ABRSM issued their updated syllabus for 2025-2026. You can find it here [if I remember to link it] [which I will at some stage].
Structurally, they have changed the initial 3 pieces in each list – the pieces that get pushed out into the books for each grade – and then they’ve added a bunch of additional alternatives for each list. For me, I had a choice of ignoring this, or looking to see if there was anything worth changing for me. In theory, I can use the 2023-24 syllabus until end of 2025 but I’m four months behind on a plan that foresaw that for late 2025. So I wanted to check if I would have to review the repertoire selection for myself. Technically the answer to that is no. The new syllabus left in place 3 of the 4 pieces I had selected, and of those three, they were each from separate lists. This also meant that if I didn’t want to change anything, I could just prepare those four pieces and they would be valid for both syllabuses. All four of them have had read throughs but I’m still finishing grade 6.
I had flexibility on the free selection however – I have some time limitations (so this ruled out The Girl With the Flaxen Hair which was just too short per the syllabus requirements – but June by Tchaikovsky was replaced by January – however, again that didn’t have to affect me. However, I’m allowing it to. One of the things that concerned me is that the repertoire was top heavy in late 19th century/early 20th century pieces. I wanted to rebalance that slightly and find something more mid 19th century. The choice ultimately was between a Chopin Mazurka (nice, but…) and, somewhat surprisingly, a Liszt Consolation; no 2. I am going to do that and now I have a more varied range of music. Once I have Grade 6 submitted (and hopefully passed) I will need to start working on selecting repertoire for ARSM so that this is lined up. For that I need to look at the regulations because there is some scope for selecting from outside the syllabus, and there is some scope for raiding the Grade 8 lists as well. I can have up to 10 minutes of self selected music. I’ll also want to build some flexibility into this because of course, I may change over the course of the 18 months I have set aside for the Grade 8.
Grade 8 is a gatekeeper. I have to do it before I touch the ARSM. We will see – now doubt I will post more about this later.
That being said, I had a look at the online discussion about the ABRSM new syllabus. Grade 8 features Rondo Alla Turca as A1 – this means it’s in the book which means a disproportionate number of students will probably want to do it. It’s a well known piece and students like playing things that are famous; that their friends might even know. This puts it in much the same box as Fur Elise, a piece which in its own right is beautiful, but devastatingly prone to being hackneyed. Nevertheless, I’m disappointed to hear teachers complain about this. The point about it perhaps being a dumbing down (previous years have included all of that sonata) is probably a justifiable discussion point but complaining about having to listen to it for 2 years was a bit much, I felt.
There was also some concern about The Girl With the Flaxen Hair turning up on List B. I have to confess I found that mystifying. For most of my life I tended to split the lists into Very old, Reasonably Old and More modern and possibly objectionable. Debussy has two pieces on the Grade 8 syllabus, one on List B and one on List C. Some teachers felt it was a somewhat short piece. Given that the select selected piece should be at least 3 minutes long, I tend to agree with that criticism, and I don’t see what puts it on List B when Reverie is on List C.
An additional arrival to Grade 8 – and I thought about it for myself – was Maple Leave Rag. I started learning that, or some version of it when I was about 14. It didn’t go above the other pieces I wanted to play in preference, however.
In general, one of the other complaints made was the number of Nikki Iles arrangements, especially in the lower grades (but not exclusively). I tend to agree with that. As far as possible, I prefer to do the original rather than a simplified transcription if the music was written for piano.
Yet I’m not totally unhappy with the approach. The number of pieces available as alternatives to the book list has been increased. Given that there seems to be quite a few adult learners around who may not want to suffer their way through stuff they simply don’t like (and why should they have to?), it’s good that there is an enhanced choice for them.
It’s possible my view would change if I were teaching this syllabus but in general, as a student, I didn’t see too much to upset me for grade 8.