RRC Business Training Celebrates 90 Years

30 Apr 2018

This year, RRC International, now one of the UK’s leading HSE training providers, celebrates its 90th anniversary. Since it began in 1928, RRC has helped well over a million students achieve professional success through distance learning and now more recently online learning.

This year, RRC International, now one of the UK’s leading HSE training providers, celebrates its 90th anniversary. Since it began in 1928, RRC has helped well over a million students achieve professional success through distance learning and now more recently online learning.

RRC’s Founder David Young was working in a bank when he was asked by his colleagues for help with their banking exams. All had full time jobs so had little time for conventional study. David Young’s revolutionary solution was to develop a set of study materials specially geared to the syllabus and examinations. Students didn’t need to buy textbooks and so saved time and money, and this first home study course produced spectacular results.

With input from university professors and lecturers, David Young went on to develop correspondence courses - a term which emphasises the two-way communication between student and tutor - for a wide range of professional examinations, and by the mid 1930’s the Young family saw Rapid Results College become an established name.

After the war, it experienced tremendous growth as people returning to normal life were anxious to gain qualifications. Wide ranges of vocational courses, including banking, accountancy, marketing, credit management and purchasing and supply were offered, together with A and O Levels and the University of London Law Degree.

Throughout the 50s and 60s RRC continued to expand and went global as distance learning provided a solution for students in remote regions. Students enrolled from British Commonwealth countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago.

RRC students continued to produce outstanding results. Each year thousands passed their examinations at their first attempt and in 1977 RRC accountancy students took 36 prizes including seven first places.

The 80s and 90s saw tremendous growth of interest in open and distance learning both in the publicly funded education sector and amongst professional bodies. RRC joined forces with the University of Durham to help them establish their distance learning MBA and with Kingston Polytechnic (now University) to introduce a distance learning Diploma in Management Studies.

In the competitive environment of the mid 90s, RRC reinvented itself rationalising its range of courses to concentrate on those in the business training environment. Having offered health and safety qualifications for many years, it started to specialise in this area and quickly became one of the leading international providers of health and safety training, expanding its training to classroom along with distance learning routes.

At the start of the new millennium, RRC Business Training took to the Information Superhighway and embraced e-learning evolving its distance learning courses to e-learning.

The 2000’s have seen expansion to the Middle East, North Africa and Georgia along with the building of a network of over 20 partners throughout the world.

The Young family continue to be involved and RRC is well positioned to continue providing High Quality HSE training for the next 90 years.