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About the Learner competition tool

competition poster

The Learner competition tool will support you in setting up a competition that will enable learners to work independently and creatively on business planning and creative skills. Working in groups, they can make music videos and write convincing business plans.


What is the Learner competition tool?

The Learner competition tool is an online music, business and enterprise competition tool for learners in post-16 further education. It fits in with most Creative and media and Business programmes.

The online resources will enable learners to work in small teams independently and creatively. Learners have the opportunity to write and perform music lasting a maximum of 3 minutes, record their performance on video and write a convincing business plan.

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Why should I run a music competition?

The music industry is highly competitive. Musicians work under great pressure. They must consistently produce a high standard of work at a specific moment in time. Audiences or A&R reps (Artists and Repertoire scouts looking for talent) do not accept excuses for poor work.

Competition work prepares learners for accepting criticism of their work and recognising the talents of other musicians. It can also be an excellent way to encourage peer review and support learners in reflecting on their own work as well as that of others.

The competition can motivate learners and a prize can prove a real incentive. By entering, or perhaps even running the competition, learners may also be able to produce evidence for their qualifications.

The competition can raise the profile of the music department within your organisation. The business element of the resource may help colleagues in other subject areas to realise that music learners are not just noisy but have the potential to be important contributors to the UK economy.

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Has a similar competition been run before?

The Music for Real online learner resources were launched in November 2009 and included a national competition for learners of all English post-16 music providers. Learners produced a three minute original composition supported by a business plan. The prize for the lucky winners was a recording session at Abbey Road studios.

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What were the rules for that competition?

Because this was a large national competition the rules were detailed and precise. You might want to negotiate new rules with your learners for your own competition. The rules for the national competition, which you might want to use as a basis for discussion with learners or to simplify for your own competition, can be found in the right hand column under 'Downloads'.

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How might I adapt the competition?

The original Music for Real competition expected learners to perform their own original music in any genre that could be performed either for a soloist, duos, smalls groups and ensembles or electronically. You might decide to:

  • restrict entries to a particular genre such as jazz or folk;
  • restrict entries to soloists or groups;
  • allow learners' interpretations of covers;
  • change the business brief to a verbal pitch given by the finalists performing in front of a live panel of judges;
  • open the competition up to local schools or community groups;
  • ask learners to design and manage the competition;
  • charge entrants as part of an enterprise challenge or to pay for a prize.

The type of competition should meet the needs and aspirations of your own learners.

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How will the competition fit into my teaching?

The knowledge and skills needed for the competition might form a short stand-alone project completed over a week, or be embedded into a programme over a much longer period. It might be delivered by one teacher within one programme or be part of a co-teaching initiative across disciplines.

Your learners may already have developed sufficient composition, recording and business or enterprise skills to enable them to enter the competition. The music track and business plan may provide evidence for summative assessment, for example, the production and marketing units of a vocational diploma.

If your learners have just started their music or business programme, you may wish to use the competition for project-led learning and formative assessment. This will support learners in developing new musical and business skills and encourage them to use constructive peer group feedback, as well as develop their individual evaluative skills in order to become self-motivated and expert learners.

The competition might take the form of an enterprise challenge, or it might form a focus to develop PLTS (personal, learning and thinking skills). The teams are expected to complete work for the competition independently and the track must be recorded under controlled conditions.

The teams are expected to complete work for the competition independently and the track must be recorded under controlled conditions.

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Can the competition support teaching and learning for the Creative and media Diploma?

The competition reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the Creative and media Diploma. The Foundation and Higher Diplomas require learners to cover more than one discipline in each unit. The performance element would be part of the music discipline and recording other learners' performance on video would be an element of the film discipline. You might wish to get your music learners or art and design or media learners to design publicity. Diploma teachers might consider using the music competition and its publicity as the basis for a unit assignment. The performance element would be part of the music discipline and a poster would be part of the 2D visual art discipline or the advertising discipline.

Learners might run the competition themselves, setting it up as a festival or involving the wider community. This would allow them to demonstrate their personal, learning and thinking skills, especially as team workers and effective participators.

Learners might also develop composition or performance skills for the individual Diploma Project.

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How can I get my learners interested in the competition?

Learners should want to enter the competition because:

  • it's a real-life situation that uses their musical skills;
  • it offers excitement and challenge;
  • most people like competitions;
  • they can get feedback from people who might become their fans or audience.

The best way to persuade learners to enter is to get other learners to tell them about the competition either by word of mouth or through blogs or Twitter.

In the original Music for Real competition, promotional leaflets and posters were sent to all English post-16 music providers. The prize was shown clearly on the poster. In the focus groups we ran with learners, this was what appealed most to them about the competition.

Poster 1 - Download pdf
Poster 2 - Download pdf
Poster 3 - Download pdf
Poster 4 - Download pdf

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How can I get managers to support the competition?

You can of course just run the competition within your department, but you may be missing the opportunity to raise the profile of music and music learners within your organisation and in the wider community.

Managers should be interested in the competition because it has the potential to:

  • provide publicity for the organisation;
  • raise the profile of the organisation with young people and local employers;
  • provide opportunities for interdisciplinary working;
  • support learner progression; and
  • enhance learning through e-learning and technology.

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What is the prize?

In the original Music for Real competition the prize was a recording session at Abbey Road studios in London. Having a prize is always an additional incentive to get learners to enter.

You may have to pay for some prizes, others might be donated. Possible prizes could be:

  • music or music equipment donated by a local music shop;
  • a gift voucher for a music related item;
  • work experience in a local recording studio or venue;
  • a meeting with a well known professional musician;
  • an iPod.

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How can I create my own competition?

You are able to create your own competition for your learners using the Music for Real website. To register a competition using the website please follow the instructions below.

  • Go to the Music for Real homepage http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/cam/music/admin/login.aspx?logout=true
  • Once you have arrived at the home page select the link to register.
  • Once you have clicked register, you will then arrive at the 'Add organisation' page. Here you will need to type in your organisation name or college and select the 'add' icon.
  • Once you have added your organisation, you will then arrive at the 'Add yourself as a course administrator' page. You will need to fill in the required fields. Here you will create a password of your choosing, which you will need to remember to be able to log in again. Once you have completed the fields select the 'Add Administrator' button.
  • The next page you will see is 'Add Competition'. It is at this point where you will start to create your competition details. Firstly, you will need to create a competition name, followed by a submission end date and voting end date. Tick the 'Active' box to make your competition go live. If you don't want it to go live straight away, or once your competition is finished and you want to take it down from the website, then just un-tick this box.
  • Under the 'categories/genres' section fill in the type of categories/genres you want to be included in your competition, i.e. solo and groups, solo, groups, rock, indie, pop, instrumental, then select the 'submit' button.
  • Once you have submitted your competition details, a list of options will appear on the left hand side of the screen. These will give you - the administrator – the opportunity to add any artists or other users as well as giving you the opportunity to see a summary of the votes cast.
  • If you are happy with your competition details click update and your competition will be submitted.
  • Once you have successfully submitted your competition and want to know more about adding artists and users please see further instructions by logging into http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/cam/music/admin/help.aspx#artist_image and following the instructions by clicking on the 'How to use the upload site' on the left hand side of the page.

These instructions are available to download from the right hand column of this page under 'Downloads'.

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