At Feet First Dance Academy, we provide every child with opportunities to take formal examinations. These exams are provided by The British Theatre Dance Association, in association with the Graded Qualifications Alliance. GQAL was established in 2003 to provide awards that recognised achievements. Fully accredited by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations (Ofqual) GQAL provides awards that complement existing academic and competence based programmes.
Our dance awards have become recognised as one of the country’s leading qualifications. The GQAL theatre dance qualifications offer a grading structure which allows learners to achieve recognition in several dance disciplines.
The qualifications are fully accredited by The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations: Ofqual, and part of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). They provide a genuine alternative for people who need recognition for mastery of skills and successful performance. Designed to complement existing qualifications such as GCSE’s, A Levels and NVQ’s, these qualifications meet the need for more appropriate ways of assessing what students know, understand and can actually do.
General Graded Examinations are not age related and are open to a wide range of learners. They are aimed at anyone who is capable of safely reaching the required standard. Below is a table outlining the comparison between GQAL dance qualifications and other qualifications available:
| RQF Level | Graded Examinations in Dance | Vocational Graded Examinations in Dance | Dance Teaching Examinations | Other Qualifications |
| 5 | Professional Development in Theatre Dance | Dance Teaching and Management | Foundation Degree | |
| Diploma of Higher Education | ||||
| 4 | Advanced 2 | Dance Teaching | Key Skills level 4 | |
| Advanced 1 | NVQ level 4 | |||
| HNC | ||||
| 3 | Grade 8 | Advanced Foundation | Dance Teaching Assistant | AS and A level |
| Grade 7 | Intermediate | Key Skills level 3 | ||
| Grade 6 | NVQ level 3 | |||
| BTEC National | ||||
| 2 | Grade 5 | GCSE (grades A*-C) | ||
| Grade 4 | Key Skills level 2 | |||
| NVQ level 2 | ||||
| BTEC level 2 | ||||
| 1 | Grade 3 | GCSE (grades D-G) | ||
| Grade 2 | Key Skills level 1 | |||
| Grade 1 | NVQ level 1 |
