Music Grades and University Application Timings

[Smorgasfjord]

I'd be very grateful for advice.

DD will be (hopefully!) going to university in 2026. When should she make applications?

The reason I ask is that she'd like to include her ABRSM Grades in her application. Her piano teacher said that she could take Grade 8 in the autumn, but would this be too late?

Her cello teacher said that she needs to do it this summer.

Thank you

Is she applying for music?

If not then it’s largely irrelevant. The lower tarrif universities might take the points into account but most don’t.

Her application deadline will be January unless she is applying to oxbridge or for medicine.

So if she has the music grades before Jan she'll be able to include them on her UCAS form.I
But yes where might she be applying and for what? If "Oxbridge level" unis then they will only look at GCSE grades and (predicted) A level grades.

She's considering applying for music, but might opt for history.

So, she could do Grades in Autumn and include these in her applications?

Thank you

Yes. But most universities for History won’t look at music grades because they either want A level grades or UCAS points gained from converting the A level grades. I would start looking at universities NOW and see what grades they want for the courses. Open days are coming up for 2026 entry so you need to get your skates on.

If she is applying to Oxford she will need to provide a video of herself playing as part of the application process, so they will go on that rather than what grade she has.

Most Cambridge colleges require the same I think, but it seems to depend on the individual college.

I have had students applying for Music degrees who had not yet taken their grade 8. On their UCAS they categorised it the same way as they did with their A levels, but once the result came through, they were able to update it.

I seem to remember one receiving a reduced offer once she confirmed her merit/distinction (can't remember which, sorry) and her offer was downgraded from A in Music to B. It was a few years ago at a RG uni.

If it's a performance course like a Bmus, it goes on audition only usually and need to be comfortably grade 8. ( Conservatoire would need to be higher than this and apply early October). If it's for BA, then probably just a level. She could sit the exam in autumn, the results come back fairly quickly. You can do joint honours at some places.

Oxford actually requires grade 7 or above Music Theory. That’s not playing an instrument although the video is required. Plus dc can sing in their video. Keyboard skills are also important.

Extra-curricular music grades will be irrelevant for most degrees, unless she's going to a low tariff place which also uses points - they will sometimes include the points from ballet, speech, or music exams in the overall tariff.

And even a Music degree (at a university) will tend just to want to know that a certain level of proficiency in whichever instrument will be pursued throughout the degree. An external exam is evidence of that. However, there are real issues with Widening Participation initiatives in Music degrees, and some universities are trying other routes of selection to Music degrees.

A Conservatoire will want more than music exam grades, however. That's a whole different ball game!

If she's not applying for music but would like it to demonstrate that she is well rounded, she could include a sentence about it in her personal statement. I did this many moons ago when I took my grade 8 in the December of applying for uni. They did ask me about it it my Oxbridge interview, but since I was applying for a completely unrelated course I think it was more out of interest than anything else.

she could include a sentence about it in her personal statement

As an academic who's routinely involved in Admissions for a reasonably selective RG humanities course, I'd be looking for the way in which an applicant relates this extra-curricula achievement to their interest in studying my subject at university - what skills and/or knowledge were developed by this love for & diligence in learning music?

Also to be brutally honest, History is a more employable degree than music. History from a RG or the likes of Bath and St Andrews is a very good degree to have. I would look seriously at History and not music for employability. Doing some paid work whilst studying also helps with cv. Although the government’s proposed changes to employment laws might make employers wary of employing students. Laws with unintended consequences!

She can always put ‘taking grade 8 in June’ or whatever in her statement if it’s relevant.

Yes, this - “playing kazoo at a high level, sitting grade 8 in June” - it’s the same for many “measured” extra curricular eg completing D of E gold in March, completing in global tiddlywinks cup in Feb.

If she's applying for music she should have done grade 8 a while ago, and if not then it doesn't matter

I would disagree about needing to have done G8 a while ago. Some students don't have a 'start you on the piano in the house from 3' upbringing and may come to it all later. Plus, performance is only a part of a BA, and in most cases you can drop it all together after Y1. A handful of courses can be done without any examined performance at all. Students may be much more interested in composition or musicology.

@TizerorFizz Oxford only requires Grade 7 music theory if you don't have the music A-Level. And they only want it then if your school does not offer A-Level music, otherwise they'll expect you to have taken that, or the BTEC if the A-Level isn't offered and the BTEC is

The website also says this.

"The Faculty does not require qualifications in performance or Keyboard Skills, and no candidate should be dissuaded from applying if they have not studied a keyboard instrument or performed to a high level. However, we encourage students to work on developing their keyboard fluency before they come to Oxford, whether this comes in the form of jazz, pop or classical music."

One of my kids got some very good offers for music degrees and didn’t have g8. She did have good GCSEs etc. So it’s not essential (unless perhaps Oxbridge or conservatoires)

Interesting, maybe those I've known have bene unusual, they have all had their diploma at the time of application

I would really hate anyone to be scared off by all this talk of diplomas and how early you must do them. Grade 8 seems to be fine for most unis, and may well be fine for conservatoires - as they only care how you play, surely?

I realise the plural of anecdote is not data, but my friend's son at Oxford for music had just done his grade 8 when he applied, and the teens I know with conservatoire offers (and partial or full scholarships) mostly have grade 8 but they may not have taken it that early. Few have diplomas, and most actually not in the instrument they've applied on if they have.

Friends' children at non-oxbridge unis studying music don't all have grades at all, or took grade 8 in the summer before going to uni. They are all thriving too.

BTW Bath doesn't offer Histoy as a degree for future reference.

Ok not Bath then. I added it in as excellent but not RG. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

I guess I should add Imperial doesn’t either.

As others have said, you don’t need to have a diploma or even grade 8 to study music at university - it’s an academic subject - as long as you satisfy the A level requirements that is enough (though obviously most do also perform to a high standard).

Also disagree about History being more employable than Music - they are both respected degrees and you gain the same transferable skills in both. The key for most non-vocational subjects is where you’ve studied, rather than whether it’s History or Music or English or Politics. I’m a lawyer and have colleagues who converted from Music (as I did from English). BIL did Music at Durham, was inundated with banking and consulting grad scheme offers and now earns 7 figures.