Trinity College London (TCL) is an

examination board An examination board (or exam board) is an organization that sets examinations, is responsible for marking them, and distributes the results. Some are run by governmental entities; some are run as not-for-profit organizations. List of national ex ...

based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which offers graded and diploma qualifications across a range of disciplines in the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and English language learning and teaching. Trinity College London has examined over 850,000 candidates in more than 60 countries worldwide. It is a registered charity in England, Wales and Scotland, and its Patron is HRH The Duke of Kent.

History

Trinity College London was founded as the external examinations board of Trinity College of Music (which today is part of the

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

) in 1872, and began offering exams in

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

to external students in 1877. In common with its chief competitor, the ABRSM (est. 1889), Trinity College offers a range of graded examinations in music from grades 1–8, followed by Associate, Licentiate and Fellowship diplomas. Over time, Trinity College has expanded to offer exams in other areas of the performing arts and in

English for Speakers of Other Languages English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

(ESOL).

Performing arts examinations

In 2004, Trinity College London's performing arts examinations division merged with the external examinations department of the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

to form the ''Trinity Guildhall'' examinations board. The name Trinity Guildhall was dropped in 2012, and the board's performing arts examinations are now offered under the Trinity College London brand.

Music

Trinity College London offers graded musical qualifications for musical theory and for performance in a range of

string instruments In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, electronic keyboards,

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

instruments and percussions, starting with the Initial Grade, then numbered from Grade 1 to Grade 8 with increasing difficulty. Candidates are rated under three categories – the performance of musical pieces, technical work such as

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

, and supporting tests such as

sight reading In music, sight-reading, also called ''a prima vista'' ( Italian meaning, "at first sight"), is the practice of reading and performing of a piece in a music notation that the performer has not seen or learned before. Sight-singing is used to des ...

and

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

.Exam Structure
Trinity College London Candidates are graded on a scale from 1 to 100, with 60 being the pass mark. Candidates have flexibility in the choices of pieces and tests prepared for each of these sections. In addition to graded examinations, TCL offers foundation, intermediate and advanced certificates in music. TCL also offers diplomas in music at three levels: *Associate: ATCL (Performer and Teacher diplomas) and AMusTCL (Composition and Musicology), which are equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK

Certificate of Higher Education A Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview The Certificate is awarded after one year of full-time study (or equivalent) at a university or other higher education institution, or ...

*Licentiate: LTCL (Performer and Teacher diplomas) and LMusTCL (Composition and Musicology), which are equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

*Fellowship: FTCL, which is equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

In 2012, the exam board introduced Rock & Pop graded examinations for

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboard and vocals.

Drama and performance

Trinity College London offers qualifications in speech and drama, individual acting skills, group performance, Shakespeare, choral speaking, communication skills,

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

, and performance arts. As is the case with music, diplomas in drama, performance and communication subjects are also offered at three levels, and TCL is the awarding body for the series of professional performing arts courses that are funded in part by the Dance and Drama Awards scheme. In 2020, Trinity College London started offering digital examinations to allow its operations to continue during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Arts Award

Within the

, Trinity College London manages Arts Award in association with

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

English language examinations

Trinity offers English language qualifications including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Secure English Language Tests (SELTs).

References

External links

Trinity College LondonTrinity Secure English Language Tests (SELTs)Trinity English languageTrinity Teaching EnglishTrinity MusicTrinity Drama
{{Authority control Qualification awarding bodies in the United Kingdom Performing arts in London 1872 establishments in England Organizations established in 1872 Organisations based in London with royal patronage