Each board's rule
Paraphrased from each board's page. The board's page is the authority; check it before you upload.
- ABRSM Performance Grades. Letters, numbers, underscores and dashes only, and the name must not be blank.
- Trinity College London digital music exams. Forename and surname run together, then an underscore, the style and instrument run together, an underscore, and the grade: for example SamSmith_ClassicalPiano_Initial or JennyJohnson_JazzFlute_Grade5.
- LCME (London College of Music Examinations) digital recorded exams. Letters, numbers, underscores and dashes only (a Reelpass suggestion; the guide gives no file name rule).
The safe set of characters (A to Z in either case, 0 to 9, the underscore and the dash) is what the strictest character rule allows, so a name made only of them is the safest choice for any upload form. Spaces, dots in the middle, brackets and accented letters are all outside it.
Worked example
These names were run through the Reelpass validator and renamer for the board shown.
| Name | Board | Result | Why | Suggested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maya Chen Grade 7.MOV | ABRSM | Needs a fix | It contains spaces. Only letters, numbers, underscores and dashes are allowed. | Maya_Chen_Grade_7.mov |
| Zoë_Lefèvre_Grade8.mp4 | ABRSM | Needs a fix | It contains the accented or non English letter "ë", the accented or non English letter "è". Only letters, numbers, underscores and dashes are allowed. | Zoe_Lefevre_Grade8.mp4 |
| IMG_0042.MOV | ABRSM | Passes | Only letters, numbers and an underscore, with an accepted extension. | No change |
| maya.chen.final.mp4 | ABRSM | Needs a fix | It contains extra dots. Only letters, numbers, underscores and dashes are allowed. | maya_chen_final.mp4 |
| Recital (take 2).mp4 | LCME | Needs a fix | It contains spaces, "(", ")". Only letters, numbers, underscores and dashes are allowed. | Recital_take_2.mp4 |
| IMG_0042.MOV | Trinity | Needs a fix | It has 2 parts separated by underscores; the pattern has 3: ForenameSurname, then StyleInstrument, then the grade. | Fill in the candidate details |
| SamSmith_Piano_Grade5.mp4 | Trinity | Needs a fix | "Piano" should start with the style: Classical, Jazz, RockPop. | Fill in the candidate details |
Notice that the same phone name passes one board and fails another. Where the board fixes a pattern, the renamer cannot guess the candidate's name, so it asks for the details and builds the name from them.
The fixed pattern
For Trinity College London digital music exams, the name is forename and surname run together, the style and instrument run together, then the grade, joined by underscores. The board's examples, with an extension added, are SamSmith_ClassicalPiano_Initial.mp4 and JennyJohnson_JazzFlute_Grade5.mov. From candidate details the renamer writes:
- Jenny Johnson, Flute: JennyJohnson_JazzFlute_Grade5.mp4
- Mary-Jane O'Neil, French horn: MaryJaneONeil_ClassicalFrenchHorn_Initial.mov
- Zoë Lefèvre, Drums: ZoeLefevre_RockPopDrums_Grade3.mp4
Hyphens, apostrophes and spaces are dropped and accents folded. The Rock and Pop style word is a Reelpass setting, because the board gives no example of it.
Naming a whole class
Teachers sending several candidates can name every file from one pattern on the teacher batch page. A pattern uses these tokens:
- {forename} and {surname}: the candidate's names.
- {instrument}: the instrument as typed.
- {grade}: written Grade5, or Initial.
- {n}: the candidate's place in the list, with two digits.
After filling in the tokens, the whole name is made safe. For a fictional candidate, Maya Chen, Grade 5 piano:
- {forename}_{surname}_{instrument}_{grade} gives Maya_Chen_Piano_Grade5.mp4
- {n}_{surname}_{grade} gives 03_Chen_Grade5.mp4
Patterns apply to the boards that set a character rule. For the board with a fixed pattern, the batch writes that pattern instead.
Common mistakes
- Spaces between words. Use an underscore or a dash.
- Dots in the middle, such as a name with first.last.final in it. Only the dot before the extension belongs.
- Accented letters and brackets, which the character rule does not allow.
- Changing the extension by hand, for example .MOV to .mp4. That does not convert the video.
- Leaving the phone's IMG_ name on a file for the board with a fixed pattern.
- Writing the grade as Grade 5 with a space, or leaving out the style, for the pattern board.
To test a name against your board's rule and get a safe suggestion, check the exam video and its file name. The file stays on your device.
Sources
Checked on 27 September 2026. Every rule here is paraphrased from the page named, read on the date shown. Boards change their guidance; the board's own page is the authority, so check it before you upload.
- Performance Grades Guidance. ABRSM Performance Grades, read 27 September 2026. From the File names section of the page. The page does not mention the extension, so Reelpass checks the part before the dot and leaves .mp4, .mov or .mpg alone. https://www.abrsm.org/en-gb/performance-grades/guidance
- Digital Recording Guidance (support article). Trinity College London digital music exams, read 27 September 2026. The pattern and both examples are from the support article. Reelpass checks three parts joined by underscores, letters only in the first two, and Initial or Grade 1 to 8 in the third. https://support.trinitycollege.com/support/solutions/articles/202000101849-digital-recording-guidance-for-bookings-made-from-5th-november
- Quick guide to filming your LCME Digital Recorded exam (PDF). LCME (London College of Music Examinations) digital recorded exams, read 27 September 2026. The quick guide does not state a file name rule. Reelpass suggests the same safe characters as the strictest board so the name survives any upload form. https://lcme.uwl.ac.uk/media/rfmnbrbt/quick-guide-to-lcme-digital-recorded-exams.pdf