Music (GCSE / A-level) tutors
5 UK tutors who teach Music (GCSE / A-level) at GCSE. £40–£65/hr · median £50
Music at GCSE and A-level (AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, OCR) splits into three components: performance, composition, and listening/appraising (analysis of set works). The set works range from Bach and Mozart to Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, popular music, jazz and film scores, depending on board and year. Tutoring helps most on composition (which most students under-prepare and which carries substantial weight) and on the analytical listening paper, where score-reading and harmonic-analysis skills are decisive. Performance grade is partly a function of instrumental teaching outside the school spec. Match the tutor to the specific board and to the area (composition, theory, performance) that needs work.
GCSEs are sat in Year 11 (age 15-16), with most students taking 8-10 subjects. They're the main UK school qualification at 16: the 9-1 graded exams that drive sixth-form admission, apprenticeship eligibility, and (via maths and English at grade 4 or 5) university and many job prerequisites. Tutoring demand peaks here. The biggest grade gains tend to come from exam-paper technique rather than further content. Students often know more than they show. Boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, WJEC, CIE) diverge on content and assessment, so tutor familiarity with the specific spec is meaningful in most subjects.
77.4% got grade 4 or above in 2026 across the UK (JCQ). Exam boards, dates and past papers
About the GCSE Music (GCSE / A-level) exam
Which exam board?
Your child's school will know which board they sit.
AQA · 8271
Exam dates, summer 2027
- Thursday, 27 May 2027 Understanding music, afternoon
Past papers, June 2025
- Component 1 Question paper Mark scheme Examiners' report
Grade boundaries, every series
Grade boundaries
| Series | Grade 4 | Grade 7 |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 130/240 54% | 173/240 72% |
| June 2025 | 128/240 53% | 171/240 71% |
The total marks needed across all the papers. From AQA GCSE grade boundaries, June 2026 and AQA GCSE grade boundaries, June 2025.
How students do
Share of UK entries who got grade 4 or above, and who got grade 7 or above, all boards.
- 2019 76.7%·32.7%
- 2020 89.7%·46.6%
- 2021 88.4%·50.6%
- 2022 83.6%·44.5%
- 2023 77.6%·34.4%
- 2024 77%·33.8%
- 2025 76.9%·33.9%
- 2026 77.4%·34.6%
2020 and 2021 were teacher-assessed grades, which is why they run higher. All ages, including students resitting. From GCSE (full course) results summer, all UK candidates.
Read up before you book
Plain-English guides
About Music (GCSE / A-level)
What Music (GCSE / A-level) covers across UK levels, where tutoring usually helps, and what to look for in a tutor.
About GCSE
Year groups, exam timing, and how GCSE fits into the UK qualification ladder.
Exam boards
AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA, SQA (now Qualifications Scotland) and Cambridge International: what each is known for.
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