Exam board to charge for music certificates for school children

For decades they have enjoyed pride of place on the family mantlepiece, celebrating the musical achievements of school children across the world.

But soon the certificates announcing whether youngsters have made the grade on their chosen instrument are going to come at a price, after the examination board decided to “go digital”.

On Tuesday, the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), which delivers over 650,000 music exams and assessments every year in 93 countries, announced it will soon start charging £3 for paper certificates in a bid to “further safeguard our certificates against fraud and maintain standards and confidence in our exams”.

It also said it had taken the decision to reduce “our transport and paper use” and “help us to achieve our sustainability goals”.

The new scheme will be rolled out between April and August allowing applicants to download a digital certificate through their ABRSM account – rather than relying on one being sent in the post.

Those still wanting a physical certificate will then have the option to order a paper copy for £3, or the equivalent in local currency. The new scheme will apply to performance grades, practical grades and music theory grades.

An email sent by ABRSM read: “As an awarding organisation we have a responsibility to ensure that results and certificates are valid and secure. Digital certificates will help us to further safeguard our certificates against fraud and maintain standards and confidence in our exams.

Sustainability goals

“Digital certificates will be available more quickly than paper certificates. They will be easy to download, print, store and share, and the unique QR code on each certificate will provide online verification of the candidate and exam details.

“Finally, we hope that by reducing our transport and paper use, the introduction of digital certificates will help us to achieve our sustainability goals.”

The organisation also announced that it would be introducing a new logo in the coming months.

The ABRSM was founded in 1889 when Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish composer and then the principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and Sir George Grove, the founding director of the Royal College of Music, decided the two institutions should combine to form an associated examining board to run joint local exams.

Applicants work through grades one to eight, with the option to progress higher to diploma level. Practical graded exams are marked out of a total of 150, with 100 marks required for a pass, 120 for a merit and 130 for a distinction.

In 2015, Leo Bailey-Yang, a seven-year-old pianist from Clayton, Manchester, became the youngest person in the world to gain a Grade 8 Distinction. He appeared on Britain’s Got Talent playing Flight of the Bumble-Bee blindfolded, but did not make it past the semi-finals.