Trinity College London in Sri Lanka: Top Scorers’ of 2025 examinations to be celebrated this Saturday

A group performance at the 2025 Trinity College London – Sri Lanka top scorers’ concert (Pix by Waruna Wanniarachchi) 

• Many teachers and students are opting performance arts, musical theatre and acting
• Students can choose from a wide scope of performance arts subjects like puppetry to newspaper theatre to studying new musical instruments

The Trinity College London in Sri Lanka Top scorers’ concert and awards ceremony is a much anticipated event in the country’s speech, drama and performance arts calendar. This year, over 350 students will receive prizes at the awards ceremony followed by a showcase of their winning performances. One of the main objectives of having this concert annually is to provide a platform for students to showcase their talents to a wider audience. 

“The more students we recognise, the more performances we could have on stage,” said Renu Samarasinghe, National Representative of Trinity College London in Sri Lanka.  “Even though there are many students who sit for the traditional exams, we now have students trying out new syllabuses and exploring new pathways in drama and music. So now there’s more diversity in the performances and that is something we enjoy watching. Even the audience too has noticed it over time,” she added. 

Samarasinghe noted that many teachers and students are opting to move out of the traditional speech and drama syllabuses and look at performance arts, musical theatre, acting and so on. “One of the new things Trinity has launched which nobody has tried in Sri Lanka is acting for screen. Musical theatre and performance arts have been around for few years but many students don’t want to do it immediately. It’s a traditional industry and a lot of teachers are doing what they have been used to do for many years. But over the past 5-10 years, a lot of performance arts syllabuses and musical theatre has changed,” she said. 

Students are now able to choose from a wide scope of performance arts subjects such as puppetry to newspaper theatre to studying new musical instruments such as the acoustic guitar, electric guitar and the saxophone. Production-related subjects such as lighting, sound, costume design and even makeup is now available for those interested. 

“The concert takes places in three sessions; with performances from top scorers and special prize winners across junior, intermediate and senior categories. Even though the exams have no age limits, we have included age limits for the concert to ensure that things are arranged smoothly”

- Ramola Sivasundaram, Consultant at Trinity College London, Sri Lanka

One of the new things Trinity has launched which nobody has tried in Sri Lanka is acting for screen. Musical theatre and performance arts have been around for few years but many students don’t want to do it immediately”

- Renu Samarasinghe, National Representative of Trinity College London in Sri Lanka

“Our prize giving is now getting longer because we need to recognise all students for their talents,” said Ramola Sivasundaram, Consultant at Trinity College London, Sri Lanka. “So the concert takes places in three sessions; with performances from top scorers and special prize winners across junior, intermediate and senior categories. Even though the exams have no age limits, we have included age limits for the concert to ensure that things are arranged smoothly. Renu and her team does all the hard work in organising the event,” she added. 

The concert also recognises teachers who have guided students to do winning performances. “Since it’s too costly to print souvenirs we have now gone digital. Over the past few years we have included the teacher’s name on the screen because it gives them the due recognition. There are many parents who come for the event and see the teachers who have produced award winners. So it’s a way to market themselves as well,” Samarasinghe further said. 

Trinity is a recognised qualification where from Grades 6-8 students would get university entrance points. Opportunities are available for students in the outskirts of Colombo to attend preparation classes for Trinity College London examinations. Apart from Kurunegala, Kandy, Negombo and Gampaha the management aspires to extend its presence to a wider geographic area in time to come.  

Samarasinghe further said that parents need to realise the importance of performance arts and its influence on young children. “With this prize giving, students get to develop a sense of confidence, build up team spirit and to basically think on their feet. Many of these skills are not taught in classrooms. Music, speech and performance arts are an important part of education. It is not only academics at the end of the day,” she said in conclusion. 

 Sachin Das, Country Manager, Trinity College London in India will grace this year’s event as chief guest. 

The event will be held at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on Saturday (28) from 6. p.m. onwards.