Northern Scholarships Fund

The North of England has an exciting musical culture which has been at the heart of our community, inspiring young professional musicians from our regions and putting the North of England on the global stage.

However, we are seeing first-hand that there is an unfolding crisis threatening the sustainability and future growth of musical opportunity across Northern England. Simply, many young people with musical talent, passion and ambition cannot access the training and support they need to thrive. Decades of under-funding, the marginalisation of music in school curriculums and now the impact of the pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for a new generation of musicians.

Since 2011, the number of young people taking A-level music has fallen by 44%. (Report from the Joint Council for Qualifications, August 2021).

We are therefore determined to take every possible step to support young musicians in the North and help to make music education accessible and affordable.

The RNCM’s Northern Scholarships are a new initiative to provide targeted financial support to young musicians facing barriers to musical training and progression, because of where they live, the difficult financial circumstances they face and the profound impact of the pandemic – all factors beyond their control which make high-level music study beyond their reach.

The Northern Scholarships will support undergraduate and postgraduate tuition fee costs at the RNCM and annual fees for attendance at the Junior RNCM, our weekly music school for talented young musicians aged 8 to 18. These scholarships will enable us to create a supportive infrastructure for our very best Northern musicians and a pathway to their long-held musical ambitions.

‘RNCM is a place of utter excellence in every department. It supports, develops and truly cares for the students and gives them opportunities to grow like no other institution I have come into contact with’ – James Hendry, RNCM Alumnus from Hull, East Yorkshire

You can contribute to our Northern Scholarships Fund with a donation of any size. Your support will help make it possible for more students from the North of England to study at the RNCM. You can make a one-off donation using the donation form below, or sign up to give a regular gift by Direct Debit.

With a gift of £5,000 and above, you can play a pivotal role in the career of a young musician by supporting a named scholarship or bursary. Witness first-hand the transformative impact your support can have on the life of a student, with opportunities to meet your sponsored student, attend their performances and follow their journey through regular reports and updates.

You can donate online below or by sending us a cheque. Please make cheques payable to RNCM Awards Fund and send for attention of Eve Riley at Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD.

For more information, please contact: Eve Riley, Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships on [email protected] / 0161 907 5338.