Are music grades 'equivalent' to gcse's?

my guitar teacher told me that grade 4 and 5 on an instrument is equivelant to an a*-c gcse? Is this true, i've also heard that a distinction at grade 5 is equivalant to an a*, do any musicians or anyone in fact know the direct equivalance of a pass, merit or distinction at grade 4 or 5 to an a*-c gcse?

Reply 1

lil groovy dude

I thought they're equivalent to UCAS points.

Reply 2

afua12

I also heard that a grade 5 was an equivalent to a GCSE - I don't know the exact grades etc. though... have a look on the UCAS website - I think it gives an equivalent there...

Reply 3

Morgan141

It might have changed this year but in the past grade 6-8 are worth a certain amount of UCAS points depending on whether you got a pass, merit or distinction. They ranged from about 30 to 70, which is around what an AS level is worth. Grades 1-5 weren't worth anything.

edit: It's not changed apparently

Reply 4

Firebird

They can't be directly and formally equivalent - grade 4 & 5 pieces would be considered "more difficult" pieces by exam boards marking your performance though (and a grade 5 piece played to distinction level would easily get you an A*). This is for performance only, however.

A much better guide would be grade 5 practical and theory together, which would (in most places) enable you to start studying A level music if you hadn't done GCSE. However, the standard you need to ultimately reach at A-level for high grades is obviously higher than G5, and having Grade 5 theory & practical doesn't mean you have all the knowledge you gain in GCSE - e.g. I found I had all the knowledge I needed for performance & the parts of the listening paper where Western classical theory was needed, but that doesn't mean I knew anything about, say, Indian classical or Britpop.

So basically, Grade 5 dist. could easily be seen as equal to or better than A* GCSE performance and Grade 5 theory & practical could be seen as vaguely equivalent to GCSE but there's no formal equivalents. If you have Grade 5 practical and decent musical knowledge though, you're probably more than capable of an A* anyway though.

Hope that helps, it made my head hurt!

Reply 5

andymt

colemanator

do you want to know if grade 4-5 performing is equivilent to gcse music standard? if so see the post above.

in ucas points, there is a conversion table, and i think grade 5 distinction is equivilent to a c at gcse. i wouldnt bother too much with it, its not worth anything really.
grade 8 distinction is equivilent to a c at a level. stupid really as its way harder to get that than it is to get a c at a level.
dont bother with these conversions, waste of time mate.

Reply 6

luke512

I got an A* in my performance work an i played grade 5 violin.

Reply 7

Ashes_to_Ashes

They can give you UCAS points

Grade 6: 25-45
Grade 7:45-60
Grade 8: 60- 75

I think... the range is bcoz u get different marks for different results (pass, merit, distinction)

gud luk with the music :biggrin:

Reply 8

Zygroth

andymt

din ucas points, there is a conversion table, and i think grade 5 distinction is equivilent to a c at gcse.

In that they're both worth 0 pts? :p:

You get Ucas points for theory as well as the practical ones, from grade 6 onwards.

Reply 9

Cool.Zero

I don't think ABRSM music theory/instrument grades are comparable... everything in the music exams are theoretical/practical whereas music GCSE is very analytical, and the theory and notation in GCSE music is SO EASY (like grade 3 music theory).

UCAS only recognise grades 6-8... and you get points according to the pass you got (pass, merit or disctinction).

I got a distinction in grade 6 and grade 8 piano, and have passed the performance level 1 course...

For some odd reason, theory grades don't count anywhere near as many points as their equivilent instrumental counterparts.