IMPORTANT: England Athletics Age group Announcement

Young athletes are dropping out of athletics.  Statistics since 2019 show a continued decline in participation.  

Based on research and athlete feedback, along with our colleagues in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we are changing age groups of competition to allow young athletes to navigate the pathway more easily, provide more balanced competition, give athletes the opportunity to develop technically, and remove clashes between important exam years and peak athlete competition. These changes are currently on schedule to come into effect in April 2026. Please find more details on the England Athletics website here.

In summary the changes will be: the traditional categories of under-13, under-15 and under-17 will be replaced by under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 from April 2026.