Published April 2, 2020
By now, all RCM theoretical and practical students are well aware that there will be a major disruption to the examination sessions for this spring and perhaps summer. To date, the April examination session has been cancelled, and decisions are being made about the upcoming May theory exam session as well as the June practical exam session.
What does that mean for my exam?
For a general response regarding upcoming May theory exams, you may read the official response from the RCM here.
For Levels 5-8 Theory students, the RCM does have an online learning and examination platform that has been available for a number of years. These students will have an opportunity to gain access to the course and exam for no additional charge. Normally, this option would be considerably more expensive than simply registering for a single written theory exam.
For Levels 9 and 10 History, there has been an online examination option available for the past couple of years. This is an option that I have been endorsing as the primary examination method for all of my students. Students registered for the written exam in these disciplines will be switched over to the online examination option. For ARCT History, although there is a link available on the RCM website, it’s not readily accessible which casts doubt on whether it has been fully rolled out at this point. I’ve reached out to the RCM regarding the availability of this exam to candidates who have registered in May for the written test. I was informed that an online exam option is being explored for these candidates.
For all Harmony and Analysis students, according to the official response by the RCM, the exam will be online. To date, there was no current platform already available for students to simply switch over to. This means that the RCM is likely hard at work developing an online solution as we speak as one is not currently ready.
Is there a possibility my exam will not take place?
For Levels 5-8 Theory and Levels 9 and 10 History, you will definitely be able to have your exam online with the protocol that is already in place. The good news is that you will not have to take the exam right on May 8th or 9th. You may take that exam when you feel ready to take it.
As for all the rest of the disciplines, until the RCM comes back with a concrete solution, there always remains the possibility that your exams will simply be postponed. However, the RCM’s top priority is for everyone to complete their exams one way or another this upcoming session, and seeing as how they’ve already informed you in no uncertain terms that the exams will be online, we must be cautiously optimistic that this will be the case. The RCM would certainly have not informed each candidate of an online solution if one weren’t at the very least very close to completion.
What’s next?
It seems the RCM has set a date of April 8th to provide more tangible information regarding the examination session. By then we should know one way or another if or when and how the exams would proceed. As soon as an update is given, I will provide more information.
In the meantime, try your best to be patient but above all, keep studying hard!