What is it like to work at ABRSM?

What is it like to work at ABRSM?

At ABRSM, we encourage collaborative working practices and a sense of partnership among our team at Portland Place and all our colleagues and supporters.

You can expect a thorough induction process to our organisation, and to be introduced to everyone when you start. The collaborative culture in our central London office makes this possible, as most of our 160 staff work in one building. We find that new members of staff comment on how friendly and helpful everybody is, and we believe that this is a key part of what makes it so special to work here.

We are committed to open communication within ABRSM, which is why the whole organisation gets together in person at regular intervals to share what we have been working on. Our Staff Forum also runs a number of events throughout the year such as pub quizzes, sports days and a Christmas party, to enable our teams to get together outside of their day-to-day work.

As you would expect, music is an important feature of life at ABRSM and can be heard around the building as colleagues explore new syllabus repertoire or practise privately in break times, and as applicants visit the building to take our exams. If you are musical there are opportunities to get involved with our choir or various ensembles, or even start your own!

Discretionary benefits

Our discretionary staff benefits include:

• Annual pay reviews
• Contributory Pension Scheme (with associated Death in Service and Group Income Protection benefits)
• Christmas closure days in addition to annual leave allowance
• Flexible working hours
• Recognition awards - for long service, or making an outstanding contribution above and beyond that normally required of your role
• Child care voucher scheme
• Occupational sick pay
• Employee Assistance Programme with telephone and online support on a range of personal and work-related issues
• Interest-free bike loans and season ticket loans (after passing the probation period, which is normally six months)
• Career breaks
• Discounts on our products, and products from our affiliated companies
• Professional subscriptions
• Use of our music practice rooms

Flexible working

We are committed to good people management practices and to the recruitment and retention of valuable staff. We recognise that the ability to work flexibly can help achieve a better work-life balance, and this has benefits for both the organisation and our staff. This is why we normally offer a 35 hour working week (7 hours per day excluding a lunch break), with some flexibility on start and finish times.

Subject to the needs of the business, staff can start from 8am to 10am and consequently finish between 4pm and 6pm. We ask for flexibility from our staff too, as evening and weekend working may also be needed at busy times or to deliver some events and services.

For parents and carers who work for us, we offer enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave and pay. We also offer Parental Leave, Emergency Leave for Dependents and a Child Care Vouchers scheme.

Staff Forum

We believe that opinions count. That’s why at ABRSM we have a committee of staff members, nominated by their peers, who play a key role in communicating with the Executive team about the issues facing our colleagues. Below is their mission statement.

The Staff Forum exists to represent to senior management ideas and issues of collective importance to staff and to facilitate effective consultation by senior management, with the aim of helping to promote a harmonious and productive working environment.