UK-based rock and pop music exam board, Rockschool, has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – International Trade.
Founded in West London in 1991 by music graduate and pop musician, Norton York, the company now conducts exams in over 45 countries and has subsidiaries in China, India and Spain. With 400,000 aspiring musicians having already taken Rockschool exams, famous alumni include Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne and British pop duo, Let’s Eat Grandma.
John Simpson, Rockschool’s Chief Executive Officer, said:
‘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.’
Norton York, Founder and Chairman RSL Awards (Rockschool Ltd), said:
‘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.’
Ukulele players at Rockschool © RSL
