entries 2025-2026

ENGLAND RUGBY SCHOOLS – MEMBERSHIP:

In order to participate in the National Schools Competitions, including the Continental Tyres Schools Cups, your school will need to be in membership of the England Rugby Schools for the season 2025/26.

Please note membership must be renewed every season.

In order to register your membership, please complete the form in the following link:

https://engrugbyschools.typeform.com/to/Gs72yykh

CONCUSSION EDUCATION CODE OF PRACTICE:

The RFU, our national Constituent Bodies and partners, are determined to ensure that we lead the way in keeping the welfare of our players at the forefront of all we do.  The below is mandatory and part of the competition regulations: 

All HEADCASE eLearning modules may be accessed here: https://www.englandrugby.com/run/player-welfare/headcase-e-learning

The school will be required to meet and evidence the following criteria before the first round of the competition:

•          An educational establishment will only be eligible for the Competition upon it providing evidence that the named coach / team manager for each age group has completed the HEADCASE eLearning module for Age Grade Coaches and Teachers, which must be included on the entry form.

•          All players in extra-curricular contact rugby in Year 7 and above to have successfully completed the 30-minute HEADCASE eLearning module for age grade players.

•          The HEADCASE Overview Guidance and HEADCASE eLearning module for parents are shared with all rugby parents in the school.

AGE GRADE CODES OF PRACTICE – CONTINENTAL TYRES SCHOOLS CUP:

Please find the RFU Age Grade Codes of Practice for the Continental Tyres Schools Cup in the following link:

https://rfu.widen.net/s/pdrvtjgbdf/231005-age-grade-rugby-codes-of-practice

Your application to enter the National Continental Tyres Schools Cup is your commitment to deliver to these codes. 

APPLICATIONS FOR 2025-2026

Preparations are now underway for 2025/26 season and we are delighted to provide you with the links to the entry forms for the Under 18 and Under 15 competitions below:

To access the Under 18 entry form, click the following link:

U18 Registration Form - 2025-26

For the Under 15 entry form, click the following link:

U15 Registration Form - 2025-26

Please complete and submit the application forms by Sunday, 25 May 2025 at the latest.

Applications received after this date may not be entered into the draw.

Please note there is a specific link for the U18 competition and a different one for the U15 competition. If you wish to enter both, you must complete the registration in each of the individual links.

The four tiers structure – Cup, Plate, Vase and Bowl - has been successful in the last few seasons, providing meaningful and appropriate matches; therefore, we will keep the same format for next season.

Please note that due to there being a limited amount of spaces in this competition, places will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Schools who enter after the cut-off will be placed on a waiting list.

The Cup competitions will see 128 schools competing across both the U15 and U18 age groups.

Whilst teams choose their preferred tier and region to enter, teams may be placed into either the Vase or the Cup competitions and in a different region to which they have selected, at the discretion of the Competition Organiser.

REGULATIONS – YOUR COMMITMENT:

Note that by registering to entering the competition you are agreeing that you are fully aware of, understand and will abide by the competition regulations, competition match dates and RFU Regulation 15 (Age Grade Rugby).  This is an important commitment in your entry.  Sanctions may apply in any failure to do so.

This includes playing players out of age grade (Reg 15.2 to 15.7) and Half Game Rule (Reg 15.12), to which, for avoidance of any doubt, all matches at all stages in the competitions are played.  More information on this can be found on www.englandrugby.com/halfgame. If you do not feel that you will be able to play fully to the regulations then please do not enter the competitions.

The full regulations will be sent to all entrants in due course and made available in the following webpages: 

Continental Tyres Schools Cup Regulations – https://www.englandrugby.com/run/rules-governance/rfu-rules-and-regulations
Age Grade Rugby (Reg 15) – https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/rules-and-regulations/regulations 

Please find attached the round dates for the 2025/26 season, as per the Age Grade Calendar.  These are the weeks that matches must be played in, they are not “play-by” dates.  The Schools Cup weeks are placed in the Age Grade Playing Calendar to ensure balance for players playing in multiple environments and clubs/CBs and Pathway stakeholders have already planned their programmes based on these dates.

Once the draw is completed, no later than the end of June 2025, it will be sent to all participating schools via email and made available on https://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/browse-competitions  

In line with the RFU communication policy used in the past few seasons, we will keep email send outs to a minimum. Therefore, please ensure that any email address supplied is operational and will be checked on a regular basis.

Have You Registered on GMS?

The RFU have moved online and need you to register your main rugby contact on our Game Management System (GMS) to keep your profile updated.

Without this, we will be unable to contact you and provide membership support; including access to the international ticketing ballots and Continental Tyres Schools Cup entry forms.

If you haven’t already registered, for further information, please check the webinar video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjO8-AwCu8  

or use the following link: https://help.rfu.com