RAD examination venues

[sleep123]

I know that examination results are very dependent on performance on the day etc etc but I was just wondering whether anyone had experienced any how can I put it reverse snobery at exam venues. My DD has taken over the years examinations at her academic school where the dance studio facilities are state of the art and also at various village halls with her local dance school. Whilst my DD's results are pretty consistent (so I don't need to worry on our account!) I do find her school peers do seem to get surprisingly more favourable results at the dance studios than those being examined at our local less plush venue which is rather surprising as they generally are of a much higher standard! Has anyone else experienced anything similar or may be I am just being rather cynical.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

Perhaps they perform better in the school facilities because they either feel more comfortable there or it just ups their game.

[pas de chat]

We always do our exams in a village hall and to be honest in my experience (albeit a few years) they can vary widely year on year depending on what examiner you have.

 

A village need not be a terrible place although I'm sure many are.    My DDs teacher is very well prepared and adds to some really nice touches to make it more comfortable, like a nice china cup and saucer, table cloth, cushion flowers, it's warm so she can move her fingers etc.

[Dance*is*life]

Personally I think there might be a touch higher expectation when the examiners are in state of the art studios. I always feel that our studios are in a way too nice! We don't have entrance exams as we need every pupil we can get and whilst our timetable is as rich as we can make it, it is nowhere near like that of a pre-pro or vocational school. Quite honestly, I think if I were examining in our new, beautiful, large, light studio, wrongly or rightly, I would expect more from the students there than from a school with a small basement studio with a pillar in the middle of it! Having said that, however, many wonderful teachers have below par studios, but produce wonderful students and those students may well perform better in their home studio, which they're used to, than in a better studio that is unfamiliar to them.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Dance*is*life