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How important is it for kids to have their grades in an instrument as well as in singing? Does it matter whether exams and gradings are done with trinity, LAMDA, ABRSM etc? I have a 9 year old DS Grade 4 Musical Theatre, Grade 1 Acting and Grade 2 singing . He plays drums and piano but ungraded. He loves west end theatre and wants to continue performing ! Any advice?

In my experience exam grades aren't essential to success at auditions. Casting directors will go by a child's performance in the audition room and don't really care about exam grades achieved or even whether a child has done graded exams at all. Even for a show like Matilda, which specifies in the casting brief that children must be at least Grade 4 in dance, children don't actually need to possess a Grade 4 exam certificate, they just need to be capable of that level of dance (which the casting team assesses during audition).

Exams can be good motivators for some children, and can be helpful for ensuring that technique progresses, but it's more than possible to perform professionally without taking exams. DS has been in 3 WE musicals including Matilda and has never done any acting, singing or dance exams, and we know many children in a similar position.

Exams are only important if the child enjoys doing them.

DD is 10, has done WE and screen and been offered a full music scholarship to secondary school. She's been training since she was 5 in dance, singing, acting and MT and we have only ever done 1 ballet exam.

Never been asked for exam certificates - occasionally we're asked for a rough idea of her dance or singing grade levels. Even schools haven't been at all worried by lack of grades... only one they seem at all interested in is music theory.

All comes down to what they can do in the actual audition (plus the large dose of luck involved in being the right look, height, hair colour etc at the right time, which seems to be at least half the battle).