From a small office in West London in 1991, RSL Awards had a dream to change the landscape of formal music education, and sought to become the first viable alternative to the traditional offerings available in Britain at the time.

To simultaneously fill the void and satisfy a demand that they knew was out there, founders Norton York and Dr. Simon Pitt initially developed a guitar, bass and drums syllabus for the contemporary musician. Rockschool began offering these exams in the summer of 1991, making it the world’s first graded exam syllabus for popular music.