Exam Syllabus – Pianodao

ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2027/8

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

It’s that time again: right on cue, ABRSM have published their latest piano grade exam syllabus, accompanied as usual by a raft of resources to support players and teachers. With their 2027 & 2028 piano syllabus, they promise:

Refreshed repertoire for Practical and Performance Grades, Initial to Grade 8, with new Piano Exam Pieces books for each.
A separate, 68-page Teaching Notes booklet.
A new online Piano Learning Hub with video demonstrations and learning resources.
Audio recordings, available on all major streaming platforms.

They also confirm the following useful information:

There are no changes to the scales and arpeggios or sight-reading and aural tests for Practical Grades.
You can continue to use repertoire from the 2025 & 2026 Piano Syllabuses until 31 December 2027. During this overlap period you must choose all your set pieces from the same syllabus.

The first of these points may be disappointing for educators, but probably won’t come as a surprise. You can read about the pedagogy problems with their scales syllabus here, and concerns about the validity of their aural tests here.

Meanwhile, in recent years ABRSM’s Piano Exam Pieces books have brilliantly balanced returning favourites with new commissions and inspiring discoveries. So the big question is whether the latest Piano Exam Pieces will live up to the board’s high standards, delivering diversity, musical quality, educational value, and genuine appeal. That’s the question I hope to answer.

LCME Piano Syllabus 2026

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In the rapidly changing landscape of graded piano exams, the regular appearance of new syllabus and varied repertoire publications has remained a positive constant, so when LCME’s 2021-24 piano specifications expired, it was a surprise that they were extended pending a replacement.

This appears to be because the board has undergone considerable change during and since the pandemic. With new leadership and systems now in place, LCME are firmly back, and have this week published the long awaited new piano syllabus, wisely billed as being “valid for examinations from 2026 until further notice”.

Although the new syllabus is immediately valid from 1st September 2026, the previous 2021 syllabus will also remain valid until 31st July 2027 (but mixing the two is not allowed).

In this extended review, I will consider the new repertoire selections and ‘Piano Handbook’ publications, offer insight into other significant syllabus changes and options, and reflect on LCME’s continuing place within the piano exam market.

So to answer the big question many will have, has the wait for the new LCME piano syllabus been worth it? Let’s find out…

Grade Expectations

Supporting Piano Education
Article written by Andrew Eales

”What grade is this piece?”

Having been a syllabus consultant for a number of exam boards, compiled several graded anthology publications, and written in-depth reviews of all the main UK grade exam offerings for the last ten years, it’s probably no surprise that I am often asked to comment on the grade level of pieces.

By analysing current and previous repertoire choices set by the boards, we can draw a number of common conclusions about the Grade Expectations underpinning their past and current syllabus selections, but it must be emphasised that as we do so, we quickly discover that considerable variety exists between equally accredited boards, and that standards have notably shifted in recent years.

This is not a one-way traffic: while the general trend of exam boards has been to jostle for popularity by tweaking their requirements to be easier and more accessible, the benchmarking of pieces and syllabus content has simply become less predictable, with inappropriately difficult pieces also sometimes appearing (see my comments below concerning the ABRSM 2027-28 Piano Syllabus).

In this article I will begin by explaining why it is becoming so difficult to assign clear grade levels to pieces. I will then outline the common technical and musical content commonly found in the syllabus pieces for each grade level in recent years.

I will also link to recommendations of suitable music for each grade level, so that those keen to expand their teaching and playing repertoire can explore the wide and wonderful variety of music that is available for today’s players at every level.

ABRSM Prep Test 2025

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In addition to launching their 2025-26 Piano Exam Syllabus reviewed here, ABRSM have surprised us with an update to their Prep Test content, with a new book to replace their previous (2016) one.

Historically, this was their only Pre-Grade 1 option, which gave future grade exam candidates the opportunity to visit the exam room and play for an examiner in a more friendly, less formal context, and without an assessed pass/fail outcome. But with the introduction of ABRSM’s Initial Grade and video-based assessments, teachers may have wondered whether the Prep Test would be quietly forgotten.

From 2025, the Prep Test retains its existing format in full, and remains exclusively a live music examination, with happy, human connection at its heart.

But in the age of “Performance Grades” and digital diplomas, this first visit to the exam room could now prove to be a learner’s only ever visit. And with the Initial Grade now sharing the Pre-Grade 1 space, we need to consider where the Prep Test now fits in the educational landscape…

ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2025-26

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Whether or not one takes or teaches the ABRSM grade exams, the biennial release of the board’s new syllabus publications remains an important event in the piano education calendar.

Every two years, their new suite of graded books both offers a barometer of current repertoire trends, and acts as an important influencer for the music that will be played and performed over the next few years. Like them or not, these pieces will regularly appear in concerts, festivals, practice rooms, online, and will be much-discussed by teachers, the subject of many questions and opinions.

The popular interest in this syllabus is always evidenced by the tens of thousands who read my reviews of them on Pianodao. In recent years, I have praised ABRSM for breathing fresh life into their music selections, and in my experience the 2023-24 publications have proven especially popular with players.

The new 2025-26 books have now arrived, the updated syllabus coming into effect from January 2025 (for those taking exams, the previous syllabus will also remain valid for a one-year overlap period).

So how will they compare, and can they live up to the very high musical bar ABRSM have been setting in their recent repertoire selections? As usual, I will try to answer that question with sufficient detail and depth, but without getting bogged down in prescriptive pedagogic material about which pieces to pick or how to play them…

Trinity Piano Syllabus 2023

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

The summer months routinely bring a whole new set of piano syllabus publications from one of the major exam boards, and this year it is Trinity College London’s turn.

As ever, I hope my review will explain the most important changes, give readers a first impression of the new publications, and offer some general thoughts on the repertoire selections and direction of travel.

I am going to start by stating that this is a radical update, a riot of invention, but of course that also makes it rather controversial. Questions about whether it offers a comparable and valid educational route are inevitable.

I hope in this review to point towards some answers, based on my perspective as a jobbing piano teacher. So hold on to your hat, and let’s get started!…

Trinity College: A Recital Anthology

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Once in every while a music book arrives on my review desk which is simply too wonderful for words, and yes, this is one of those! Surprisingly so, perhaps, given that on paper this looks like a rather plain anthology of well-worn diploma repertoire.

According to the blurb,

“This unique collection contains 21 pieces from the ATCL repertoire list for Music Performance Diplomas in Piano from 2019. The most popular recital choices join lesser-known treasures, allowing performers to create diverse and compelling programmes, whether preparing for a Trinity diploma or not.”

So you’re possibly wondering what lifts it above the exam jargon and makes it truly special. Let’s find out…

Trinity Piano Syllabus 2021

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Sometimes, like buses, exam syllabi arrive more than one at a time. If it seems as if it were just last month that I wrote my bumper review of the 2021-2 ABRSM piano syllabus, well… that’s because it was.

And now here is the new syllabus from Trinity College London. TCL tell us that this is their biggest ever piano syllabus, so there will be a lot of ground to cover in this bumper review.

Although I am going to integrate my material, I will tackle the review from two perspectives, trying to answer questions and pick up on the headline news for existing TCL exam users, while also writing for those new to grade exams, or considering a switch to TCL from ABRSM or another board.

So let’s discover the big stories in the TCL Piano Syllabus 2021…