Is A Level Music Hard? What to Expect

Choosing your A Levels can feel like a high-stakes decision: you’re not only considering which subjects you enjoy, but also the ones that are best-suited to your academic and professional future.

If you want to add a creative subject to your list, A Level Music is a great choice. However, with its blend of performing, composing and appraising, it’s natural to worry about how difficult it is compared to other A Levels.

This article explains what you can expect from A Level Music, offering an honest and realistic insight into how hard it is. We’ve also included practical strategies to make the subject easier, all with the aim of helping you make an informed decision about your A Levels.

Key Takeaways

• Several exam boards offer A Level Music: AQA (opens in a new tab), Pearson Edexcel (opens in a new tab), OCR (opens in a new tab), WJEC Eduqas (opens in a new tab) (including the Welsh offering, WJEC CBAC (opens in a new tab)), and Cambridge (opens in a new tab) (CIE – the international offering)

• A Level Music is generally considered harder than other creative subjects like A Level Drama

• Learning key vocabulary, developing your listening skills and completing past papers can increase your chances of success

What Does A Level Music Involve?

As the international offering, CIE has different names and features to the other exam boards. All CIE candidates take listening and practical music, and A Level candidates take two papers out of extended performance, extended composition and investigating music.

The other exam boards all share performing, composing and appraising as their three core content areas.

Core Areas Assessed

AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas & CBAC all share the same three content areas. These are listed below, alongside a brief explanation of what each one involves:

1. Performing

   • An assessment of your instrumental or vocal performing skills in a solo and/or ensemble context, or via music technology

   • You’ll submit 1-3 pieces

2. Composing

   • An assessment of your ability to create music using the technical and expressive skills of a composer

   • You’ll submit two compositions, which will either be free compositions or based on a brief

3. Appraising

   • An assessment of your skills in listening, reflecting on, analysing and evaluating music

   • You’ll learn the content through 2-7 areas of study

Exam Format and Structure

The table below outlines what each AQA A Level Music paper involves:

Interpret musical ideas through performing, with technical and expressive control and an understanding of style and context

*Create, develop and refine musical ideas with technical and expressive control and coherence

***Demonstrate and apply musical knowledge

****Use analysis and appraising skills to make evaluative and critical judgements about music

The table below outlines what each Pearson Edexcel A Level Music paper involves:

The table below outlines what each OCR A Level Music paper involves. You’ll either take 01, 03 and 05 or 02, 04 and 05:

The table below outlines what each WJEC Eduqas A Level Music paper involves. You’ll choose either Option A in both Components 1 and 2 or Option B in both Components 1 and 2. All students take Component 3:

WJEC CBAC has different units for AS and A2, and CIE has different assessment objectives. For more information on their exam structures, visit the specifications for these exam boards.

How Hard Is A Level Music?

While A Level Music is generally not listed among the hardest A Levels, the grade boundaries show that it can be difficult – especially if you’re aiming for the highest grades. Here are the grade thresholds for Pearson Edexcel A Level Music in June 2025 (opens in a new tab):

• A*: 208/250 marks

• A: 187/250 marks

• B: 163/250 marks

• C: 139/250 marks

• D: 115/250 marks

• E: 92/250 marks

What Makes A Level Music Challenging?

Below are three aspects of A Level Music that students commonly find difficult:

Performance Anxiety

Delivering a live performance can be nerve-wracking, and knowing you’re being recorded for an assessment can make this worse. Even legendary musicians like Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin and Paul McCartney have suffered from stage fright (opens in a new tab)!

Musical Elements

A Level Music goes beyond the basics: you need to display knowledge and understanding of a range of complex musical elements, including tonality, sonority and articulation. Getting to grips with all this terminology can be tricky, not least because a lot of it is in Italian!

The Written Exam

Even if you’re a confident composer and performer, 40% of your A Level is based on appraisal, which involves up to 2 hours 30 minutes of writing. You need to show that you’re capable of in-depth analysis of music, including pieces with which you’ll be unfamiliar.

What Makes A Level Music Easier?

Despite its difficulties, there are still some aspects of A Level Music that are more manageable:

Accessibility

A Level Music builds on Key Stage 4 foundations, but you technically don’t have to have taken GCSE Music; it is recommended rather than required. The course is therefore accessible to a range of different students, including those with less prior knowledge of the subject.

Clear Exam Structure

Whether you’re taking AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR or WJEC Eduqas, the structure is the same: 60% non-exam assessment (NEA) and 40% written exam.

You’ll also benefit from clear, specific and creative briefs, such as the following from OCR:

Compose a Minuet and Trio movement for an ensemble of acoustic instruments. This music will form part of the soundtrack of a TV documentary. You should use two, three or four acoustic instruments or one acoustic instrument accompanied by keyboard [35].

Factors That Affect How Hard You'll Find A Level Music

What’s hard for one student will be easier for another. To help you work out how hard you’ll find A Level Music, consider the following factors:

• Prior knowledge – though GCSE Music is not a prerequisite for A Level, having this qualification is undoubtedly beneficial. In particular, AQA’s A Level Music assessment objectives, structure and titles are very similar to those in AQA GCSE Music, so having that level of familiarity will make it easier.
  

• Interest in the subject – like most subjects, you’ll do better in A Level Music if you enjoy the subject – not just playing music, but also knowing how it works.
  

• Revision habits – 60% of the course involves composing and performing. If you’re not used to practical, hands-on revision, you might find it harder to prepare for the NEA components.

How to Make A Level Music Easier

Here are some tried-and-tested strategies you can use to improve your chances of success in A Level Music:

Start with Vocabulary

The appraisal exam, which counts for 40% of your grade, requires in-depth analysis of musical elements. Before you can do this convincingly, you need to have very clear definitions of each element; if not, you run the risk of mixing up your terms and losing a lot of marks!

Using a musical elements glossary (opens in a new tab) is a great place to start. Note down each term and its definition on a flashcard, as you can then use this to test yourself (or get your friends and family to test you).

I also encourage my students to use Knoword, an online quiz platform that offers multiple interactive modes. You can preview the terms in the different Knoword music packs (opens in a new tab) to find relevant quizzes to try.

Develop Listening Skills

You’ll need to listen to excerpts from different pieces of music in your appraisal exam. You can listen to these as many times as you feel you need to before answering questions, but you want to avoid spending too long on this section, as doing so will take away time needed for other questions. 

Regularly listening to different types of music will be excellent practice for the listening part of the exam. Listen out for the kinds of things the examiners will test you on, such as differences in metre and tempo between different sections, specific instruments being used, and key changes.

Complete Past Paper Questions

Past papers are a great way to become familiar with the exam structure and different types of questions. Once you complete a past paper, check how you did using the mark schemes.

It’s also a good idea to read some examiner reports, such as this one from Edexcel. (opens in a new tab) These contain useful tips on what successful students do, as well as what to avoid.

Frequently Asked Questions

What grade is a pass in A Level Music?

An A Level pass grade is anything from A* to E. This includes A Level Music.

However, in practice, most colleges and universities consider a C as the minimum A Level pass grade. In June 2025, the threshold for a C grade in Pearson Edexcel A Level Music was 139/250 marks.

Is A Level Music harder than A Level Drama?

Though they are both creative subjects with the same assessment structure (40% theory and 60% practice), A Level Music is generally considered to be harder than A Level Drama.

In fact, A Level Drama is often listed among the easiest A Levels – but, like A Level Music, it isn’t easy to get the highest grades.

How much revision do you need for A Level Music?

A Level Music requires around the same amount of revision as other A Levels.

Remember that your revision methods matter just as much, if not more, than how long you’re revising for. Learn the required vocabulary, practise composing, performing and listening and regularly complete past papers.

Final Thoughts

While A Level Music is generally not seen as one of the hardest A Levels, it can still be difficult. Balancing theory with practice, dealing with performance anxiety and taking the fairly lengthy written exam are the most common challenges.

However, the accessibility and clear structure of the course make it more manageable and appealing to a wide range of students.

To decide whether A Level Music is right for you, consider your prior knowledge levels, interest in the subject and how much you enjoy practical, hands-on revision.

If you’re passionate about music composition, performance and appraisal, A Level Music is worth genuine consideration. It is a creative qualification that fosters a love of music in a range of different forms, styles and genres.

References

• A Level Music: Musical Elements Glossary (opens in a new tab)

• AQA A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• CIE A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• Pearson Edexcel A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• OCR A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• WJEC CBAC A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• WJEC Eduqas A Level Music (opens in a new tab)

• Tonic Music: Musicians Who Have Experienced Performance Anxiety (opens in a new tab)