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

LONDON, April 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The company, which is the world's first rock and pop music exam board, has today been awarded the Queen's Awards for Enterprise. This prestigious award is a recognised Royal endorsement reflecting the success of Rockschool's international development.

     (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/679970/RSL_Logo.jpg )

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'.

" Since we started Rockschool in 1991 we pioneered pop and rock music education - from our world firsts in establishing guitar, bass and drums grade exams to our vocational qualifications which have been taken by world beating artists and our most recent innovation in music production exams, Rockschool has always led the way in British music education. I am so proud and honoured that  our achievements in the past few years in establishing our exams as a global leader in our field in more than 40 countries has been recognised with this Queen's Award. Thank you to our staff and to all the young musicians who have come on this journey with us."

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.  

"Nurturing musical talent has been at the forefront of the company's endeavours from the very beginning. This is not only paying dividends for our candidates and Rockschool as a company, but the wider success of UK music as an international export." 

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

RSL( Rockschool Ltd)

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