ON THE DAY OF THE IN-PERSON EXAM 

ARRIVAL AND PREPARATION

• Be prepared for the exam when called by the examiner (i.e. instrument taken out of its case and tuned/warmed up, and exam book(s) ready to use). 

• Bring your own music stand, where appropriate; this applies to all centres outside of the RIAM Campus on Westland Row. 

 MUSIC AND SYLLABI

• Failure to produce original music in any exam will result in disqualification. 

• For recitals, bring a list of the pieces you will perform and a copy of the original music for the examiner. 

• Bring a copy of pieces for examiners for all instruments, including singing and music theatre. For piano, this applies only to pieces not in the piano albums for Grades VI– VIII and the Senior Certificate grade.

• Bring proof of purchase for sheet music bought online in cases where ‘authorisation for use’ does not appear on the music.

• Bring your piano album with you, even if you are playing from memory. 

• Where applicable, play one piece from each list, A, B, and C. 

• Bring your theory certificate. Candidates taking a practical exam, who have passed the written Theory and Harmony exam at the equivalent grade or higher, will automatically be awarded 5 full marks in the practical (Elementary to Grade V), a full 15 marks for Aural and Theoretical tests (Grades VI to VIII), and a full 10 Marks for Aural and Theoretical tests (Senior Certificate). 

PIECES WITH ACCOMPANIMENT  

Read the syllabus carefully for instruments and pieces that require accompaniment. Please note that in some cases not all pieces are accompanied. Performing a piece with or without accompaniment where not appropriate, will mean a mark cannot be awarded for that piece. The candidate must organise their own accompaniment for the day of the exam. 

TRAINING AND MONITORING 

Training and monitoring sessions will take place in the RIAM exam centre. This means up to two trainees may be in the exam room with a senior examiner: the senior examiner will award the official result. 

NOTIFICATION OF EXAM DATES & VENUES 

RIAM Exams aims to give two to three weeks’ notice to the applicant (i.e. school, teacher, parent/guardian, candidate) of the exact date and venue that the examiner has been scheduled to visit. The time indicated on the timetable is the call time, which is ten minutes in advance of the exam appointment.

Candidates must attend the exam venue for the call time. The RIAM aim to accommodate, where possible, any requests by the applicant (venue, dates) during the registration process.

REQUESTS FOR ALTERATIONS/RESCHEDULING

In the event that candidate cannot attend the exam indicated, RIAM Exams must be notified in writing of any proposed alterations. An additional fee is charged for this service. Remember to quote the exam number when sending in a change of date request. Any candidate who does not attend the allocated time will be marked absent. 

ABSENSE 

Any candidate failing to attend their exam on the date and time assigned to them will forfeit the entry fee.  

In case of illness, a medical certificate with a cover note should be sent in writing with name of candidate, address, exam number, date, venue, subject of exam (i.e. theory, piano, singing etc.) within seven days of the date of the exam. In such instances, every effort will be made to reschedule or postpone the exam or where appropriate offer refund. If you are aware of dates on which you or your student will not be available to be examined, then these must be listed on the application. 

ERRATA

Keep up to date with any errata that may be relevant to your instrument. All details can be found on the RIAM website:  https://www.riam.ie/exam-syllabi/errata-in-exam-syllabi