ziltransformer:

hi i want to ask why some school had grade 6 after grade 5 while some straight go to intermediate level? is there any difference？

hello. i assume that you are referring to the RAD syllabus and this is based on my personal experience.

the higher grades (grade 6-8) focus on a style of ballet different from the lower grades, known as the romantic style. this style requires much more maturity compared to the vocational grades, but is definitely less demanding in terms of the examiners' expectations on the technique of the dancers.

the vocational grades (intermediate foundation to advanced 2), was designed as a pre-professional syllabus for students interested to go into the professional field, or to be dance teachers (minimum requirement to apply for an RAD registered teachers status is Intermediate qualification). this syllabus is comparatively less \"dancey\" compared to the higher grades, but examiners demand much higher quality technique, inclusive of pointe work, which is not included in the higher grades.

based on my interaction with a few ballet teachers, the ideal situation will be for a student to do both the higher grades and vocational grades concurrently, to train both artistry and technique.

students who only do vocationals after grade 5 (eg. taking intermediate foundation within 1 year from grade 5 exam) may tend to see a big drop in examination results since the technique expectations are much higher than in grade 5. some peers of mine experienced drops of close to 20 marks. on the other hand, it is typically easier to score well for the higher grades syllabus, though many teachers would recommend students taking 2 years to do grade 6 to build up the maturity needed for the romantic style. from my experience, peers who did both syllabi concurrently or did the vocational syllabi after completing grade 8 tend to do better in the vocational examinations because the additional classes/time is good for technique building.

schools who choose vocational syllabi after grade 5 may do so to prevent students from quitting (since many do grade 5 close to psle year) since the novelty of pointe work may interest the students to stay on. on the other hand, schools may choose the higher grades because they may feel that the students may not have strong enough technique to pull off the vocational syllabus at this point in time, and would rather them wait a little longer, maybe after higher grades (which I actually am in favour of).

hope this helps