Quick question - I am entering a pupil for a jazz exam this time (first time for me), Do all the centres do the jazz exams or only certain ones? thanks

I've done two jazz exams. I had to use two different centres - both around 30 miles away. The Board uses centres where the demand is greatest. If you live in a big city/town you might get your local centre. You might get a phone call from the Board though to discuss other options.

It's worth it though!

Thanks for your reply. I have just filled in the online form and noticed there is a separate one for jazz exams - so we will see. In London, so hopefully it won't be too far away. cheers

Quite honestly i don't know why the ABRSM does'nt just amalgamate the jazz and classical exams into the same centres and on the same days, i've had such a headache getting local venues for my jazz students, the last two students had an hours travel time when their was a classical centre 5 minutes away

LCM exams just do all their exams-Jazz/Rock/Classical/Drama all at the same centre and on the same day, so clearly it can be done.

I think it's hard enough for examiners who are classical and pianists by nature to understand other instruments let alone Jazz. I'm not being rude about anyone in saying this.

It seems to be pot-luck, depending on the number of entries for the centre. We didn't have any jazz exams this time, although there were 2 days of them last time, I think. Some examiners do examine both classical and jazz, but they seem to be few and far between.

I'm sure the availability of suitable examiners is the problem. Would you really want your jazz candidates to be examined by someone with little or no experience of jazz?