Having been educated at Solihull School he was organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge from 1981-84. At just 17 he was awarded his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) a prestigious award for professional organists. Briggs was also Principal Viola of the National Youth Orchestra. Whilst at King's, he toured Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany with the college choir. In 1983 he received the Countess of Munster Award to study Interpretation and Improvisation with Jean Langlais in Paris