Piano tutors

Piano is the most widely taught instrument in UK private tuition, with three main graded-exam boards: ABRSM (dominant), Trinity College London (Classical and Jazz streams), and LCME (London College of Music Examinations, awarded by the University of West London). The ladder runs Initial / Prep Test through Grades 1-8 and into diplomas (ARSM, DipABRSM and beyond at ABRSM; ATCL through FTCL at Trinity). ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory (or Practical Musicianship Grade 5, or Grade 5 Jazz) is a hard prerequisite to book either Practical or Performance Grades 6-8 (still active for 2026), and it surprises many parents at the Grade 5 transition. Performance Grades are video-submission (four pieces plus a 'performance as a whole' mark, no scales or sight-reading); Practical Grades are in-person and include scales, arpeggios, sight-reading and aural. Tutoring helps most with the Grade 4-5 plateau (hands-independence, scale workload), with the Grade 5 theory bottleneck, and with repertoire choice across the period requirement at each grade. Look for tutors familiar with the board the student will sit: ABRSM, Trinity and LCME have meaningfully different exam culture.