Does anyone have experience of UKA dance examination board?

[Noelle1234]

My dd started a dance school this year, she has danced for a few years but the previous dance school did their own in house awards, she loved it there but it closed. She is now with a new dance school which she equally loves and they are preparing for their exams with the UKA examination board. I was wondering if anyone had any experience of UKA. Is it a good board? I'm assuming it's not on the same level as RAD and others. To be honest, my dd is loving it which is all that matters but just interested to know a bit more about it.

My DC is a professional dancer. I’ve never heard of UKA, but comparisons with the RAD might not be useful, as the RAD is ballet focused and it doesn’t look like UKA does ballet at all. When you say she started a dance school, do you mean she’s a pupil? What sort of dance is she doing? How old is she?

@daisypond

My DC is a professional dancer. I’ve never heard of UKA, but comparisons with the RAD might not be useful, as the RAD is ballet focused and it doesn’t look like UKA does ballet at all. When you say she started a dance school, do you mean she’s a pupil? What sort of dance is she doing? How old is she?

She's doing ballet, tap, contemporary and street. She's 13.

I've heard of them (UK Alliance) but I don't know of anyone who has done their exams. They are fairly unusual in that they accept teachers who have qualified with other exam boards.

They cover a lot of styles not traditionally covered by other exam boards.

@Comefromaway

I've heard of them (UK Alliance) but I don't know of anyone who has done their exams. They are fairly unusual in that they accept teachers who have qualified with other exam boards.

They cover a lot of styles not traditionally covered by other exam boards.

They've had pupils who have gone on to dance schools and I've seen the older girls dance and they are extremely good. The principle was a professional dancer too. I was just wondering how it compares to other dance boards or what kind of reputation the exam board has if one day my dd did want to go on and study dance.

I don;t think the exam board has as good a reputation as for example RAD or ISTD

BUT

the most important thing is the teacher. If your daughter wants to teach dance then the exam board she follows could be important in terms of getting a job. If she wants to study or have a career in dance no one cares. Colleges go entirely on the audition.

(my dd attended vocational dance school and college for 8 years)

@Comefromaway

I've heard of them (UK Alliance) but I don't know of anyone who has done their exams. They are fairly unusual in that they accept teachers who have qualified with other exam boards.

They cover a lot of styles not traditionally covered by other exam boards.

Actually many of the big dance examining bodies accept teachers qualified with other organisations under a mutual recognition scheme. My DD is an RAD teacher and is looking at other organisations currently and there's quite a few options open to her.

@Noelle1234 I have no personal experience but my DD did look at this organisation, from the teacher's perspective, but she didn't feel it was for her. She felt it was less rigorous in its standards than some of the other organisations, but that is, of course, merely her personal opinion.
I would say that there is a wide range of standards within every organisation. You can have great teachers within the less well known organisations and vice versa. It is the quality of the teaching that really matters, not the syllabus.
If your DD applies for full time dance training in the future, it will be her performance at audition that matters, not her exam results. Remember that in some countries it isn't even the norm to take exams, so there will be candidates with no formal qualifications at all. That's why most post 16 courses will say something like "the candidate should be working at Intermediate level or above" not that they have to actually have passed their Intermediate exams with any particular board. If you are generally happy with the standard of teaching and your DD is thriving I wouldn't necessarily swap just to access a better known syllabus. I would say that the teacher's track record in having pupils enter full time training, good associate schemes or other external youth programmes is a good indicator that the teaching is of a decent quality, though of course there are multiple factors that can affect that too.

Thanks so much that's really good to know. I'm really pleased so far and my daughter has really progressed, she has lots of fun and the girls all seem really lovely. The only thing is it's getting quite expensive but you probably know that yourself!

You're welcome Noelle
Had I been asked this question when my DD was a lot younger I would have almost certainly given a different answer! I would have told you not to do ballet with anyone other than the RAD and to choose the ISTD for everything else. But that is because I was judging the organisations on the basis of what I'd seen of local dance schools who had followed their syllabi. In the intervening decades I have realised that that is unreasonable. As DD widened her activities and I widened my world view I began to see things differently! It is a difficult world and to navigate especially if you didn't dance yourself, as I never have and there is a steep learning curve!

I echo the point that it is not necessary to do exams. My DC didn’t do any. The UK is peculiarly exam focused, which gives a bit of a distorted picture. As long as she is progressing and has a good teacher and is enjoying herself, that’s fine.

@AgeingDoc

You're welcome Noelle Had I been asked this question when my DD was a lot younger I would have almost certainly given a different answer! I would have told you not to do ballet with anyone other than the RAD and to choose the ISTD for everything else. But that is because I was judging the organisations on the basis of what I'd seen of local dance schools who had followed their syllabi. In the intervening decades I have realised that that is unreasonable. As DD widened her activities and I widened my world view I began to see things differently! It is a difficult world and to navigate especially if you didn't dance yourself, as I never have and there is a steep learning curve!

Thanks. The teaching does seem very professional, my dd is working hard on her ballet theory too. At the moment, she's just enjoying it and making lots of friends.

@daisypond

I echo the point that it is not necessary to do exams. My DC didn’t do any. The UK is peculiarly exam focused, which gives a bit of a distorted picture. As long as she is progressing and has a good teacher and is enjoying herself, that’s fine.

That makes me feel better as I may not always be able to afford the exams. There are performance exams and graded exams booked for next year. It won't be the end of the world if she can't do them all.