Brainlag PlusThe online exam and your two hours
How the Grade 5 online exam works, how its 75 marks are shared, how to book it, a plan for the time, and how to check your answers.
The exam at a glance
The Grade 5 exam is taken online, on a computer with a webcam. Here is how it is marked, and how booking works:
- 2 hours
- at most, online
- 75
- marks
- 7
- sections
- 50
- pass (marks)
- 60
- merit (marks)
- 65
- distinction (marks)
- 10Section 1: Rhythm
- 10Section 2: Pitch and transposition
- 15Section 3: Keys and scales
- 10Section 4: Intervals
- 10Section 5: Triads and chords
- 10Section 6: Terms, signs and instruments
- 10Section 7: Music in context
An online exam on a computer with a webcam, taken at home or at any suitable place. It is filmed and checked afterwards, then marked automatically. You may use your own blank paper (plain or manuscript) for working, shown to the camera at the start and destroyed at the end.
Booking: any time
Online exams are available on demand: you can book at any time, and then have 28 days to take the exam, on any date and at any time in that period. The result is available 28 days after the exam, after quality checks. The mark form shows the marks for each section. The fee for Grade 5 is 60.00 GBP (UK fees for 2026. A digital certificate is included; a paper certificate costs 3.50 GBP.) ABRSM exam dates and fees.
Checked against the ABRSM syllabus and exam pages, 9 October 2026. Source: ABRSM Music Theory qualification specification.
The rest of this lesson and its 6 practice questions are in Plus.
Screen 1 of 4, free to read.
- 6 exam-style questions, marked as you go, each with a worked solution
- Anything you get wrong is saved to your flashcards