NEW ABRSM Exam Booking

Have you ever found the examiners handwriting impossible to read, wanted to choose your exam day or check results as a student. Well now you can, with the ABRSM's new online booking system.

Starting from January 2020, all UK exam entries will need to be made using the ABRSM's new online service, with which results will be available more quickly, along with digital mark forms. And with their new candidate account option, candidates or parents will be able to log in to check exam information, change practical appointments and view their results and practical mark forms. 

However, to be ready for this new format, there will be some changes in the application process. First of all, those booking the exam will need to set up a new account, even if you already had an old applicant ID and you can register for this HERE

Also, when adding candidates, the date of birth will now be compulsory and if you want to see your results as a candidate, you will need to give the applicant an email address to log in to the online service. Teachers will need to be sure they comply with GDPR rules about the storing of personal data.

When applying, the applicant will now have the option of choosing the date, but to ensure the widest possible choice of options, this should be done right at the start of the booking period. So for example, the booking period for next term is 13 – 26 January. Probably many teachers in the past, will have left it until the last possible day, so this might necessitate a change in habits.

Certificates will still be issued by post as before, but the mark forms will be in an online pdf format, which addresses the old problem of being able to read the examiner's handwriting, although I can envisage it might make the exam process take a little longer if the examiner's typing skills are not so fast. 

One final change to the exam process itself, is that examiners will now be using ipads to not only make a written record of their marks and comments, but also an audio recording of the exam which can be used the the event of an appeal, which seems to me a good step forward.