Crank it up to 11: Trinity’s Rock & Pop diplomas are here!

BY: Natalie Christopher
14 January 2026

You asked, we listened: Trinity College London’s suite of Rock & Pop diplomas are here and ready for you to take online from the end of January 2026. Carry on reading for the full lowdown…

Intro

Trinity’s Rock & Pop diplomas are available at ATCL, LTCL and FTCL levels in Bass, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals, providing the perfect progression route for those who have already worked their way to the top of our Rock & Pop graded music exams.

If you’ve not taken any of our Rock & Pop grades, this isn’t a barrier! There are no pre-requisites for our performance diplomas, although we recommend candidates achieve an LTCL or equivalent qualification before progressing to FTCL.

Rock & Pop diplomas have a similar format to our Classical equivalents: candidates design and perform a programme of music of the following durations:

ATCL: 32-38 minutes
LTCL: 37-43 minutes
FTCL: 42-48 minutes

These timings reflect the amount of time spent playing i.e. the length of the songs played combined; breaks in between items are not included.

There is no minimum or maximum number of songs, but you should make sure that you reach the minimum amount of time or your exam may be referred.

Unlike Classical Performance diplomas, candidates are not required to provide a written programme, although they are still assessed on the set list and its planning.

Rock & Pop diplomas are only available digitally, so you will need to consider where and how you plan to record your performance. Your diploma can be filmed anywhere – you can even record a live gig! You can use backing tracks, play with other musicians, or add vocals to your performance, but do take care that we can clearly hear the instrument that is being assessed on your video.

Putting together your set list

At Trinity, we believe in ensuring the qualifications we offer are authentic to the musical styles they were created for, and this has never been more evident than in the flexibility given to candidates taking our Rock & Pop diploma exams.

Just as legendary artists do on stage, candidates are encouraged to improvise and ad lib, creating their own interpretations of songs. Selecting songs for a Rock & Pop diploma and ensuring they meet the required technical standard for the level being taken is therefore less about the notes written on a page, and more about what is actually performed in the exam video.

You’ll notice that, while we provide indicative song lists for each instrument (both inside the syllabus and forthcoming extended versions which will be on our website shortly), these come with links to recordings exemplifying how the performances of these songs showcase a range of the skills required at a given level. This is quite a stark contrast from our graded Rock & Pop exams, and even our Classical & Jazz diplomas, where the technical difficulty of a piece is determined by looking at the score, TAB or lead sheet. Yes, candidates will still need to provide the examiner with something to follow and indicate the structure of the songs, but the assessment of whether a song meets the appropriate technical standard for the level exam being taken will be made based on the performance.

But how will you know if your set list meets the required standard?

There are two resources candidates should use in conjunction with one another to establish this:

The parameters for their instrument and level of diploma outlined in the syllabus. These provide lists of the kinds of techniques and effects we want to see at this level of performance. We are not expecting to see all of these in any one song – perhaps not even in a whole programme – but the more included, the more confident you can be of meeting the required standard for the level of exam being taken.

The indicative song lists for their instrument. As mentioned previously, these not only provide a list of possible songs, but links directing candidates to audio recordings that meet the required technical difficulty for the qualification they are listed under. The indicative list also includes a descriptor that will help you understand how it meets the parameters.

Check out our next blog on choosing songs for Rock & Pop diplomas, being published in the coming weeks, where we will go into this in more detail.

Taking to the stage

Rock & Pop Diploma exams are only available digitally, meaning they can be recorded anywhere you like provided the recording captures everything it needs to (please refer to the Filming Your Exam section of the syllabus for full details). Candidates can also choose whether to play with a backing track or other live musicians. So, whether your preferred vibe is cosy studio session or pre-Wembley warm up show, you can tailor your setting to how you perform best. You may also have a live audience present but our standard filming guidance still applies, meaning they will need to be behind the camera at all times and we need to be able to hear the whole performance clearly.

How performances are assessed

Candidates’ performances are assessed holistically, so marks awarded in their specific areas are for the whole performance video, as opposed to for each and every song. Marks are provided out of 32 in the following three areas: