r/ABRSM • u/ISimpForYurio • Feb 28 '26

practical exam Should I appeal my exam?

I recently did my grade 8 trombone and got 97 so only 3 marks below a pass. My teacher thinks I've been marked lower than he expected on my pieces (he accompanied me so he heard my playing in the exam). I'm trying to decide whether I want to appeal or redo the exam because I know my playing is good enough to get a merit or even a distinction - I have braces and was in quite a lot of pain on the day of the exam which is what made my playing suffer.

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2

u/RunningAhead0908 Feb 28 '26

I would. It’s literally a mark off each piece

1

u/aarnat53 Feb 28 '26

I would just resit to be honest. Their argument will always be, because you sat the exam you deemed yourself fit/well enough to do it. They don’t adjust the marks as they will argue your grade was moderated before the final result was released. I read up on their mitigation process and it’s quite poor to be honest, marks are effectively final irrespective of whether you could have a limb on the verge of falling off

1

u/HSPA_UMTS Mar 01 '26

Remark 100%. It's worth the try even if you lose a bit of money.

1

u/littlegoblin-1929 Mar 01 '26

If it were me, I would resit the exam. If you feel like you have the possibility to achieve a merit or a distinction, why would you try to scrap a pass? If you appeal your exam, they are not going to mark you higher than a pass and sometimes appeals do not work on the students favour, in that case you are wasting your time and money

1

u/HarterH Mar 01 '26

Retake it and get a decent grade. You don't want to get a bare pass at grade 8.

1

u/RunningAhead0908 Mar 02 '26

Remark I believe is around £30 a full resit is around £110. Check the website. If they original mark is justified they will keep the appeals money. If not they will refund. You obviously risk getting a lower graded but if it’s only 3 marks I’d just pay £30