Athletics age groups explained

If your child has recently started training or competing in athletics, the age groups can seem really confusing. How can a 13 year old be in an under 15 age group?

With most sports, like football and rugby, the age groups are very straightforward. Under 14 means ‘the school year you turn 14’ – which is year 9. So under 11 is year 6 and under 15 is year 10. The reality is that lots of kids playing for under 14s actually already are 14 because they’ve had their birthdays.

Athletics age groups are very different for two reasons:

• The age groups cover two years
• Under really does mean UNDER

The first age group you may occasionally see in kids’ competitions and small local competitions is under 11. That is for children aged 9 and 10 or those in years 4 and 5.

Commonly, the age groups really start at under 13 though – that is children aged 11 and 12 or those in years 6 and 7.

Under 15 is aged 13 and 14 – years 8 and 9.

Under 17 is aged 15 and 16 – years 10 and 11.

The next age group is under 20, so that spans three years – ages 17, 18 and 19. It covers year 12 and 13, plus 1st year uni/ first year after leaving school.

EXCEPT for those whose birthdays are September to December. Sadly they don’t get their third year in the age group. This is the year that the age group alignments switch from school year to calendar year. So anyone who turns 19 between September and December moves straight up to under 23/ senior. (This is my son. Most kids of his age are enjoying their final year in under 20s, but he’s moved up to under 23/ senior.)

Under 23 is another three year age group. But it kind of doesn’t exist in many places. There are a few competitions with specific under 23 categories, but often anyone over the age of 20 (or 19 with an autumn birthday) is classified as senior.

*Just for some more added confusion, these age groups are for track and field only. There are some slight differences for road and cross country. As I mentioned, my son is under 23 in track and field, but he is still classified as under 20 in road and cross country racing.

Competitions

If your child competes on behalf of their club, it is likely they will take part in the Youth Development League, usually known as YDL. These competitions are leagues against clubs in a fairly local area (usually up to about 1.5 hours away by road) of a similar standard. YDL is split into the four main age groups (u13, u15, u17 and u20) and is also divided into upper and lower age groups. So the under 13s and under 15s will compete in one set of competitions (lower) and the under 17s and under 20s will compete in another set of competitions (upper).

If your child is good enough at an event to represent their school, they may compete in the district competition. If they do well in that (reach a qualifying standard), they will then go on to represent their district in the county competition. If they hit the qualifying standard at the county competition, they may then go on to represent their county at the regional competition, although it isn’t always necessary to go to the regional competition.

Finally, if they hit the qualifying standard at the county or regional competition (or even at another competition at the discretion of the team manager), they will go on to represent their county at the English Schools (ESAA) national athletics championships. My son was lucky enough to compete at the ESAA national championships in years 12 and 13. He also made the team in year 10, but sadly got injured before the competition.

The age groups for school competitions (districts, county, regional, ESAA nationals) differ again slightly. They are broken down into junior (years 8 and 9), intermediate (years 10 and 11) and senior (years 12 and 13).

As you can see, athletics age groups are slightly confusing! But hopefully this explanation will help and, once your child starts training and competing, you will soon get used to it.

The information in this post will become obsolete from 1st April 2026, when new athletics age groups come into effect. I will write a post explaining those in good time.