ELIGIBILITY CRITERA

  • Students must be at least 7 years of age.
  • Students must have completed one academic year before sitting for the exam.
  • Students must have met the 75% attendance criteria.
  • Student must have completed current year syllabus. 
  • Students must attain the approval of their Tutor to partake in the examinations. 
  • Students must have met the promotion criteria for their exams in the previous year, as stated below.
  • Students of levels 1-4 must have attended at least 2 concerts and those of levels 5-8 at least 5 concerts at the SIFAS Stage / SIFAS Annexe.
  • The exam registration form must be submitted by the registration deadline.
  • The exam registration fee and all outstanding fees (monthly tuition and annual membership) must be paid by the registration deadline.

The Examination Committee reserves the right to not permit students’ participation in the exam if they do not meet the eligibility criteria. The decision of the Examination Committee is final.

ABSENCE

  • No replacement exam sittings will be granted to absentees without valid reasons.
  • Absentees with valid reasons may sit for replacement exams, if the schedule permits, at the discretion of the Examination Committee. However, if this is not possible, they will have to sit for the exams in the following year.
  • There will be no refund of exam fees in the event of absenteeism.​

WITHDRAWAL

  • Withdrawal from exams will be considered if the Examination Committee receives a notice from the student with a valid reason 1 week prior to the exam date.
  • An administrative fee of 20% of the exam fee will be charged to the student who is permitted to withdraw.

​DOUBLE EXAMINATIONS IN SAME DISCIPLINE

  • Under exceptional circumstances, the Examination Committee will consider applications from students who are eligible for taking 2 exams within the same discipline in the same academic year.
  • Double exams of the same discipline are allowed within the same Stage, however this is not permitted at the Proficiency stage (Levels 7 and 8)
  • Students who are eligible for two levels of exams within the same discipline, will receive a certificate of completion for each level upon successful completion of the respective examination. ​

ONLINE EXAMINATIONS 

Online Exams are permitted for Levels 1 to 6 for all disciplines based on the following criteria:
  • Student has been taking online classes overseas for the entire Academic year
  • Student will not be eligible to be considered for Visharad and Best Student titles
  • Online exams are not permitted for Level 7-8 , students have to be physically present to take their exams regardless of an online student or not.​

CODE OF CONDUCT DURING EXAMINATION

  • ​Students shall at all times conduct themselves with dignity and decorum while attending the exams. 
  • They must be properly attired in traditional Indian clothes and strictly adhere to any given instructions failing which students will not be permitted to attend the examinations.
  • Students shall report at least 15 minutes before the allotted time of their exams. They are to note that there may be unavoidable delays. 
  • Students will be required to produce their hall tickets before proceeding into the respective rooms.
  • No reference materials such as notes, books and electronic/recording gadgets are permitted into the exam venue. 
  • There will strictly be no admittance of parents/rasikas into classroom exams for Level 1 to 5 .
  • Parents/rasikas who wish to attend levels 6, 7 and 8 concert exams are requested to be attired in traditional wear. 

Examination Registration Fee

Levels
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Per discipline
125
125
125
175
175
200
300
300
Late fee per discipline
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
* Monthly fees and Exam fees are both payable during the examination period.

Grading System

Grade
Marks 
A+
90-100
A
80-89
B
70-79
C
60-69
D
50-59
* Students who score below “D”, will need to reappear for exams to progress to the next level.

Promotion Criteria
​Students of all Levels must obtain a Pass in the final examination before proceeding to the next year. Students will receive a "Certificate of Completion" upon progressing to the next level.  To enroll for the post-Certificate course leading to a Diploma, Level 6 students are required to have attained at least a grade C.
​
​Examinations for all levels are conducted by an Examination Committee whose responsibility it is to supervise and act as moderators. ​All decisions by the Examination Committee are final.
Levels
Promotion Grade
1 to 3
D
Stage 1 Certificate (Level 3)
​C to obtain the Certificate of Foundation
4 to 6
C
Stage 1 Certificate (Level 6)
​C to obtain the Certificate of Development
7
C
8
C to obtain a Diploma
8
Highest aggregate score of Level 7 (40%) and Level 8 (60%) to obtain the Visharad title.

Duration of Examinations

Levels
Dance
​(Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi)
Vocal & Instrument
​(Carnatic)
​Vocal & Instrument
​(Hindustani)
1
20 min
20 min
15 min
2
20 min
30 min
15 min
3
20 min
40 min
20 min
4
50 min
40 min
30 min
5
60 min
45 min
45 min
6
60 min
60 min
60 min
DANCE
Level 7
Classroom 60 min
Concert 75 min (Bharatanatyam)
​Concert 60 min (Kathak)
Level 8
Classroom 60 min
Concert 75 min (Bharatanatyam)
​Concert 60 min (Kathak)
VOCAL & INSTRUMENT (CARNATIC / HINDUSTANI)
Level 7
Classroom 60 min
Concert 75 min
Level 8
Classroom 75 min
Concert 90 min

EXAM DATES 2025

Examination will be between Friday, 11th July 2025 - Thursday 31st July 2025, beginning with the Higher-level students (Levels 6–8) at the SIFAS Annexe, and the lower level exams at the New campus.

REGISTRATION FOR EXAMINATIONS 

  • Registrations for exams will commence by the second week of June 2025. The registration for examinations will come to a close for all levels on Monday, 30th June 2025. There will be no extension granted beyond the deadline. 
  • The exam schedules will be released batch by batch from the second week of June.
  • NOTE : Examinations for students in levels 1- 5 will be conducted during their respective class timings only. Request you to kindly book their time slots as their own class time. Kindly do not book any other slots besides the actual class timings.
  • As an exceptional situation based on the external examiner's availability, only for the discipline Kuchipudi, the examinations are expected to commence 1st week of July onwards. Examinations for the lower levels are expected to be held at our new campus, during regular class timings. We aim to complete all examinations by the end of July 2025.
  • We are also expecting to have additional external examiners joining us to support the Examinations of Levels 4–5, apart from the external examiners for Higher level exams.

​The examinations will be scheduled in stages (Foundation, Development and Proficiency).  Please note the time frame for the examinations has been confirmed based on the availability of the external examiners. Hence, all exam- going students are to adhere to the time frame.

EXAMINATION REGISTRATION PROCESS

Tutors will be selecting the students who are eligible and ready for examinations. The eligibility criteria is based on two main factors: 
  • Students must have met the 75% attendance criteria. 
  • Student has completed the syllabus and is well prepared for the exam evaluations. 
All registrations will be done through the member portal wherein the member/student will have the option to select their exam schedule based on the provided available slots.

Please find the registration steps below: 
STEP 1. Notification email from “[email protected]” will be sent to students who are eligible for examinations. The notification mail will inform the student to proceed with registration. 
STEP 2. Login to member portal at www.sifas.org 
STEP 3. Click on "My Exams" (if the member is taking the exams) or click on "My Student" and / or select the exam icon (If your associated student is taking the exam)
STEP 4. Under “Exam Schedule Time Slot”, select a time slot in the dropdown 
STEP 5. Click the “checkbox” followed by “Confirm” button 
STEP 6. Exam Invoice will be generated 
STEP 7. Proceed to payment to confirm registration 
STEP 8. Upon successful payment, "Hall Ticket" and payment receipts will be mailed separately.

Payment Method: 
Upon selecting your exam schedule, you will be redirected to the payment page in the member portal. You may proceed with payment by clicking “Make payment” and scan the QR code, and do not exit the page/refresh the page until you are redirected to “My receipts” page and you are able to see your receipt. (Please take a screenshot of your “Stan ID” number after payment. This will be helpful in the event the payment is not reflected successfully in our system).

Please take note of the following :

If you are the member and student, all outstanding fees will be reflected under the “My payments” tab. For your associated student (your child or spouse), all outstanding fees will be reflected under the “My students” tab. You may select the student’s name accordingly and click on the payment icon to proceed with payment. ​

EXAM SCHEDULE

Students and members are able to select their exam date and time slot in the member portal. Kindly note these schedules are based on the current availability of our examiners. 

EXAMINATION FEES & PAYMENT

Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Exam Fees
$125
$125
$125
$175
$175
$200
$300
$300
Any previous outstanding payments (Example: tuition fee, membership fee etc),exam fees and June month tuition fees must be made by Monday 30th June 2025. Giro students will be receiving a separate mail on your payment procedure. Students with any outstanding fees beyond 30th June 2025 will not be eligible for examinations.

DOUBLE EXAMINATIONS IN SAME DISCIPLINE 

  • Under exceptional circumstances, the Examination Committee will consider applications from students who are eligible for taking 2 exams within the same discipline in the same academic year. 
  • Double exams of the same discipline are allowed within the same Stage, however this is not permitted at the Proficiency stage (Levels 7 and 8).
  • Students who are taking two levels of exams within the same discipline, will be required to pay both the exam fees and  will receive a certificate of completion for each level upon successful completion of the respective examinations.

ONLINE EXAMINATIONS 

Online Exams are permitted for Levels 1 to 6 on a case to case basis for all disciplines based on the following criteria: 
  • Students must be based overseas and must have been taking online classes the entire Academic year.
Kindly note Students will not be eligible to be considered for any Visharad and Best Student titles. 

CODE OF CONDUCT DURING EXAMINATIONS 

  • Students shall at all times conduct themselves with dignity and decorum while attending the exams. 
  • They must be properly attired in traditional Indian clothes and strictly adhere to any given instructions failing which students will not be permitted to attend the examinations.
  • Students shall report at least 15 minutes before the allotted time of their exams. They are to note that there may be unavoidable delays. 
  • Students will be required to produce their hall tickets before proceeding into the respective rooms.
  • No reference materials such as notes, books and electronic/recording gadgets are permitted into the exam venue. 
  • There will strictly be no admittance of parents/rasikas into classroom exams for Level 1 to 5 .
  • Parents/rasikas who wish to attend levels 6, 7 and 8 concert exams are requested to be attired in traditional wear. 

CLASSES DURING EXAMINATION 

Non examinable students
  • During the examinations, classes will be interrupted to accommodate evaluations for examinable students.
  • Non-examinable students who miss classes will be compensated either by a senior student, an alumni or the tutor within the next three months period.
  • Non-examinable students will be required to pay tuition fees as per normal. 

Examinable students 
  • Examinable students will not be required to attend any classes during the entire duration of examinations.
  • Examination fees and Tuition fees are required to be paid by exam going students.
  • There will be no classes for examinable students during the month of their exams.

CONCERT EXAMINATIONS

Concert examinations will take place first followed by classroom examinations.
For any other queries regarding examinations, kindly send an email to [email protected]​
​
We wish all our students the best for the upcoming exams!