Scott’s work is shaped by a lifelong commitment to access, fairness, and social mobility across education and the cultural and creative industries. Raised on a council estate in Leeds, Scott grew up in a working-class household, attended state schools, and received Free School Meals. Classical music became both a passion and a pathway, but also an early lesson in how deeply inequality is embedded within elite cultural spaces. Against the odds, Scott trained at leading conservatoires with internationally renowned concert pianists, navigating a sector where access is often shaped as much by background and resources as by talent.

 

His experience was later recognised by The Yorkshire Post, which named him the “Leeds Piano Man”. But Scott’s ambitions extended beyond performance. Having lived the barriers first-hand, he became determined to understand and change the systems that shape who gets to participate, progress, and succeed.

 

Scott shifted from the concert platform to research, policy, and leadership. After graduating with First Class Honours from UCL, he completed a Master’s degree at the University of Cambridge, followed by a PhD at King’s College London as a UKRI Economic and Social Research Council funded scholar. His doctoral research examined how working-class and state-schooled students access UK music conservatoires, one of the first studies in the UK to centre lived experience within this elite part of the higher education sector.

 

His research has since been featured across national media, academic journals, government briefings, think tanks, and NGOs, contributing to public debate and policy discussions on widening participation, access, and inequality in arts education. Scott became one of the first working-class academic voices to publicly challenge the status quo in UK conservatoires, with coverage including The Guardian, The Times, BBC, and Classic FM.

 

Today, Scott is Head of Widening Participation at the Royal Academy of Music, the UK’s oldest conservatoire and one of the world’s leading institutions for specialist music training. In this senior role, he leads the Academy’s Access and Participation Department, oversees the design and evaluation of outreach and access programmes, and is responsible for the development and delivery of the Academy’s OfS-regulated Access and Participation Plan. His work focuses on dismantling structural barriers across the full pipeline, from early access and pre-18 provision through to success, belonging, and progression into professional careers.

 

Before joining the Royal Academy, Scott served as the Lead Policy Officer for Education, Culture, and Skills for the City of London, where he worked across education systems, cultural institutions, employers, and government to advance social mobility on a local, national and international level. His work bridges research, strategy, funding, and delivery, ensuring that policy translates into real opportunities for young people and communities historically excluded from elite pathways. In recognition of his services to social mobility and education, Scott was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2026. He is also an Ambassador for the Foundation for Education Development (FED) and a Researcher at the UCL Institute of Education, having previously held teaching and research roles at King’s College London.

 

Across all his work, Scott is known for combining rigorous research, co-produced policy, and lived experience. He works collaboratively with institutions, funders, and communities to move beyond rhetoric - building access, participation, and progression into the structures that shape education and the cultural and creative industries.

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