The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) is one of the world’s leading
dance examination boards.

Since 1904 they have provided training for dance teachers and examiners, enabling
teachers to enter their students for examinations, develop new techniques and spread
the joy of dance.

As a registered educational charity and membership association, the ISTD ’s mission is
to educate the public in the art of dancing in all its forms, to promote knowledge of
dance, to provide up-to-date techniques for its members, and to maintain and improve
teaching standards. They support their members through updated teaching syllabi and
techniques, plus a wide variety of courses, summer schools and congresses.

The majority of people who study the ISTD syllabus are people pursuing dance as a
leisure activity and the organisation provides a structured examinations system that
caters for pupils from beginner to professional level. At the higher levels, ISTD provides
training for people wishing to pursue dance as a profession, either as a performer or a
dance teacher. Most dance styles have a series of graded examinations. These
progress from Pre-Primary and up through the Grades and with Vocational
examinations at Intermediate, Advanced 1 and Advanced 2 levels.

 

I.S.T.D Examinations

 

At KSDA, we prepare our Ballet, Jazz and Tap students from Primary and above for
the internationally recognized Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD)
examinations. The dates for our examinations come from London and are usually
somewhere between the mid August – mid September.

Although eligible students are encouraged to take these examinations, they are
certainly not compulsory. Students are entered for exams at their teacher’s discretion.
If a student does not sit their exam in that grade, teachers will still work to enhance
individual improvement and progress so that students will still be able to move up to
the next level.

To ensure a high standard and confident well prepared students, extra exam classes
are held with days and times to be confirmed. These are compulsory for students
entered into examinations and the cost for these extra classes are on a per class/per
student basis.