Assessment & It's Worth

Assessment is a major part of our society. Even before we are born, scans measure us, plot us on a graph, and tell us (or usually our parents) if we are achieving the lengths and sizes expected.

I was assessed throughout my life in the education system and during extra curricular activities. Within my teaching career in school, assessment is a key part of the teaching standards; everything I did needed to demonstrate evidence of progress. Assessment has shaped me as a person, as an educator and as a professional.

But when it comes to music, what does assessment really do for our singing or playing? Music is a creative outlet, so why do music exam boards shape musicians into their criteria. Who's to say what a musician is producing wouldn't be appreciated by someone out there, or even better, have a huge impact on their perception of music.

So, what does assessment actually support?

It gives us something to aim for. In a world where creativity can feel limitless and sometimes overwhelming, assessment provides a framework. It sets standards, not necessarily to confine us, but to guide us. When learning to sing or play an instrument, those criteria can help refine technique, posture, tone, and musicality. They act almost like scaffolding, not the final structure, but something to support us as we grow. For beginners especially, this sense of direction can be invaluable. Without it, progress can feel vague or even stagnant.

There is real value in feedback, particularly from someone who does not know us. A music examiner is, in many ways, a friendly stranger. They bring an outside perspective, free from the biases of teachers, peers, or family members. Their feedback is rooted in a mark scheme, it can feel more objective and more balanced. It is not about personal taste as much as it is about recognised musical elements. This kind of feedback can validate our efforts, but it can also highlight areas we might never have noticed ourselves.

Assessment can push us beyond what feels safe. Preparing for an exam often encourages us to take risks, to tackle a more challenging piece, to explore a different genre, or to perform in a way we might not usually choose. Assessment can expand our musical identity. It nudges us out of our comfort zone and into new territory, where growth tends to happen. While that pressure can feel uncomfortable, it can also be transformative.

Music exams create an opportunity to perform, even if the setting is somewhat artificial. Standing or sitting in front of an examiner, alone, is not the same as playing to an audience in a concert hall or singing with others in a choir. Yet, it still brings the same physical responses; nerves, adrenaline, anticipation. Learning to manage those feelings is a skill in itself. Assessment gives us a space to practise performing under pressure, to understand how our bodies react, and to learn how to channel that energy into our music.

But despite all of this, it is important to recognise the limits of assessment.

Assessment has a place in music, it can guide, challenge, and support us, but it does not define us. A mark, a grade, or a comment on a sheet of paper cannot fully capture what it means to be a musician. Music is far too personal, too subjective, and too deeply human for that. It exists to be felt as much as it is to be heard.

No exam board can measure the way a song connects with someone, or how a simple melody can stay with a person for years. No criteria can fully account for the joy of creating, the release of expression, or the shared experience of making music with others.

So yes, work towards the grade if you want to. Value the feedback. Embrace the challenge. But do not let assessment become the reason you make music.

Make noise. Sing loudly (or quietly). Tap rhythms on your knees. Play an instrument in whatever way feels right to you. Because in the end, the worth of music is not found in a certificate, it is found in the way it makes you feel.

And that is something no assessment can ever truly measure.