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Cost of music grade exams, have they inflated more than gold?

6 replies

WestLondonmumfromtheNorth · 27/02/2024 22:12

OK so this is just a nostalgia post but I looked up cost of grade exams tonight…. Grade 8 £130 plus venue fee, plus accompaniment 😵‍💫.

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this expensive when I did them back in the late 80s. Not least the venue fee and accompanist was free. Can anyone remember the cost of doing grades back in 80s and 90s as I just can’t see my parents paying the cost of a weekly food shop just so I could get a certificate at the end of it!

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thirdfiddle · 28/02/2024 00:59

I have a hazy memory that they would have been £50ish top end grades, but my parents entered us and didn't really discuss the cost.
I don't remember free accompanists, I thought we had to bring our own. Or maybe if there were free accompanists my teacher didn't think they were very good?

(Lot of words to say I don't really remember very well, but I'm now curious to see what other people remember!)

What's a venue fee and who is it paid to? I don't remember having that the last time my kids did exams but it is a couple of years ago now.

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WestLondonmumfromtheNorth · 28/02/2024 08:19

thirdfiddle · 28/02/2024 00:59

For me the exam venue was the local sixth form (who didn't charge a fee for those at other schools). Guess it would be the 'exam centres' fee rather than performance fee. Several seem to charge it round my way (if you are not part of the school, which is usually a Saturday music school rather than a day school).

In my day the accompanist was usually the local piano teacher who did it for free, as all the music teachers were mates. Now people are paying for an accompanist for rehearsal time and the exam. It all seems to have become very expensive.

Looking back we didn't prepare as well as they do today (maybe one run through with said piano teacher before the exam) but that didn't seem to matter as we usually got the pass/merit/distinction we were predicted.

I saw they are now going to charge £3 for a paper certificate so looked up the cost and couldn't believe how much the grades cost. It's not often I'm genuinely surprised but I really was. Have they gone up massively (like house prices and school fees) or am I under estimating what they used to cost?

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Comefromaway · 28/02/2024 15:07

I've just had an email that ABRSM are going to charge an extra £3 for paper certificates. I know it's not a lot but really when you consider the price of the exams, I'm very disappointed with them.

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lurcherlove · 28/02/2024 15:09

Yes, I’m an instrumental and the cost of exams is appalling. Goes up and up and up, and the service from exam boards is terrible. Now £3 for a hard copy of your certificate!!!

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Comefromaway · 28/02/2024 15:09

I did my exams in a local church hall, there was no venue fee. The school smy son used to go to held exams as a private centre and external candidates could join the exam session, they may have had to pay a fee.

Accompanists were never free.

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WestLondonmumfromtheNorth · 29/02/2024 15:54

My accompanist was always free. It was the same for all my friends taking grades. We obviously had a good bunch of music teachers who supported us all (this was a comprehensive in the North during the 80s-90s).
I appreciate times have changed and musicians, quite rightly, want to be paid for their time. I never said accompanists were included in the grade fee, just that my friends and I never paid anything.
Everything was free otherwise hardly anyone at my school/town would have been able to learn an instrument and yes I mean everything (1:1 orchestral instrument lesson, instrument hire, school bands, Saturday wind band, local orchestra and county orchestra which included transport there and back on a coach)... the only thing we paid for were the grades and everyone seemed to be doing them yearly without it being a big deal.
That's why I wondered how much they were back then as I can't imaging our parents being able to afford to pay very much - and if they had they'd would have made sure we knew how lucky we were.