I took grade 4 and 5 last year and they were very similar format.
The grade 4 exam was in a local music shop on a Sunday (the shop itself was shut), and the second was in a tutor's house - he had converted his loft to a studio! In both cases the examiner was easy going and almost succeeded in putting me at ease
The first section was the scales - very nervous, a bit jerky and a couple of bum notes.
The second section, chords, was easy for me - I've been strumming for *cough* years so I only had to brush up on some 6ths and min6ths for grade 5.
Section 3, rhythm playing, again was not a problem.
Section 4, lead playing, was the stickiest part for me. I've only recently taken an interest in scales and suchlike so I'm nowhere near as good at improvising. I really was not looking forward to grade 5!
Section 5, the technical knowledge was also quite familiar to me. On both exams I was asked how to tune a guitar without using a tuner. I seem to remember being asked what the action was, and how to vary the tone.
Section 6 - I still cannot get the hang of that bl**dy rhythm test. I can't even tell the time signature. But it's only worth about 3%, so I grinned and hoped for the best. The other bits were OK.
The most important sections are 3 and 4, as they're worth 30% each. The rhythm sequence wasn't as tricky as some of those in the course books.
Each exam lasted approx 20 minutes, but the examiner won't give you the result at the time (although I was able to glimpse the examiner's notes during the first exam). I got the results about a week after, and the posh certificate about a month after.
Honestly, if you know the stuff in the books there's nothing to worry about. As I say, I'm useless at scales and improvising but I was comfortable with the chord stuff and the technical knowledge, and overall I scored 82 at grade 4 and 78 at grade 5, which are both Merits.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on!
