College Documents

History

The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) was established in 1973 as an amalgamation of two Manchester-based music Colleges (the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Northern School of Music), each with its own long and illustrious history. The College occupies a single site just south of the centre of the City of Manchester, between The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, both of which enjoy excellent relationships and collaborations with the RNCM.

Legal and charitable status

The RNCM is an independent corporation, established as a Higher Education Corporation under the terms of the Education Reform Act 1988, and operating within the provisions of an Instrument of Government made by the Privy Council in May 1993 under the terms of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. As a recipient of substantial public funding and by virtue of its educational objectives, it is an exempt charity, with the Office for Students (OfS) acting as its Principal Regulator.

Governance arrangements

The members of the HEC constitute the Board of Governors of the RNCM, the activities of which the Corporation has been established to conduct, and whose objects, powers and framework of governance are set out in its Articles of Government, the current version of which was approved by the Board of Governors (‘the Board’) in July 2011, and by the Privy Council in October 2011. The Board is also, in relation to the charitable activities of the RNCM, its Trustee Board. Members of the Board are therefore the Trustees of the RNCM, and of its two Trust Funds, each of which is a separate charity registered with the Charity Commission. Links to corporate documents and to further information are provided alongside.

Financial statements

The RNCM’s current Consolidated Financial Statements, and those of the previous four years are available alongside.

Public value

The RNCM is aware of its responsibilities as a charity to act for the public benefit and has had due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance. The Purpose of the RNCM, as set out in the Articles of Government, is ‘to educate and train musicians to the highest level in an environment that is both stimulating and rich in opportunity, for the benefit of individuals and society at large’. A link to the current Public Benefit Statement is provided alongside.

Access and Participation Plan

The RNCM Access and participation plan sets out how the College will improve equality of opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access, succeed in, and progress from higher education.  The current Access and Participation plan can be found in the Downloads section of this page.

Correspondence

The principal place of business and the address of the RNCM is:

Royal Northern College of Music
124 Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9RD

Any enquiries regarding the charitable status of the RNCM should be directed in the first instance to the Clerk to the Board.