As many of you will be aware, the age groups will be changing for club athletes as of the 1st April 2026 to the new U12/14/16/18 age groups.

The English Schools Association has decided that they will remain with the old age groups for the 2026 Track and Field season, and will then change to the new age groups as of the 1st September 2026, to allow them time to adjust things such as entry standards and the organisation of the new championships with regard to which age groups will be represented.

This means that all school's events will be ran in the current format of U13/15/17/19 and those who wish to compete at the English Schools Championships will need to achieve qualifying standards for their events in these age group specifications.

We appreciate that this could massively disadvantage technical events such as the throws, hurdles and steeplechase where athletes may be competing with a different weight/height/distance in their club competitions, compared to school competitions specifications, and will therefore have less opportunities to achieve the standards than a runner or jumper.

We are currently looking into ways to provide these athletes with opportunities to achieve these standards with the help of the clubs in Hampshire and will post further updates on here when these have been finalised.

You can find the new age group specifications here under 'Technical Information' - https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/age-group-changes/

You can find the ESAA technical specifications here: https://esaa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Track-Field-Championship-Rules-2025.pdf