Teacher's Ongoing Assessment (TOAs) are not exams, they are literally what they say they are. Nobody knows a student's ability better than his or her teacher and TOAs allow the student to achieve recognition of his or her standard without undertaking a formal exam. All assessment is carried out in the student's regular class by their teacher. TOAs are particularly suitable for students who don't respond well to exam pressure, a student who can't attend on the exam day, for very young children or to schools or are, for one reason or another, unable to schedule a formal exam session.
The teacher does not need to arrange an exam session or provide a DVD, a TOA sheet is completed and sent to the PMA along with payment and certificates and awards will then be issued. It is clearly stated on the certificate that the work has been assessed by the teacher and not an examiner.
The standards of the TOA levels specified are in line with the grades listed on the Graded Exams page (based on age), for example Junior Level 2 would be approximately the same standard as Grade 4.
Levels, minimum ages and entry fees are as follows (students can join at any level and do not need to have completed previous levels as long as they are up to the required standard):
- Pre-Introductory Level: Age 2+ Cost: £6
- Introductory Level: Age 3+ Cost: £6
- Preparatory Level: Age 4+ Cost: £6
- Infant Level 1: Age 5+ Cost: £8
- Infant Level 2: Age 6+ Cost: £8
- Infant Level 3: Age 7+ Cost: £8
- Junior Level 1: Age 8+ Cost: £10
- Junior Level 2: Age 9+ Cost: £10
- Junior Level 3: Age 10+ Cost: £10
- Senior Level 1: Age 11+ Cost: £12
- Senior Level 2: Age 12+ Cost: £12
- Senior Level 3: Age 13+ Cost: £12
- Advanced Level 1: Age 14+ Cost: £14
- Advanced Level 2: Age 15+ Cost: £14
- Advanced Level 3: Age 16+ Cost: £14