The week before exams
Nine string and wind candidates need a piano accompanist. Your accompanist works three days a week and also plays for two other schools. Each candidate's teacher texts her separately to fix a rehearsal. Two of them pick the same Thursday slot. One family pays her in cash, one by transfer, and one thinks the fee is included in the exam fee.
Then the exam board timetable arrives and two of your candidates are twenty minutes apart at a venue across town, while a third is at your own centre at the same time. Nobody spotted it until the accompanist pointed it out, a day before.
Three calendars that never meet
An accompanied exam needs the candidate, the accompanist, and a piano in decent condition, at a rehearsal time and again on exam day. Those three calendars are held by three different people. The accompanist's availability lives in her diary. The rooms live on your timetable. Exam slots come from the board. Teachers do the joining up by text.
- Rehearsal requests arrive by text from several teachers at once.
- The best piano room is also the busiest room.
- Exam slots at different venues can overlap for the same accompanist.
- Fees for accompanist time are charged inconsistently.
What goes wrong and who pays for it
The candidate pays first: a rushed or cancelled rehearsal before a grade exam is stressful for a child. Then the accompanist, who ends up juggling clashes that were visible in advance, and may decide your school is too much trouble. Finally the office, which spends exam week settling fee confusion.
If the accompanist cannot be in two places at once on the day, a candidate may have to find someone else at short notice, which is not a good experience for anyone.
How the booking tool works
- Candidates needing an accompanist come through from your exam entries with their grade and pieces.
- The accompanist marks her available times each week on her phone, including her commitments elsewhere.
- The tool offers each candidate rehearsal slots where the accompanist and a room with a suitable piano are both free.
- Teachers or parents pick a slot through a link, so no two candidates can book the same time.
- When the board's exam timetable is added, the tool checks the accompanist's day for clashes and travel between venues.
- Clashes are shown to the office at once, with options such as swapping times where the board allows or booking a second accompanist.
- Accompanist fees are added to the family's account under your rules and paid to the accompanist from the same record.
| Check | What it compares | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Rehearsal booking | Accompanist free, piano room free | Only real slots are offered |
| Exam day | Candidates' times and venues for one accompanist | Clash or travel warning |
| Fees | Rehearsals and exam attendance booked | Charges ready for approval |
| Accompanist pay | Sessions actually played | A statement she can check |
Exam week, planned in advance
Rehearsals are booked in one place and nobody double books the piano room. The accompanist sees her whole exam week, including travel, as soon as the board timetable lands, so problems are dealt with days ahead. Families get one clear charge that matches what was booked, and the accompanist gets a statement that matches what she played.
The teacher's job goes back to preparing the candidate rather than arranging logistics.
Do these signs look familiar?
- Rehearsals are arranged by text between teachers and the accompanist.
- Two candidates have been booked into the same slot.
- Exam day clashes are spotted at the last minute.
- Families are unsure whether accompanist time is included.
- The accompanist's pay has to be worked out from memory.