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Lamorbey Park Archers
Archers’ Classifications
In the UK the national governing body, Archery GB, sets a number of classifications for archers of any ability and the bowstyle they use.  These provide a mechanism to gauge one’s own progress and encourage all archers to strive for excellence.  For every type of round (which is made of up of a number of dozens of arrows shot at one or more distances), age and bowstyle Archery GB set a score level that corresponds to each classification.  In addition to score requirements, the higher the classification the longer the distance that must be shot in order to achieve it.
The principle for achieving all classifications is the same i.e. three qualifying scores must be shot in a calendar year and submitted to the club records officer, who will then provide an award badge that you can display with pride.  For the higher classifications to be awarded, rounds can only be shot under the strictest tournament conditions (called ‘Record Status’) and claims must be made to Archery GB who will send you the relevant badge when the first claim is made.  Classifications last for one calendar year following the third qualifying round.  In practice, many archers like to keep their qualifying rounds up to date throughout each year.
In ascending order of difficulty the classifications for target archery are:
3rd Class
2nd Class
1st Class
Bowman – Top 15% of Archers regularly attending competition
Master Bowman (AGB Claims only) – Top 4%
Grand Master Bowman (AGB Claims only) – Top 1.5% (perhaps 10-15 per gender/bowstyle combination in the UK)
Master Bowman
Grand Master Bowman
Scoring and Shooting Awards
In addition to the classifications, Archery GB and the international governing body, Le Federation Internationale De Tir L’Arc (FITA) award badges for achieving certain feats of scoring or accuracy.
FITA Stars
These awards can be gained at any competition worldwide where the round is the Gents (3 dozen arrows at each of 90m/70m/50m/30m distances) or Ladies (70m/60m/50m/30m) FITA and where World Record Status (WRS) has been granted.  WRS defines a set of standards covering all aspects of the competition from the standard of judges to the layout of the field.  Since the advent of Olympic style shooting, comprising shorter rounds and knockout format at the single 70m distance which is superb for spectators, these are the ‘Blue Riband’ events for International Competition and the de facto standard by which archers are measured.
Claims in the UK are once again administered by Archery GB, and can be made based on scoring levels at a WRS event.  The maximum score is 1440, which no-one has achieved – yet.
1000
1100
1200
1300
1350
1400
The Shield shaped badges are for the Recurve (Olympic) bowstyle, with the round badges being awarded to Compound Shooters.  The classic unembellished 1000 Star is well within the reach of most club archers that can reach the longest distance, with practice.
FITA Target Awards
For other FITA rounds e.g. those shot at a shorter distance or indoors there are awards available, there are FITA Target Awards at the following scoring levels.
Target
White
Black
Blue
Red
Gold
Purple
Half FITA
500
550
600
650
675
700
FITA 70m
500
550
600
650
675
700
FITA 900
750
800
830
860
875
890
25m Indoor
500
525
550
575
585
585
18m Indoor
500
525
550
575
585
585
The award is the same round badge regardless of bowstyle.
Archery GB Rose Awards
The UK is practically unique among countries whereby we have a parallel set of rounds and awards based on the Imperial measurement system (All FITA distances are measured in metric units).
The first Grand National Archery meeting was held in York in 1844, over a round comprising of 6 dozen arrows at 100 yards, 4 dozen at 80 yards and 2 dozen at 60 yards.  Debate in the archery world continues as to whether this represents a tougher test than the FITA rounds also shot over 12 dozen.  What is certainly true is that the total distance covered by all 144 arrows (as long as they all hit the target!) for a York is well over 7 miles, while for the Gents FITA round less than 5.5 miles are covered.  The FITA round does use smaller targets at the two nearest distances, however.  Call it a score draw.
Since that first competition, the round has been known as the York, and a Hereford round was subsequently introduced for ladies and shot in a similar format but over 80/60/50 yards.
The awards are based on the White Rose of Yorkshire, the emblem of the first hosts the the Grand National Archery Meeting, which continues to this day and is now held at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall.
Because scoring for Imperial Rounds is over five zones: 9,7,5,3,1 (each colour of the target face) rather than the FITA standard of ten zones 10 down to 1, the maximum score is only 1296
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1250
Awards for the Recurve (Olympic) bowstyle are octagonal and those for Compound shooters are round.  The 800 White Rose is a very similar standard of shooting to the 1000 FITA Star, and is thus also within the grasp of most club archers, with that all important practice.  Claims are made to Archery GB after achieving the required score at a National Record Status (RS) York/Hereford event.
A recent addition is the introduction of awards for Longbow shooters, with a shield-shaped badge that starts from a score level of 225 (White) to 600 (Purple)
Archery GB Six Gold End Badge
This award is highly prized among all archers, and reflects a different achievement to a specific score over many dozen arrows.  If you shoot an ‘end’ of 6 arrows into the gold zones on the target face at either 90m or 70m, 100y or 80y you can claim this badge.  The award can be gained at a tournament or a club target day.  Some archers achieve this badge early on – some very good archers go a whole career without getting one.  If you achieve one at a tournament, you can expect an immediate round of applause from all your fellow competitors after an impromptu announcement by the judge.  
If shot at a tournament your claim must be submitted to GNAS after being witnessed and initialed on the scoresheet by a judge.  If shot at a target day, the Club Secretary must sign the claim.
English Archery Federation Crosses
English Crosses are awarded on the same basis as FITA Stars, but solely at WRS events shot in England, and the score levels are slightly lower.  Recurve badges are round, Compound badges are Pentagonal.  They are popular with archers as they can often be obtained at the end of the shoot where the qualifying score has been shot, for a small fee.
Score levels for the English Cross are :
White
950
Black
1050
Blue
1150
Red
1250
Gold
1325
NB These awards are for adult archers, and although some of them can also be claimed by juniors, it is recognised that in order to thrive as a sport, a separate system of awards is vital to nurture new talent.  There are a number of different awards run via AGB, FITA and EAF to encourage junior archers to excel.
Classifications and Awards