Royal College of Music鈥檚 Centre for Performance Science awarded Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education for pioneering research and its impact on society
Wednesday 26 November 2025
The Royal College of Music (番茄直播app) is honoured to have been awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education, the highest national honour in UK higher and further education, celebrating the transformational work of its Centre for Performance Science 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 benefit to the wider world.
Founded in 2000, the Centre for Performance Science at the Royal College of Music is the first of its kind in a conservatoire. In partnership with Imperial College London since 2015, the Centre unites expertise from across the arts, medicine, engineering, natural sciences and business to explore performance in all its dimensions. Over its 25-year history, the Centre has led groundbreaking research teams, developed new courses and fostered global collaborations that have shaped performance science and advanced professional performance training worldwide.
James Williams, Director of the Royal College of Music, commented: ‘The Royal College of Music is immensely grateful to the Royal Anniversary Trust for this prestigious honour and award. The success of our research and teaching programmes at the Centre for Performance Science is thanks to the talents of our staff and students and the many partners with whom we share this award.’
Professor Aaron Williamon, Head of the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Performance Science, said: ‘We are honoured to be awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education. This year marks 25 years of performance science at the Royal College of Music, and while this prize recognises our track record of research, teaching and knowledge exchange, it also serves to fuel our efforts in shaping the future of music education and our broader impact in society.’
The prize-winning institutions were announced at a special reception held at St James’s Palace last night, with the presentation ceremony taking place in February 2026. Sir Damon Buffini, Royal Anniversary Trust Chair, commented: ‘The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education celebrate the power of education to change the world for the better. This much-loved national honour recognises, at the highest level of state, outstanding work in UK universities and colleges, and the remarkable benefit they bring to our economy, society and the wider world. This year we are delighted to honour 19 institutions whose work offers an inspiring snapshot of the excellent and innovative work going on in universities and colleges across the UK. Congratulations all!’
Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, said: ‘I want to offer my warmest congratulations to all those receiving the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education for 2024–26. This is a landmark year for the Prizes marking 30 years of recognising and celebrating the tremendous contribution our universities and colleges make to the life of our country.’
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The work of the Centre for Performance Science spans performance, health and wellbeing, from world-leading research to practical innovation. Its new Performance Laboratory, opened in 2024, provides an unparalleled facility for simulating high-pressure performance environments, serving both Royal College of Music students and cross-discipline institutions such as the Football Association, the Imperial College Business School and the United Nations Development Programme.
The Centre leads initiatives such as the Music and Parental Wellbeing Alliance, which is transforming global understanding of how music supports family health, and where research has inspired programmes such as Breathe Melodies for Mums, now actively changing lives across the UK, Europe and Asia. It also drives groundbreaking research into musicians’ health and wellbeing, developing innovative approaches to training that empower performers to reach their full potential. Through its leadership of Healthy Conservatoires, a network uniting institutions and practitioners to share research and best practice, the Centre is enhancing the health and sustainability of performing arts communities worldwide.
Through pioneering projects such as these, alongside the world’s first MSc in Performance Science, the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Performance Science continues to set the global standard for performance research and education, uniting scientific insight with artistic excellence to enhance lives and transform the future of performance.
Discover more about the work of our and explore our MSc in Performance Science.