The Eduqas A level is a challenging yet exciting and stimulating qualification, that aims to develop the three musical disciplines of performance, composition and listening and understanding. Although an academic qualification at its core, the course will suit any student with a passion for studying music of a range of styles and genres.
Course Content and Assessment
Music A-Level
In the future, Creativity is going to be one of the most important and in-demand skills at work (World Economic Forum.) When business leaders across the world were surveyed, they voted creativity as the most important workplace skill to help their businesses survive and grow. This means that the study of creative subjects, like Music, is becoming even more important and relevant to young people to give you the chance to succeed – whatever your ambitions.
Course content
1. Musical Appraising (40%)
2. Performance (35% / 25%)
3. Composition (35% / 25%)
Developing skills
The word “music” covers a huge range of different styles and genres, and each one of us has our own preferences and interests. The Eduqas A level specification recognises this through the varied areas of study and the choice of routes through the course:
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The Areas of studying Musical Appraising include the Development of the Symphony; a choice of Rock and Pop Music, Jazz, or Musical Theatre; and at A level, either Into the Twentieth Century or Into the Twenty-First Century.
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The Area of Study “Into the Twenty-First Century” includes works by living male and female composers giving an insight into the current music industry.
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There is a Symphony to study as a set work, and two short twentieth or twenty-first century pieces, but beyond this the choice of classroom repertoire is left to the teacher who will select music which is relevant to their teaching points and which will be interesting and accessible to the learners in their class.
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Performing is assessed by a visiting examiner, giving a much more realistic scenario than a recording, allowing students to demonstrate their communication of the music to the listener, and giving a real sense of occasion.
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Composition is assessed through two pieces: one written in a Western Classical Style in response to a chosen brief, and one free piece which can be in any style, allowing candidates to demonstrate and develop their personal specialisms.
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Students at A level can choose whether they wish to be assessed on a longer performance or submit a third composition, allowing them to develop their preferred specialism (the 35% / 25% split).
What could I do next?
The possibilities are endless. Music will enable you to demonstrate many skills which employers, colleges and universities will be looking for. It can also give you opportunities to travel, meet people and get the most out of life. Many students continue on to study Music at Music College, or Universities including Cambridge, Derby, Durham, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield, Surrey and York. Others had gone on to various universities (including Russell Group) to read Acting, Art, Arts Journalism, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Classics, Computer Science, English and Drama, English Literature, French, Geography, Japanese, Liberal Arts, Marine Biology, Maths, Medicine, Midwifery, Modern Languages, Journalism, Occupational Therapy, Physics, Politics, Primary Education, Psychology, Sports Science, and Veterinary Medicine.
