Feedback on Aberdeenshire Youth Music Sessions (AYMS) November/December 2025 Evaluation

In our survey we asked:

You told us:

Pupils from 11 Academies and 32 Primary Schools responded to this survey

The table below shows the number of pupils in each year group:

P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6
5	6	12	11	10	9	5	7	3	1	1

The table below shows the instruments played:

30.6% of respondents had attended at least one project and 69.4% had not attended

Concert Band at Mackie Academy

31.8% of AYMS participants attended Concert Band at Mackie Academy
37.5% felt the number of sessions was just right, 62.5% would like more sessions offered in future
100% felt the music provided was suitable

What you learnt from the Concert Band sessions:

Made new friends, found my lesson pieces easier because of the extra practise, more confident and liked playing with others
Learnt about flats and sharps. How music sounds different with a multitude of instruments
How transpose
To play an interesting piece of music
Songs sound better when all strings play together
Great interactions with other pupils, new music, stage fright
Teamwork, discipline, time keeping, how band practice goes

Junior String Orchestra at Mackie Academy

50% of AYMS participants attended the Junior String Orchestra at Mackie Academy
72.7% felt the number of sessions was just right, 27.3% would like more sessions offered in future
100% felt the music provided was suitable

What you learnt from the String Orchestra sessions:

Performance practice in front of an audience
Building confidence playing with others, learning new songs & enjoying learning viola
Playing as a team
How to play with the other people
To play a more advanced piece of music
My daughter’s first time in a string orchestra. An excellent experience for her
Playing together with all the other strings
To experience playing music as part of an ensemble
Dedication, rehearsal, challenge, collaboration

Strings, Brass and Woodwind at Inverurie Academy

36.4% of AYMS participants attended the Strings, Brass and Woodwind at Inverurie Academy
50% felt the number of sessions was just right, 50% would like more sessions offered in future
100% felt the music provided was suitable

What you learnt from the Strings, Brass and Woodwind sessions:

Teamwork, practise, made a friend
Meeting new people and being involved in another orchestra
How to play with other musicians and how to count long rests
To play with others and have fun
Timing, listening to other instruments, watching a conductor, improvement in playing
New arrangements of Christmas music

Your Project Expectations:

62.5% said that the project met expectations and 37.5% said the project exceeded expectations

Thoughts from respondents:

Excellent opportunity and the final concert was amazing for 4 weeks work
Really enjoyed the extra sessions. Watching & listening to older musicians was really enjoyable too
It’s absolutely fantastic, great having the senior helpers to aspire to. Really helps with confidence and skills. Can’t recommend it enough
I enjoy them very much and the conductor is very good
I enjoyed it
Really enjoyed it and would definitely attend others
It would be great to have a regular intermediate orchestra
A really good experience
Good informative sessions offered
Such a great experience for the children. It was very well organised, the teachers were all very friendly and helpful from the moment we arrived. The end concert was a lovely way to end the sessions. Well done to everyone involved. Hope these continue
No tunes where the audience sing along please. We'd just like to hear the children play the instruments
Great idea more notice of the session or having them spaced out more would allow daughter to attend more
They are great, please keep them up

Young Leaders

Thoughts from Young Leaders:

I thought the concert ran smoothly. I like doing the registration and collecting money at the end

Future AYMS attendance:

This survey was sent to all pupils receiving tuition with the IMS. 27.8% of respondents said they are not very likely to attend AYMS in the future, 38.9% said they likely would attend and 33.3% said very likely

Musical ensembles you would like in the future:

Ceilidh/folk music
Sadly my daughter cannot attend due to pipe band commitments
Something on nearer to Peterhead. The events on were the opposite side of Aberdeenshire. Even Ellon or Fraserburgh would be great
Jazz brass band
More woodwind musicians
Strings. Also one closer to Fraserburgh for those who rely on public transport
All covered
Would like to see something closer to the area we live
Pipe band
Ensembles in the North East that serves Fraserburgh/Peterhead areas
Piano/keyboard/voice
No but the prices to see the current ones are too high
Jazz band
Ballet
Orchestra
Brass band
Choir
Not sure as haven't been to one yet
Ceilidh band
Big bands
Folk / trad music ensembles
Play while other sing
The ensembles are great; it’s the timing that’s the issue. My child has a part-time job outside school, is studying for exams and needs some downtime too. So extracurricular weekend music very sadly is low on the to do list
A guitar ensemble
Woodwind and strings together
An ensemble for more advanced pupils

Based on the data:

We recognise that playing in an ensemble is valuable to you and will continue to organise projects

We will continue to match and adapt music to pupils’ level of ability and encourage pupils to voice any concerns with AYMS instructors regarding being over or under challenged

We will continue to engage with Young Leaders and encourage them to provide feedback

We will explore ways in which we can offer a greater range of ensembles across a wider geographical area