M:Tech Education and ABRSM partner on creative music qualifications
M:Tech Education has been named a Creative Partner of ABRSM, creating a pathway for pupils using M:Tech’s school-based curriculum to work towards ABRSM Creative Musicianship qualifications in composing, songwriting and music production.
The partnership brings together the music exam board ABRSM's Creative Musicianship qualifications with M:Tech Education’s technology-based approach to teaching composition and music production in schools.
M:Tech has developed its curriculum so that learners can work towards ABRSM qualifications while composing, producing and recording their own music. The programme is intended to provide a structured route from classroom creative work into externally recognised assessment.
The company has already supported ABRSM in piloting Creative Musicianship across its network of partner schools. According to the organisations, M:Tech pupils became the first learners to receive ABRSM Creative Musicianship qualifications in Music Production.
Creative Musicianship is a relatively new strand of ABRSM’s assessment portfolio, extending its qualification offer beyond instrumental and vocal performance. Qualifications are available in Composing, Songwriting and Music Production.
Sam Hannaford, Head of Education at M:Tech, said, ‘For many young people today, making music means creating, producing and composing as much as performing. This partnership recognises those creative skills through a qualification that reflects the way they learn, create and express themselves today, while giving them the confidence to see themselves as creators.’
Hannah Cheek, Head of Product Management at ABRSM, added, ‘Musical performance is underpinned by the skills of songwriters, composers and producers. Creative Musicianship is about celebrating the creative skills of those musicians, giving learners meaningful qualifications that recognise a wider breadth of progression in music education.’
M:Tech works with children across hundreds of schools, using music technology as a route into composition, songwriting and production. Its partnership with ABRSM reflects a wider move within music education towards recognising creative and production skills alongside more traditional performance pathways.