If you are considering singing examinations, or if your teacher has mentioned working towards ABRSM grades, you may have many questions. What exactly is ABRSM? What are the current exam options? What does each grade involve, and what does it take to achieve Distinction? This guide tries to answer the most common of these questions, with attention to the way ABRSM’s singing examinations work today — including the newer online Performance Grades option that opened up during the COVID lockdown years and remains available worldwide.

What Is ABRSM?

ABRSM stands for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. It is the United Kingdom’s most prestigious music examination board, founded in 1889 and endorsed by four of the UK’s leading conservatoires: the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

ABRSM conducts graded music examinations in over 90 countries worldwide, making it one of the most internationally recognised music qualification systems available. An ABRSM Grade 8 certificate in singing is respected by universities, music conservatoires, employers, and arts organisations across the globe. Many universities — particularly in the UK — accept ABRSM Grades 6, 7, or 8 as a substitute for one A-Level in their entry requirements.

The ABRSM Singing Grades — An Overview

ABRSM singing examinations are divided into eight grades, progressing from Grade 1 (beginner) to Grade 8 (advanced). Above Grade 8, ABRSM also offers performance diplomas (ARSM, LRSM, FRSM) for professional-level singers — though these are separate qualifications beyond the graded system.

The Two Current ABRSM Singing Exam Options

Singing candidates today may choose between two ABRSM exam formats, both of which lead to the same recognised qualification:

(1) Singing — Practical Grades: the traditional, in-person examination held face-to-face at an official ABRSM examination centre.

(2) Singing — Performance Grades: the newer online digital examination, introduced during the COVID lockdown years, assessed entirely from a video recording the candidate submits.

Both options culminate in the same qualification and certificate, recognised internationally. The choice between them comes down to format, preferred focus, and the candidate’s personal circumstances. Below, each option is described in detail.

Singing — Practical Grades (Face-to-Face Examination)

The Practical Grades are the traditional ABRSM singing examinations, held face-to-face at an official examination centre, available from Grade 1 through Grade 8. They focus on all-round musical knowledge and skills, including performance. In the examination, candidates perform:

• Three accompanied songs
• One unaccompanied traditional song
• Sight-singing test
• Aural tests

Marking Scheme for Singing — Practical Grades: The examination is marked out of 150 marks in total, distributed as follows:

Result categories: Pass requires 100 marks, Merit 120 marks, and Distinction 130 marks or above. A Pass in each individual section is required to pass the examination overall.

Singing — Performance Grades (Online Digital Examination)

The Performance Grades are ABRSM’s newer online examination format, introduced during the COVID lockdown period to allow candidates to sit their exam without travelling to a physical centre. They remain available today, worldwide. Importantly, the qualification and certificate received from a Performance Grade are identical in status to those received from a Practical Grade — the same internationally recognised ABRSM result.

Performance Grades are assessed from a video recording that the candidate submits. They place a strong focus on performance — communication, interpretation, delivery, and performance as a whole. There are no scales, no sight-singing, and no aural tests in this format. In the examination, candidates present a programme of four songs in one continuous performance:

• Grades 1–5: At least one song from each of the three repertoire lists (A, B, and C).
• Grades 6–8: At least one song from any three of the five repertoire lists (A, B, C, D, and E).
• The fourth song at any grade may be chosen from the official repertoire lists or may be an own-choice accompanied song.
• The songs may be performed in any order.

The convenience of Performance Grades: One of the great advantages of this online digital format is that it is available on demand. Candidates may register at any time when they feel ready. Once registered, the singing video must be submitted within 28 days. The video must be recorded in one continuous take — no editing is allowed, and all four songs must be recorded in one go (it is not permitted to record one song, stop, and record another later). Piano accompaniment may be pre-recorded for the candidate to sing along with.

Marking Scheme for Singing — Performance Grades: The examination is marked out of 150 marks in total, distributed as follows:

Result categories: The result bands for Performance Grades are the same as for Practical Grades — Pass 100–119, Merit 120–129, Distinction 130–150. Unlike Practical Grades, a Pass in each individual component is not required to pass overall — the total mark across all five components determines the result.

Two Repertoire Streams: Classical Opera & Singing for Musical Theatre

Within the singing syllabus, ABRSM further divides repertoire into two distinct streams, allowing candidates to choose the singing style that genuinely fits their voice and their interest:

Classical Opera (Singing for the Classical voice): Candidates sing classical repertoire including songs in foreign languages — Italian, German, French, Latin, and so on. These are art-song and operatic selections drawn from the great classical composers — J. S. Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and many others. This stream is ideal for students drawn to the depth and refinement of the classical tradition.

Singing for Musical Theatre: Candidates sing repertoire entirely in English, drawn from the musical-theatre canon. Songs include selections such as “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from The Phantom of the Opera, or “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. This stream is suited to students whose voice and artistic interest lie in the contemporary musical-theatre tradition — with no requirement to sing foreign languages.

Both pathways carry the same full ABRSM singing qualification, and Ms Jin Loh guides students through each with the same considered care — listening for the particular character of a voice and the natural inclinations of a temperament, and helping each student arrive at the stream best suited to who they truly are as a singer.

Within Ms Jin Loh’s studio, students have attained Distinction across both ABRSM Grade 8 streams. In the Classical Opera stream, one of her Grade 8 students earned Distinction and was further recognised as a High Scorer — a designation reserved for examination results placing among the highest in the country in that calendar year. In the Singing for Musical Theatre stream, both her female and male Grade 8 students have likewise earned Distinction — a result that reflects her capacity to teach with the same depth and refinement across vocal categories of considerable difference.

Beyond the Voice: The Considered Art of Stagecraft

In the world of singing — and most particularly within the Singing for Musical Theatre stream — a Distinction is rarely earned by voice alone. The examiner observes, from the very first phrase, the singer’s posture, presence, the carriage of the head and shoulders, the stillness that allows a phrase to breathe, and the quiet command with which a performer inhabits the stage.

This is where another dimension of Ms Jin Loh’s training becomes a distinguishing advantage for her students. Beyond her credentials as an international award-winning vocal educator with more than 40+ International Teacher Awards, Ms Jin Loh is also an international award-winning Creative Artist, and a classically trained Ballerina with approximately six years of formal ballet training. Within the lesson hour, she draws upon this rare double discipline to guide her singing students not only in vocal technique, but in the considered art of stagecraft — the elegance of stillness, the grace of movement, and the confidence with which a performer carries herself before an audience.

For students preparing for the Singing for Musical Theatre examinations especially, Ms Jin Loh weaves elements of her ballet training into the singing lesson — guiding posture, the line of the neck and shoulders, the considered walk to and from the microphone, the carriage of the hand. The voice is heard; but the singer is also seen. Ms Jin Loh prepares her students for both, with the same depth of care she gives to vocal technique itself.

The Grade 5 Theory Requirement

One aspect of ABRSM examinations that often surprises students and parents: ABRSM requires candidates to pass Grade 5 Music Theory before they can enter Grade 6, 7, or 8 practical or performance examinations in any instrument or voice. This rule applies to singing just as it does to piano, violin, or any other instrument.

This means that students aiming for Grade 6 singing and above must also study and pass ABRSM Music Theory Grade 5. Far from being an obstacle, this requirement is genuinely beneficial — students with strong music theory knowledge understand their repertoire more deeply and develop the broader musical intelligence that directly elevates their singing.

This is where one of Ms Jin Loh’s distinctive qualities becomes especially valuable. Most singing teachers teach only singing — when their students reach the Grade 5 Theory requirement, the family must seek out a separate music theory teacher. Ms Jin Loh, however, is a professional all-rounder musician and multi-instrumentalist, and she is one of the rare singing teachers who also teaches Music Theory and prepares her singing students directly for the ABRSM Music Theory examinations — an unusual continuity that allows the singing journey and the theory journey to be guided by the same considered hand.

The results speak for themselves. Her singing students have achieved Full Marks (75/75) in ABRSM Grade 4 Music Theory, and High Distinction at ABRSM Grade 5 Theory — 73 out of 75 marks, almost a full score.

Does Specialist Preparation Make a Difference to Results?

The evidence from Ms Jin Loh’s singing students over twenty-seven years of teaching is unambiguous: yes, it makes a considerable difference. The students who achieve Distinction tend to share three qualities: a strong technical vocal foundation, well-considered repertoire choices that genuinely suit their voice, and a depth of musical understanding that goes beyond simply learning the notes.

These qualities are not developed by learning songs alone. They require a teacher who understands the current ABRSM system in detail — both the Practical Grades and the Performance Grades, both the Classical Opera and the Musical Theatre streams — and who brings genuine expertise in vocal technique to ensure that the voice is working correctly, with the quality and expressiveness examiners look for at the Distinction level.

Ms Jin Loh is an internationally award-winning vocal educator with more than 40+ International Teacher Awards and 27 years of professional teaching. Beyond her musical credentials, she is an internationally award-winning Creative Artist, a formally trained ballerina with approximately six years of classical ballet training, and — quite distinct from most singing teachers — she is also one of the rare music educators to hold a qualification in Educational Psychology (UK), achieving 100% marks across all her assignments in the discipline. With this working understanding of how students actually learn, Ms Jin Loh observes each student’s particular learning style and quietly shapes her teaching method to the way that individual best receives it — one of the quietest reasons her students consistently excel under her tutelage. Her singing students have also earned international gold prizes in singing competitions — results that reflect not just natural talent, but rigorous, considered preparation guided by a teacher whose own credentials are recognised across multiple international awarding bodies.