Dance lessons - where to draw the line

At our school exams are not compulsory, but children gain a lot from the preparation and taking the exam. We have the odd extra lesson with the pianist, and it is recommended that children taking an exam attend two classes a week for ballet.

Vocational exams are expensive. Dd1 is taking Inter-foundation next week, in our studios, and with pianist fee and exam fee it's still £99! IDTA grades are about £20-25, which isn't masses, but add up when you have four children all doing several genres!

The only other school I have ever come across that did this was, funnily enough, a festival school. Exams were scheduled once a year, and everyone had to do extra lessons on Sundays for about 8 weeks beforehand on top of the usual classes.

Don't turn up = can't do exam. Don't do exam = can't go up to next grade. Not in right grade = dropped from groups = can't compete.

As Pictures says, there is no requirement with RAD to take any of their graded exams before moving up to the next one.

The only exception is the vocational grades - you need to have passed Intermediate before taking Advanced 1, and Adv 1 before taking Adv 2.

There are teachers out there, however, who insist that each exam is taken before moving up to the next grade, and demand that extra lessons are paid for, otherwise you get to stay behind your friends and not move up, like it or lump it.

Two rehearsals here for exam usually at one of the DC dance schools. Just for all the details and placement, as mentioned above.

Another dance school does at least eight extra lessons over weeks. There is no charge for these lessons but I wonder why on earth they're needed at this stage. Classes of just two or three girls too.

In the earlier grades I don't suppose it would matter too much about the exams. The associate schemes and summer schools don't seem (correct me if I'm wrong as I'm sure there are exceptions) to care, or want to know, about exam results, just which grade you're doing.

What on earth are they doing in these extra lessons?

I understand that schools without a regular pianist need a rehearsal @ they also need a rehearsal practising just in their group of 4 practising their spacing/place at the barre etc.

But 6 extra lessons!!!

In my case teacherwith2 as a Child I had severe asthma which led to attacks during or before most exam periods (academic & dance/music ones)

I didn't sit a school end of year exam for 3 years running at one stage

I find that very sad that you can't choose not to take an exam as exams don't suit everyone & they are very expensive.

As long as a student has reached the required level of technique they should be allowed to progress.

As full time school students don't take RAD exams except a few schools still offer the vocational grades (presumably so they can train to teach later on or enter Genee/Janet Cram. )

Pictures,

If a child is ill, they get moved up anyway - that is beyond their control (also the child who broke her arm). But in the higher grades you can't choose not to take the exam. If an exam date is truly inconvenient (e.g. family wedding), then there are reciprocal arrangements amongst the local dance schools for eaxch other's students to take the exam at a different centre.

I alsop agree with annegelus that there are disceet advance / staged payment arrangments.

At dds previous dance schools children followed the exam syllabus & took the exam as and when ready but once the teacher had recommended a child for the exam if gircanyvreason they chose not to take it- they were still moved up. The only compulsory exam is if you choose to do vocational grades you have to pass Intermediate before being allowed to take Advanced 1 (but Inter Foundation is optional)

I gave up ballroom dancing because of a school like teacherwith2kids school. I had done all the work but was ill the couple if weeks before the exam. I was kept back instead of being moved up with my friends so I left.

At dds previous dance school all exam work was covered in class we just had to pay for one extra session which took the form of a mock exam the Sunday before the real thing.

For those doing RAD ballet exams, you can check the fees on their website, but also remember that often the teacher may well have the additional cost of hiring the hall and possibly also a pianist for the day and so on.

With some examining bodies, the higher graded exams and vocational exams are awarded UCAS points, which might be useful for older students.

Exams don't cost more than the term fees here! Though we also have a weekly private lesson

Depends on the syllabus and stage the children are too.

Idta exams in the early years/grades are approx £20, RAD around 40-50. They're expected to do the exams, I haven't come across anybody in all the years we've been dancing (and during my own dancing years) whose child has opted out. If they pass they're allowed to move up to the next grade.
One of our dance schools does (discreetly) allow parents to pay for the exams months in advance, just a couple of pounds here or there or what they can afford.

Yes I strongly suspect we are being fleeced for 6 year olds' exams! The exams cost more than a term's worth of lessons so it's not uncommon for them to be skipping exams... But my 2 are both quite new to dance so we are not into the serious stuff.

doesn't = don't. Apologies.

DD's dance school also does a very sensible scheme whereby, once you are in the 'dance quite a lot' group, you simply pay a flat weekly fee, and you can attend as many classes as wanted / needed - so extra show rehearsals, joining with a higher grade class (she does 3 ballet classes at different grades), pointe, body conditioning, choir, drama etc etc doesn't make any differentce to the cost.

Children do progress through the early stages (they don't do pre-primary as it is seen as 'money for nothing', and exams proper start with primary or Grade 1, depending on the discipline) with their peers if they don't take the exam - but that does stop once well into the 'main' grades.

The main vocational grades - Intermediate, Advanced - are getting on for £60. The grade exams are MUCH less than that, to the extent that I can't imagine anyone able to pay for the main weekly lessons finding the cost of exas a barrier IYSWIM?

Teacher it's not pointless avoiding exam at our ballet school - £60 each which is ridiculous if you have a couple of children each doing several disciplines!

And children who aren't doing exams, for whatever reason - too stressy, too expensive or whatever - are moved up with children of their own level. Maybe exams are cheaper at your dance school, but surely no child would be kept in preprimary forever because of financial difficulties - that's bonkers!

Reads thread, laughs hollowly, goes off to get DD's hair and makeup prepared for festival...

In DD's dance school at least, progression is via exam - so you move from Grade 5 to Grade 6 ballet thriough doing the Grade 5 exam. Choosing not to do exams would mean staying in the same level for ever, with others moving up around you. The exams are on a 'take when ready' model - the school is big enough to be its own exam centre, so they are simply entered for whatever grade they are working towards in the term in which they are ready for it. Lessons teach the syllabus (plus lots of free work, as they are an ISTD school, and ISTD exams contain free work set by the examiner pretty much from the very earliest grade) , so it's a bit pointless not doing the exam as it isn only the half hour exam itself that you wouldn't do IYSWIM.

How much time do the exams actually take up?

At my dd's school it is one exam practice, and the exam itself a couple of weeks later. There isn't all that much to it really as they learn the whole syllabus during regular classes anyway.

What I'm wondering is whether your dd's teacher doesn't have time to cover everything during normal class because of all the practices for festivals/comps etc and has to lay on extra 'exam practice'sessions.

If they give up doing exams it might mean they also miss out on learning everything, which will eventually have an impact on their training and negatively affect their performance, which would be a pity, since that is what they are enjoying the most.

Well in that case OP, I would definitely agree you need to talk to them about how much they are doing and how much they would like to do in an ideal world. Of course you have to take cost and time into account and only you can decide that.