Queen Elizabeth Prize
for Education
Awarded to the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education for ‘shaping the future of music education through applied performance science’.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education is the highest national honour in UK higher and further education. The award to the Royal College of Music celebrates the transformational work of the Centre for Performance Science (CPS), which is redefining how performance is understood, taught and experienced.
First awarded in 1994, the prizes are granted every two years by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, following an independent review by the Royal Anniversary Trust. The prizes recognise outstanding work by UK colleges and universities which demonstrate excellence and innovation and deliver real benefits to the wider world.
The winners of the sixteenth round were announced at St James’s Palace on 25 November 2025. The Prizes will be presented at an investiture ceremony in February 2026.
Read the RCM’s citation from the Royal Anniversary Trust here »
Learn more about the CPS »
Visit the CPS timeline »