You can judge your progress in archery not just by all the medals you’re going to win, but also by your classification and your handicap. If you shoot more than one type of bow, you will have a separate classification and handicap for each type of bow that you shoot. You will also have a separate classification and handicap for the  indoor and outdoor seasons.

Classifications

In order to gain a classification, you must submit three correctly filled in score cards signed and witnessed with the required scores for that classification to the club’s records officer. The three scores have to have been shot in one season. You must maintain your classification from year to year by continuing to submit scores.

The required scores for classifications are calculated from handicaps, but unlike handicaps they are bow, gender and age specific, so give a better indication of how skilful you are with your chosen bow type. For example a Third Class Adult Recurve Gent is equivalent to a handicap of 58, whereas a Third Class U16 Recurve Gent is equivalent to a handicap of 71. Of course having a certain handicap is not the same as having that classification: only certain longer rounds qualify for the higher classifications, and you actually have to shoot those rounds to qualify.

Our handicaps and classifications tables show all of the equivalences between handicaps and classifications (outdoor only at the moment).

When a junior moves up an age group, their new classification is calculated from their best three qualifying scores in the twelve months prior to their birthday, treated as though they were shot in the new age group.

The indoor and outdoor seasons have completely different Classification systems. In both cases in order to achieve a particular classification you have to enter three correctly completed score sheets with the requisite scores, within a single season. You can see what scores you need on our Classifications Calculator.

Indoor Classifications

The indoor classifications are single letters, A through H where A is the highest classification and H is the lowest.

Awarded Indoor Classifications

Archer	Bow	H	G	F	E	D	C
Deborah Martin	Recurve				21/06/2013	20/10/2016	24/11/2016
Jack Corps	Recurve					10/10/2015	08/03/2016
William Hughes	Compound					10/11/2013	01/02/2014
Mick Sparkes	Compound				01/12/2016	30/03/2017
Paul Williams	Recurve					29/09/2016
Jamie Cattrell	Recurve					26/01/2017
Michael Wright	Recurve					20/10/2016
Andrew Cox	Recurve					08/12/2016
Chris Hills	Recurve			13/10/2016	27/10/2016
Dave Barrett	Compound			16/11/2011	25/01/2012
Craig Overington	Recurve			20/10/2016	23/03/2017
Gary Sinclair	Recurve			29/09/2016	20/10/2016
Peter Stacey	Compound				20/10/2016
Martin Arber	Recurve				16/02/2017
John Albone	Recurve			29/09/2016	13/10/2016
Robert Lodge	Recurve			29/09/2016	09/03/2017
Sam Pavey	Recurve			02/03/2017	09/03/2017
Craig Easton	Recurve				02/03/2017
Mick Breedon	Recurve		13/10/2016	20/10/2016
Danielle Albone	Recurve			16/02/2017
Paul Manning	Recurve			06/10/2016
Andrew Hughes	U14 Compound			10/11/2013
David Morison	Recurve		13/10/2016
Philippa Martin	U18 Recurve

Outdoor Classifications

The outdoor classifications are, from lowest to highest:

• Third Class
• Second Class
• First Class
• (Junior) Bowman
• (Junior) Master Bowman
• Grand Master Bowman

There isn’t a Junior Grand Master Bowman classification.

An archer without a classification is called an Archer. An unclassified archer in their first season is called a Novice.

Awarded Outdoor Classifications

Archer	Bow Style	Third	Second	First	Bowman
Phil Chambers	Compound	19/05/13	01/12/13	14/09/14	25/05/15
Michael Wright	Recurve	08/07/12	09/06/13	18/06/15	18/09/16
Jack Corps	Recurve	07/08/14	12/10/14	08/02/15	16/06/16
Daniel Dawes	U12 Compound		22/04/12		13/05/12
Jasmine Stacey	U12 Barebow	19/04/15	21/05/15	28/05/15	06/09/15
Robert Russell	U14 Recurve		05/06/05		04/07/05
Cambell Ludlow	U12 Recurve		28/09/14	30/11/14
Andrew Hughes	U16 Compound		22/06/14	28/09/14
Fraser Clapham	U12 Longbow	28/07/16	31/07/16	26/10/16
William Hughes	Compound	09/06/13	08/09/13	26/06/14
Peter Stacey	Compound	05/10/14	12/10/14	26/04/15
Bill Hails	Compound	07/08/10	02/09/12	19/06/14
Paul Williams	Recurve	16/08/09	19/06/14	05/06/15
Deborah Martin	Recurve	20/09/09	15/08/10	09/11/14
Jamie Homewood	U14 Recurve		31/07/16
Vito Minei	Recurve	10/05/98	31/05/98
Penny Hatfield	Recurve		31/05/98
Sam Pavey	Recurve	09/04/17	29/10/2017
Mick Sparkes	Compound	24/04/16	28/05/17
John Albone	Recurve	18/10/15	27/11/16
James Hitch	U14 Recurve	13/05/12	27/05/12
Deborah Martin	Barebow		25/08/16
Coomaren Vencatasawmy	Recurve	04/06/17	24/09/17
Cameron Webb	U12 Barebow	28/06/15	23/08/15
Andrew Hughes	U14 Compound	18/08/13	22/09/13
Stuart Tongue	Longbow	15/06/14	22/06/14
David Broadhurst	Recurve	16/08/09	20/09/09
Dave Barrett	Compound	01/05/11	17/11/13
Martin Arber	Recurve	10/05/15	16/08/15
Paul Franklin	Recurve	29/06/97	13/07/97
Jacob Asquith-Fox	U14 Recurve	22/04/12	13/05/12
Fraser Clapham	U14 Longbow		03/09/17
Yvonne Clapham	Compound	03/07/16	01/09/16
Jamie Cattrell	Recurve	01/08/15	06/09/15
Guy Morrogh	Recurve	10/08/14	06/09/15
Philippa Martin	U18 Compound	26/06/14	03/07/14
Andrew Cox	Recurve	05/06/12	02/06/13
John Sharp	Recurve	10/05/98	05/07/98
Stuart Johnson	Recurve	31/07/96
Philippa Martin	U14 Recurve	30/08/09
Peter Stacey	Barebow	29/12/13
Adam Golab	U16 Recurve	29/05/11
Simon Aries	Compound	27/07/08
Dominic Shipley	Barebow	26/05/13
Philippa Martin	U16 Recurve	25/09/11
Dave Wood	Recurve	24/05/98
Maurenn Gisby	Recurve	24/05/98
Dave Barrett	Recurve	23/10/05
Ruth Vincent	Recurve	22/09/13
Keir Morrogh	U14 Compound	21/09/14
Mark Nash	Recurve	20/09/98
Sam Jones	U14 Recurve	18/11/12
Dave Barrett	Longbow	17/08/14
Adam Golab	Recurve	16/07/15
Neil Brew	Longbow	15/06/14
Adam Golab	U18 Recurve	14/10/12
Georgina Hopwood	Barebow	13/07/14
Stephen Gibney	Recurve	13/05/98
Philippa Martin	Longbow	07/08/16
Andy Webb	Recurve	11/08/13
Sam Jones	U16 Recurve	11/08/13
Craig Overington	Recurve	06/10/13
Helen Andre Cripps	Longbow	02/06/13
Michael Farrow	Recurve	06/05/12
Nick Hindle	Recurve	10/07/11
Paul Franklin	Compound	04/07/05
Gary O'Neill	Recurve	07/06/98

Handicaps

Handicaps range from 100 to 0 and scores for every round shot have an associated handicap. As you submit scores to the club records officer, your handicap should hopefully reduce as you become more proficient. The way your handicap is calculated (see below) means it is unlikely that your handicap will ever rise as long as you keep submitting scores.

Handicaps are not bow, gender or age related. They are purely an indication of how accurate you are. In other words, any two archers with the same handicap should be capable of the same score for any given round, regardless of age, gender or bow type.

Your handicap is only used directly in handicap matches, to calculate an allowance which is added to your score. This means that if you shoot better than your handicap would suggest in a handicap match you have a good chance of winning.

How your Handicap is Calculated

Every score that you submit for a recognised round has a handicap rating. Whenever you enter a score with a lower (better) handicap rating than your current handicap, your new handicap is calculated as the average of your current handicap and that score’s handicap rating, rounded up to the nearest whole number. However, your first handicap is the average of the handicap ratings of your first three submitted scores.

End of season re-assessment

At the end of each season (January 1st for outdoor and July 1st for indoor) Your handicap is re-assessed as the average of your three best scores’ handicap ratings for the season, rounded up to the next whole number. If you only submitted one or two scores that season then your handicap will be the average of your previous season’s assessment and the ratings for those scores. If you submitted no scores in a season, your handicap remains at your last decided handicap until you do submit a score.