RCM ranked Top London Conservatoire for World-Leading Research
Wednesday 17 December 2014
The Royal College of Music (RCM) has been named as the London conservatoire with the highest percentage of world-leading research in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).
The REF panel – which assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions – judged 34% of the overall quality of the RCM’s research to be world leading, significantly higher than any other conservatoire in London. In addition, the percentage of RCM research outputs classed as world leading is the highest of all UK conservatoires.
The RCM also ranked highly for the impact of its research, with 90% of its activity rated as world leading in this area. As a sector, UK music conservatoires scored very strongly in this new category, highlighting the significance of their research for the wider world beyond academia.
These results consolidate the reputation of the RCM as a world-class centre for music research, and demonstrate the institution’s strong commitment to research and innovation across both theory and practice.
Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM, says “I am delighted that the results of the Research Excellence Framework have confirmed our position as the No. 1 Conservatoire in London for research. Not only was the quality of our research rated more highly than any other London conservatoire, but so was the strength of its impact on the wider community. The REF result serves to confirm the RCM’s position as a natural first choice for talented music students from around the world.”
RCM Director of Research Richard Wistreich says “This extremely strong result for the Royal College of Music provides us with the confidence and direction for the future development of our research strategy. I am particularly encouraged by the large number of our research outputs that have been recognised as world leading, and also the very high evaluation we received for the beneficial impact of our research. The RCM has taken its mission to serve society as a whole very seriously since its foundation in 1882, and this sits at the heart of our approach to research.”
Find out more about the Research Excellence Framework
