send a copy of the approval email to us at: [email protected]

For Performance diplomas your professional experience must:

be comparable to a Grade 8 Practical Grade or Performance Grade in your diploma subject;
have taken place during the last five years;
consist of relevant practical experience.

It must be supported by:

examples of concert programmes, or reviews of your performances or publicly available recordings;
a signed declaration from an independent person of appropriate standing. This should be a music professional, such as a musical director, orchestral manager or instrumental/singing teacher. The declaration must be in English and on ofﬁcial headed paper. You can find suggested wording for the declaration below.

For Teaching/Education diplomas your professional experience must:

be comparable in subject and level to the entry requirement you are substituting;
have taken place during the last five years;
consist of relevant practical experience.

It must be supported by:

your teaching resume/CV, examples of teaching experience and successes such as student concert programmes or reviews, and links to Instagram, YouTube or similar digital examples/platforms;
a signed declaration from an independent person of appropriate standing. This should be an education professional such as a headteacher or senior teaching colleague. The declaration must be in English and on ofﬁcial headed paper. You can find suggested wording for the declaration below.

Suggested declaration wording (all diplomas)

In my capacity as < title and organisation > I conﬁrm that < full candidate name > has gained Appropriate Professional Experience in connection with < details of performance/teaching experience >.

I have read the relevant qualification specification and can conﬁrm that < candidate name > has studied and or demonstrated skills and understanding equivalent to or greater than < relevant entry requirement >.

< signature and date >

Appropriate Professional Experience application form

First name

Last name

Email address

Telephone number

ABRSM Contact ID

Please provide your ABRSM Contact ID if you have one.

Diploma you want to take

Entry requirement you would like to substitute

Describe the professional experience you would like us to consider.

Attach file

One file only.
32 MB limit.
Allowed types: txt, rtf, pdf, doc, docx, odt, ppt, pptx, odp, xls, xlsx, ods.

What we do with your information
ABRSM and ABRSM Publishing will use the personal information that you provide in accordance with applicable data protection laws and our privacy policy (see abrsm.org/privacypolicy). We will process your personal information to carry out our obligations under any contract between you and us, and where otherwise reasonably necessary for our purposes. ABRSM is registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number Z6618494. ABRSM Publishing is registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number Z6329415.

Appropriate Professional Experience