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