Rockschool's Revolution in Music Education Wins Queen's Award for Enterprise

Founded by Chairman Norton York in 1991, Music graduate Norton York spent his teens playing in bands and felt pop music was ignored in mainstream music education, despite leading the world in innovation, creativity and profitability. He wanted young musicians who played drums, electric guitars and keyboards to be able to take exams and mark their achievements in the same way as their classical contemporaries. Rockschool now conducts exams in over 45 countries around the world. Over 400,000 aspiring musicians have already taken Rockschool exams. Famous alumni include 'Ed Sheeran', 'Jess Glynn' and emerging talent like 'Let's Eat Grandma'.

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Norton York , Founder & Chairman RSL Awards (Rockschool ltd)

Not only do a Rockschool candidates go onto become global superstars, the qualifications also lead to full-time jobs working in the creative industries like stage crew, sound engineers, producers, and managers making Rockschool students the envy of the world.  

John Simpson , Rockschool's Chief Executive Officer

The export value of the UK Creative Industries is estimated at £19.8 billion or 9% of total export services. It is growing at 10.9% a year and accounts for 1.9 million jobs in the UK*. Rockschool is a rising star in this burgeoning export market and this performance has been recognised today with the granting of The Queens Award for Enterprise - International Trade

In 1991- Rockschool created a unique set of products for a brand-new marketplace: recognised, graded qualifications for contemporary musicians. The instruments included in the original graded examinations were Electric guitar, Bass guitar and Drums. After the initial success with these instruments, the company developed syllabi in Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Ukulele, Theory and Music Production. Ongoing reissues keep the material up to date and relevant to the ever changing music world. The company has developed a full suite of additional qualifications including vocational qualifications and performance arts awards. Rockschool qualifications are recognised and regulated at the highest level by Ofqual, SFA, CCEA, Qualifications Wales and the Department for Education. The higher grades attract UCAS points helping students gain access to university places.  

* https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-2016-focus-on

More information available

Company website www.rslawards.com