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Grade Britain · compare specifications

A-level Music — what’s actually different between the boards

Considering a switch? Most of an A-level is a shared core every board must teach — so the real differences are few, specific, and worth knowing before you move. Pick your board and the one you’re weighing up; everything below is read from each board’s published specification.

Subject
Your board (from)
Considering (to)

Lens 1 · verified from the specs

How the exam is built

The concrete, decision-relevant difference — no judgement calls.

AQA 7272Your board
StructureLinear · England
Shape3 components · all externally marked
Total300 marks (scaled)
WeightingAppraising 40% · Performance NEA 35% · Composition NEA 25%
Component 1Appraising MusicWritten exam 2h 30min · 120 marks · Section A Listening 56m / Section B Analysis 34m / Section C Essay 30m · no MCQ
Component 2Performance (NEA)50 marks · min 10 min · solo, ensemble or technology · externally assessed
Component 3Composition (NEA)50 marks · min 4.5 min total · Comp 1 to set brief 25m + Comp 2 free 25m
Multiple choiceNo multiple choice.
Content layout7 Areas of Study: AoS1 Western Classical 1650–1910 (compulsory, 3 strands, prescribed set works) + student choice of 2 from AoS2–7. Optional AoS have named artists but no fixed set works.
Edexcel 9MU0Considering
StructureLinear · England · Wales · NI
Shape3 components · 100% externally assessed (NEA marked by Pearson)
Total220 marks
WeightingPerforming NEA 30% · Composing NEA 30% · Appraising exam 40%
Component 1Performing (NEA)60 marks · min 8-min live recital · solo/ensemble/improvisation/technology
Component 2Composing (NEA)60 marks · two compositions · one to area-of-study or free brief ≥4 min + one technique brief ≥1 min · total ≥6 min
Component 3AppraisingWritten exam 2h 10min · 100 marks · Section A 50m (set-work aural + dictation) · Section B 50m (unfamiliar essay 20m + set-work essay 30m)
Multiple choiceSome MC questions appear within Section A of Component 3; no standalone MC paper.
Content layout6 compulsory Areas of Study each with prescribed set works (13 set works total). Area of Study 4 uniquely has three set works; all others have two.

Lens 2 · the content

What changes in what you’d teach

What you’d pick up, what you’d leave behind, and the (large) shared core in between.

New ground on Edexcel5 topics

Named by Edexcel (9MU0) — not by AQA.

Edexcel: Popular Music & Jazz — three set works (unique)Component 3, Area of Study 4

Edexcel AoS4 is the only area across any board with three prescribed set works. (Three set works: Kate Bush Hounds of Love (Cloudbusting, And dream of sheep, Under ice) · Beatles Revolver (Eleanor Rigby, Here there and everywhere, I want to tell you, Tomorrow never knows) · Courtney Pine Back in the Day (Inner state (of mind), Lady Day and (John Coltrane), Love and affection).)

Edexcel: Ades Asyla and Beamish String Quartet No.2 as 21st-century set worksComponent 3, Area of Study 6

Eduqas Area F is equivalent; Edexcel and Eduqas share named Area F set works. (Saariaho Petals + Stravinsky Rite of Spring (Introduction, Augurs of Spring, Ritual of Abduction).)

Edexcel: Bach chorale harmonisation as composition technique briefComponent 2, Brief 1

Edexcel Component 2 includes a specific Bach chorale harmonisation technique brief; no other board prescribes this. (12–18 bars; add alto, tenor and bass to given soprano; voice-leading, suspensions, modulation to closely-related keys.)

Edexcel: Remix / EDM as a composition brief optionComponent 2, Brief 4

Only Edexcel offers an EDM remix as a named composition brief. (Nightclub-setting EDM; submit as 44.1kHz 16-bit wav; clarity, mixing and stereo imaging assessed.)

Musical dictation in the appraising examComponent 3, Section A, p.79

Both Edexcel and OCR include pitch/rhythm dictation in the written exam; AQA and Eduqas do not explicitly require it. (Drawn from unfamiliar works related to set-work style; skeleton scores provided for set-work questions.)

Leaving behind from AQA5 topics

Named by AQA (7272) — not by Edexcel.

Pop / Rock area of study3.1.3

Pop and rock are optionally or mandatorily studied across all boards, but scope, period and named artists differ. (Named artists: Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Muse, Beyoncé, Daft Punk, Labrinth. No fixed set works — teacher/student choose.)

Musical Theatre area of study3.1.5

Named composers differ between boards. (Named composers: Weill, Rodgers, Sondheim, Schönberg, Jason Robert Brown.)

Jazz area of study3.1.6

Period scope and named styles differ significantly. (Named artists: Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Gwilym Simcock. No fixed set works.)

AQA: Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach concertos as set works (Strand A)3.1.1 Strand A

AQA uniquely uses Baroque instrumental concertos as prescribed set works in AoS1 Strand A. (Three set works: Purcell Sonata Z.850 · Vivaldi Flute concerto Il Gardellino op.10 no.3 RV428 · Bach Violin concerto in A minor BWV1041 (all complete).)

AQA: Performance via technology requires MIDI + audio track3.2 / 4.2.2

AQA explicitly specifies that technology performances must include at least one MIDI-sequenced track and one audio track.

Shared core · on every board

Set by the national subject content — the bulk of the course is identical whichever board you pick.

Performing: solo and/or ensemble performance assessed by practical examinationComposing: original composition(s) assessed as coursework/NEAListening and appraising: written examination using aural extractsStudy of music from the Western Classical TraditionStudy of music from at least two further contrasting genres or periodsTechnical vocabulary: pitch, rhythm, metre, texture, timbre, dynamics, structure, tonalityScore reading and analysis against aural extractsContextual understanding: historical, cultural and social background of studied repertoirePerformance using at least one instrument, voice, or music technologyCompositional techniques appropriate to the chosen style or genre

At a glance · across all five boards

  • 01AQA is the only board with no prescribed set works in its optional Areas of Study (AoS 2–7) — teachers and students choose from named artists/composers.
  • 02Edexcel Area of Study 4 (Popular Music & Jazz) is the only area across any board with three prescribed set works; all other Edexcel areas have two.
  • 03OCR is the only board where prescribed works rotate annually on a published 2025–2030 cycle; AoS 3–6 have no prescribed works at all.
  • 04OCR H543 is being withdrawn (final first teach September 2026, final exam Summer 2028).
  • 05WJEC is the only board offering a Religious Choral Music pathway as an alternative to the Symphony strand at both AS and A2 level.
  • 06WJEC A2 includes Welsh-identity strands (Chamber Music in Wales · Popular Music in Wales) with no equivalent on any other board.
  • 07Only Edexcel and OCR include musical dictation (pitch/rhythm) as an explicit requirement in the appraising exam.
  • 08WJEC, Eduqas and OCR all allow learners to specialise in either Performing or Composing (Option A / B or Pathway A / B); AQA and Edexcel have fixed component weightings.
  • 09WJEC and Eduqas share the same awarding body but are NOT content-identical: set works differ, Welsh strands are WJEC-only, and structure is unitised vs linear.
  • 10AQA uniquely names Anoushka Shankar as a study artist in its Contemporary Traditional Music area; Edexcel independently names her as a set work in its Fusions area.