Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone can enter a candidate for Trinity exams, whether they are a teacher, parent, administrator, or the candidate themselves. To do so, please see the article How to Enter/Register for TCL Exams in South Africa

Can I enter Trinity exams elsewhere in Africa?

Currently we aren't able to offer face to face exams outside of Southern Africa. In certain circumstances we can accommodate Digital Exam entries from outside Southern Africa - Please contact support@trinitycollege.co.za for more information.

No. Anyone can enter candidates for exams, and we have a network of venue options including schools, churches, or local halls. You are welcome to contact your local representative to enquire about using your school as a venue or submit an application to the London Head Office to become a Registered Exam center (REC).

We can only finalize exam venues closer to the date once we see how many/where entries are made for particular areas. Upon registration, you are asked to indicate two general areas where you are able to travel to

Unless entries are closed, please click "Change Representative" at the top left of the entry portal and select your local representative. After doing this, you should be able to continue your entry as normal.

No. Unlike ABRSM, Trinity College London does not have prerequisites for graded exams. However, we recommend candidates do study music theory as this greatly enriches your musical journey.

No. You can start halfway, skip grades, or even play your first exam as a grade 8. It is not necessary to complete grades sequentially. However, we strongly suggest candidates become familiar with presenting performances before examiners while they are young and have a few of these experiences under examination conditions before progressing to higher grades.

You can play the various parts of the exam in any order you want. However, the order of your pieces must be according to the order of the names of the pieces you submit on the exam.

It isn't necessary for professional recording in order to submit the digital exams. Candidates can do so from home using their own devices. Please see the link below to Trinity's guidelines for candidates recording themselves, this should answer most of your questions. Record | Trinity College London

There are three levels of diploma: ATCL, LTCL and FTCL. The first two can be done digitally while the third cannot. It is the highest qualification and needs two in person examiners to examine.

You can register for digital exams throughout the year, except for the end of year break over December. After you have entered and paid, the Submission portal remains open for 28 days, during which you must upload and submit your exam.

Yes. Trinity College requires all sheet music used in exams to be a genuine publication or purchase. As long as you bring proof of purchase or can show that the PDF was legitimately downloaded, you can present it in a Digital or in-person exam.

Can I use a lapel microphone for a Digital exam?

Trinity does not permit the use of lapel microphones in exams.

We recommend Vivo Music as a provider of Trinity College London's exam books and other sheet music, but there are a few other sheet music stores in South Africa, such as Lovemore Music, and All Music. Please see the link below for more options to source sheet music: Useful links | Trinity College London

Trinty College doesn't conduct lessons or tutoring in South Africa but is rather an examination and qualification board. We don't maintain lists of teachers around the country. I can suggest looking for local teachers, music schools, or tutors in your area on Google or Gumtree.

Trinity allows candidates to use downloaded sheet music from sites such as IMSLP, Scribd, Internet Archive etc, provided they comply with copyright laws in the country in which they are downloaded. Candidates should indicate the download website and licence information on the examiner copy, so that the examiner doesn’t mistake them for photocopies.

Music being freely downloadable does not necessarily mean it is legal - the onus is on the candidate to check. Trinity cannot pre-approve the copyright status of pieces from file-sharing sites. If the candidate is in any doubt, we would encourage them to purchase the edition, to avoid any potential copyright and syllabus infringement and in so, invalidating their grade or diploma.

For lower grades (IN-Gr5) this is acceptable but not ideal.

Universities broadly use matric certificates to determine eligibility for undergraduate study, and music as a subject on the matric certificate is useful when applying to study a music degree. Trinity exam results are not by default included on matric certificates and are not recognized officially by universities as an acceptance criterion. However, they are useful when describing the student's broader music tuition. Music degree applicants also often need to audition when applying for a music degree.

You or your teacher will need to approach the school concerned and the school makes the arrangements through IEB or government dept. We don’t have any input into the process. The Head of Academics at the school usually does these applications. Please see Matric | Trinity College London for more information.

We can arrange replacement certificates. Please email support@trinitycollege.co.za to arrange this and give as much detail about the exam as you can, such as the name you were registered under, date of the exam, exam, instrument, and grade, and candidate number. Please note reprints come at a cost.

We can also arrange a stamped transcript of your qualification to show to your Admissions department, which comes at no cost and usually takes faster than a replacement certificate. A proof of identity, such as a photograph of the candidates ID is required to produce a transcript.

Trinity is not an accredited institute in SA. It is UK accredited but the SA department of education requires each person holding a Trinity diploma to approach SAQA independently to get an equivalency rating because they don't by default recognize the Trinity exams.

We are able to assist with providing a stamped transcript of your qualification (see the question answered above).

SAQA no longer automatically provides an equivalency rating for Trinity exams, and candidates have to individually approach SAQA for an equivalency rating.