In the 2024 version of the Syllabi, LAMDA have introduced a regulation that states:

‘Own Choice Selections must be Published by a professional Third Party (e.g. a Publishing House).

Self-Published Selections that have not been reviewed and published by a third party are not

allowed.’

In most instances it is very simple to quickly identify if a piece is Self-Published or Published by a

professional third party if you know what you are looking for.

• Look for pieces that have been published by a well recognised Publisher such as Nick Hern

Books, Penguin, HarperCollins etc.

• Compilations of Monologues and Duologues which include pieces from different authors are a

simple option as the organisation or person who compiled the pieces have performed a thirdparty review and as such this would meet the criteria.

• If you don’t already recognise the Publisher, then Google the name and if their website

reflects, they are an organisation that publish works by a range of different authors, then they

would have a third-party review process in place and as such they would meet the criteria.

• If the piece is for sale on one of the major distribution platforms and the Publisher name is the

same as the Author name, then this is likely to be Self-Published.

• If you perform a quick search on the internet and the piece is not available for sale anywhere

and can only be found as a free PDF, or a free word document, then this is likely to be SelfPublished.

• The biggest giveaway that a piece has been self-published and has not been reviewed by a

third party is likely to be the quality. If a piece is not of sufficient quality to allow a Learner to

perform in line with the assessment criteria to the best of their ability, then it should not be

used.

The main reason for LAMDA including this regulation in the 2024 syllabus is to ensure that the

Learner’s opportunity to perform to the best of their ability in line with the assessment criteria is

maximised. So, to summarise, if there is a case where a Self-Published piece is used in an exam,

LAMDA will always review each case individually and they will take proportionate and fair action that

minimises the impact on the Learner whilst preserving the validity and integrity of the exams.