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So about 3 months ago I took my Grade 4 piano ABRSM. This was the first time I had taken a piano exam because I lived abroad where they didn't have these examinations. I passed- but I really felt like I could have done better. I wasn't practicing very often, maybe for 15 minutes a few times a week, and I think this was reflected in my piano exam.
I really would like a merit at least in this exam. It is Grade 5 PIano Theory- by ABRSM.
So my questions are:
1)How much and how often should I start aiming to practice?
2) How should I schedule my piano e.g Hanon, then pieces for x minutes etc?
3) How can I fit piano into my very busy school life, the job I take after school and leisure time?

I know it isn't all about time, so I would also appreciate any tips on getting better generally.

A simple point of clarification :

The Grade 5 Piano Examination is not a Theory exam; rather it's what is generally known as a practical exam. Theory examinations are totally different from practical exams. For ABRSM Grade 5, as far as I can see, there is no theory component.

Regards,

Even though, in the grand scheme of things musical, ABRSM Grade 4 Piano exam does not encompass works of great difficulty, practicing for it "for 15 minutes a few times a week" hardly seems like adequate preparation.



Only you and your teacher - do you have a teacher? - would know how much time you need to prepare for the examination. You don't say when you plan to take the examination.
1) You should try as much as possible to do some practicing daily; I would think that at least 30 minutes a day, every day, would be a minimum for a serious preparation for an exam.
2) I'm not sure, unless your teacher insists upon it, that Hanon is a necessary part of your preparation. There are technical requirements (scales, arpeggios, etc.) that you need to work on for the examination, and they can be part of your preparation.
3) Only you can answer that question!

Regards,

"and leisure time" - is probably your answer no?

I assume you mean the Grade 5 Practical, as the Grade 5 Theory is a written exam, and is separate. (BTW, you'll need to pass the Grade 5 Theory if you want to do Grade 6 Practical and beyond).

My experience of the ABRSM Practical exams (which I did about a century ago ) is that from Grade 5 onwards, it becomes increasingly difficult to get a Merit, let alone Distinction. Your marks (and examiner's comments) in the individual sections of your Grade 4 exam result give you some idea of where you need to improve on, for your next exam - is it the pieces, the aurals or the scales & arpeggios?

I assume you have a teacher - it's almost impossible to get much further from here without one. Use whatever time you've got to work on what you need to do - ten minutes four times a day is as good as non-stop 40 minutes.

I don't remember how much time I spent practicing when I was doing Grade 5, because I was then in boarding school and had to fit it in during the times when the practice rooms were open (therefore I couldn't practice on Sundays or in the evenings) and the alloted time for supervised 'prep' (homework), but I guess it was around two hours, six days a week. But I recommend daily practice, if you can.

I never did Hanon......

P.S. My 'leisure time' was spent sight-reading through volumes of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert sonatas, and various Chopin pieces that I 'borrowed' (without permission) from the school's music library, and jamming with a violinist friend (improvisations on various tunes, and sight-reading through Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas - very badly and not in time with each other....). This isn't part of my 'practice time'.

Leisure time? Get friends who enjoy practicing music and form an ensemble.

I guess the question is, how important is it to you to get better at the piano? Pretend the exam doesn't exist -- how important is it to you to play better?
If it is not that important to you to get better, then there's nothing wrong with practicing 15 mins a day, enjoying the music accessible to you at your current level, and spending a lot of time on other things. (And cancel the exam.)
If it is important, then make the time for 30 mins of practice every day and an extra 30 mins 1-2 days a week. Reduce the time spent on things less important to you.
The way you divide the time would be best determined by your own experience, with help from your teacher. You could keep some paper by the piano and jot down what you did on days when you made a lot of progress.

As someone who is also sitting grade 5 ABRSM in about a month, I find 30 minutes per day woefully inadequate for practice time for this level with only three months to study. If you are doing the theory exam, 30 minutes of studying over three months would get you there, if you already have a base in music theory. I did that exam in June and it was not a walk in the park. The grade 4 practical was easy. The grade 5 practical is a step up from the grade 4, and requires three octave scales in all major and minor keys and the aural and sight reading are more challenging. The pieces are not particularly difficult, but they expect more finesse at this level than grade 4. So, I would say to get a merit, you need to do far more practice time. I have played higher level pieces in the past, but the polish needed for an exam is above and beyond what I have done for recitals. I have also found it invaluable to have a teacher's guidance in my preparation.

By the way, I love the practice chart above. That describes my day!

Firstly, I do need leisure time, I tried living without it for a year which led to excessive burn out. I'm not making the same mistake twice.

Secondly, thanks to all the people who wrote something in reply to this question! A lot of answers have helped me. I really do want to get better at playing! I also need to achieve something, because I've been feeling a lot like a failure.

Thirdly, I have a teacher. I'm a little nervous of him though and he would be probablyc tell me to practice 8 days a week(even though no such thing exists), 8 hours a day. He does ensist on Hanon, and I find it also helps me.

But I will ask him the questions to see what he thinks.

If anyone else has personal stories of how much practice it took them to reach Grade 5, and how they did, I'd be glad to hear it.