Examining change: What is ABRSM doing to decolonise?

ABRSM is the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music. They have a global footprint, delivering over 650,000 music exams and assessments every year in 93 countries. They offer pathways and resources for learners and teachers that help build musical skills and encourage progress. The board's core activity is providing graded music exams, assessments, and diplomas, and they also offer learning support. The organisation is over 100 years old; it is an institution.

Their work forms an important aspect of the long-established framework of instrumental music learning in the United Kingdom. Alongside the growing awareness and acknowledgement that Black lives do matter come the questions around nuances of service, delivery, syllabus content and relevance. These questions lead us to the important agenda of decolonisation – reviewing the imposition of traditional Western classical approaches to instrumental learning. This agenda includes areas of thinking, spaces, content, communication, and approach.