Q School (snooker)

Q School
Tournament information
LocationLeicester
Bangkok
CountryEngland
Thailand
Established2011
2022 (Asia-Oceania)
Organisation(s)World Snooker Tour
FormatQualifying school
for the Main Tour and Q Tour
Recent edition2026

The Q School is an amateur snooker competition which serves as the qualification school for the World Snooker Tour.

Overview

Pathways to enter the main tour, including Q School; note that the graph omits the qualification path to Q Tour Europe

Q School was established in 2011 as an attempt to streamline the qualification process and is held annually before the start of the professional season, where amateurs and ex-professionals who dropped out of the top 64 in world rankings in previous seasons can compete for a two-year tour card to play on the Main Tour.[1] It replaced the amateur tournament International Open Series, the former second-tier snooker series organised by the English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB).

Players pay a fixed entry fee to enter the play-off events, and there is no prize money. Winners of quarter-finals will be joining the World Snooker Main Tour, whilst the top 32 players of Q School Europe along with other junior players and Asia-Oceania qualifiers will be invited for the second-tier WPBSA Q Tour.

A Q School Order of Merit is produced for players who failed to gain a place on the main tour every year to top up under-subscribed tournaments on the main tour.[2] The rankings in the Order of Merit were based on the number of frames won in the two UK Q School events.

In 2022, a Q School branch in Bangkok was established for entrants from the Asia-Oceania region. Two qualifying places were awarded to the winners whilst discontinuing qualification through Order of Merit in Q School Europe.

Qualifiers

For each event, the players who qualified for the World Snooker Tour are listed.

Year Location Entries Event End date Qualifier 1 Qualifier 2 Qualifier 3 Qualifier 4 Ref.
2011 Sheffield 124 Event 1 16 May England Andrew Norman England David Grace England Adam Wicheard Finland Robin Hull [3]
Event 2 22 May China Li Yan Republic of Ireland David Morris England Simon Bedford China Tian Pengfei [4]
Event 3 28 May Norway Kurt Maflin England Stuart Carrington England Adam Duffy England David Gilbert [5]
2012 115 Event 1 17 May England Martin O'Donnell England Sam Baird England Ian Burns China Chen Zhe [6]
Event 2 23 May Wales Daniel Wells England Jamie O'Neill England Sean O'Sullivan England Paul Davison [7]
Event 3 29 May England Rod Lawler England Michael Wasley England Joel Walker England Robbie Williams [8]
2013 110 Event 1 14 May England Elliot Slessor England Alex Davies England Lee Page England Hammad Miah [9]
Event 2 18 May Qatar Ahmed Saif Scotland Ross Muir England Ryan Clark Switzerland Alexander Ursenbacher [10]
Event 3 22 May Republic of Ireland David Morris England Lee Spick England Chris Wakelin Scotland Fraser Patrick [11]
2014 Gloucester 145 Event 1 15 May England Craig Steadman England Chris Melling China Zhang Anda China Tian Pengfei [12]
Event 2 21 May England Liam Highfield England Michael Georgiou Wales Lee Walker Scotland Michael Leslie [13]
2015 Burton-
upon-Trent		 166 Event 1 19 May England Sydney Wilson Wales Daniel Wells Scotland Eden Sharav Scotland Rhys Clark [14]
Event 2 25 May England Jason Weston Wales Gareth Allen Wales Duane Jones England Paul Davison [15]
2016 182 Event 1 16 May China Fang Xiongman England Christopher Keogan China Cao Yupeng China Chen Zhe [16]
Event 2 22 May Cyprus Michael Georgiou England John Astley Malta Alex Borg Wales David John [17]
Order of Merit England Craig Steadman England Jamie Curtis-Barrett Wales Ian Preece England Adam Duffy [18]
2017 Preston 206 Event 1 14 May Germany Lukas Kleckers England Allan Taylor England Billy Joe Castle England Ashley Hugill [19]
Event 2 20 May Wales Duane Jones England Sanderson Lam England Paul Davison China Chen Zifan [20]
Order of Merit China Zhang Yong England Sean O'Sullivan Northern Ireland Joe Swail England Martin O'Donnell [21]
2018 Burton-
upon-Trent		 202 Event 1 19 May Wales Jak Jones England Sam Baird England Hammad Miah England Sam Craigie [22]
Event 2 25 May Northern Ireland Jordan Brown England Craig Steadman China Lu Ning China Zhao Xintong [23]
Event 3 31 May Malaysia Thor Chuan Leong Wales Kishan Hirani Hong Kong Andy Lee England Ashley Carty [24]
2019 Wigan 218 Event 1 23 May China Xu Si England David Lilley England Jamie O'Neill Iran Soheil Vahedi [25]
Event 2 29 May China Chen Zifan England Riley Parsons England Louis Heathcote Scotland Fraser Patrick [26]
Event 3 4 June England Barry Pinches Malta Alex Borg Switzerland Alexander Ursenbacher England Andy Hicks [27]
Order of Merit China Si Jiahui England Billy Castle England Peter Lines China Lei Peifan [28]
2020 Sheffield 172 Event 1 7 August Wales Lee Walker England Peter Devlin Germany Simon Lichtenberg China Fan Zhengyi [29]
Event 2 8 August Wales Jamie Jones England Zak Surety England Oliver Lines England Ben Hancorn [30]
Event 3 9 August Jamaica Rory McLeod England Jamie Wilson England Farakh Ajaib England Steven Hallworth [31]
2021 196 Event 1 1 June England Peter Lines Scotland Fraser Patrick Wales Jackson Page China Yuan Sijun [32]
Event 2 7 June England Barry Pinches England Craig Steadman Republic of Ireland Michael Judge England Alfie Burden [33]
Event 3 13 June England Ian Burns China Lei Peifan Scotland Dean Young Wales Duane Jones [34]
Order of Merit England Hammad Miah England Mitchell Mann – – [35]
2022 173 Event 1 21 May England Rod Lawler Hong Kong Andy Lee Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien China Bai Langning [36]
Event 2 27 May England Adam Duffy Republic of Ireland Aaron Hill England Zak Surety England Sanderson Lam [37]
Event 3 2 June England James Cahill England John Astley England Jenson Kendrick Germany Lukas Kleckers [38]
2023 Leicester 208 Event 1 31 May Switzerland Alexander Ursenbacher England Andrew Higginson England Liam Pullen Wales Andrew Pagett [39]
Event 2 6 June Scotland Dean Young England Louis Heathcote England Stuart Carrington England Alfie Burden [40]
2024 167 Event 1 26 May Latvia Artemijs Zizins England Allan Taylor England Haydon Pinhey Hong Kong Wang Yuchen [41]
Event 2 1 June Poland Antoni Kowalski Scotland Chris Totten Pakistan Farakh Ajaib England Mitchell Mann [42]
2025 171 Event 1 26 May England Liam Pullen England Oliver Brown Switzerland Alexander Ursenbacher Poland Mateusz Baranowski [43]
Event 2 1 June England David Grace England Ian Burns Northern Ireland Fergal Quinn England Connor Benzey [44]
2026 156 Event 1 25 May Hong Kong Cheung Ka Wai England Phil O'Kane England Sean O'Sullivan Wales Liam Davies
Event 2 31 May England Andrew Higginson China Gong Chenzhi England Stuart Carrington England Mitchell Mann

Asia-Oceania Q School

Year Location Entries Event End date Qualifier 1 Qualifier 2 Ref.
2022 Bangkok 70 Asia & Oceania Event 1 5 June Pakistan Muhammad Asif Thailand Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Pakistan Asjad Iqbal[45]		 [46]
Asia & Oceania Event 2 11 June Thailand Dechawat Poomjaeng India Himanshu Jain [47]
2023 99 Asia & Oceania Event 1 6 June Malaysia Thor Chuan Leong Thailand Manasawin Phetmalaikul [48]
Asia & Oceania Event 2 12 June India Ishpreet Singh Chadha China He Guoqiang [49]
2024 99 Asia & Oceania Event 1 27 May Malaysia Lim Kok Leong Thailand Sunny Akani [50]
Asia & Oceania Event 2 2 June Pakistan Haris Tahir India Kreishh Gurbaxani [51]
2025 86 Asia & Oceania Event 1 18 May Thailand Chatchapong Nasa China Liu Wenwei [52]
Asia & Oceania Event 2 24 May China Xu Yichen China Zhao Hanyang [53]
2026 63 Asia & Oceania Event 1 18 May Thailand Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon China Deng Haohui [54]
Asia & Oceania Event 2 24 May China Huang Jiahao China Liu Yang [55]

Statistics

Players

Order of Merit

  • Over the last three seasons from 2023 to 2025, the third-ranked player from the Q School Order of Merit were able to play in an average of 9 ranking tournaments as a top-up, half of the total amount of ranking events (18) in a typical main tour season; the eighth-ranked averaged 6 rankings tournaments; and the twelfth-ranked or below only 2, namely the Championship League and the Snooker Shoot Out, which suffered a high withdrawal rate from the main tour players due to the nature of such events.
    • A minimum of 35 frames combined from the two Q School events were needed to secure a top-three finish from the Order of Merit rankings, 29 frames for a top-eight finish and 28 frames for a top-twelve finish.
  • Alfie Burden is the most successful top-up player in terms of tournament finish by winning the 2025 Shoot Out as the 20th-ranked, and the lowest-ranked to be invited, from the 2025 Q School Order of Merit.[57]

References

  1. ↑ "World Snooker Q School". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Q School". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2011)". Snooker.org. 2011-05-11. Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  4. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2011)". Snooker.org. 2011-05-17. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  5. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2011)". Snooker.org. 2011-05-23. Archived from the original on 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  6. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2012)". Snooker.org. 2012-05-13. Archived from the original on 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  7. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2012)". Snooker.org. 2012-05-19. Archived from the original on 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  8. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2012)". Snooker.org. 2012-05-25. Archived from the original on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  9. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2013)". Snooker.org. 2013-05-11. Archived from the original on 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  10. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2013)". Snooker.org. 2013-05-15. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  11. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2013)". Snooker.org. 2013-05-19. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  12. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2014)". Snooker.org. 2014-05-10. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  13. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2014)". Snooker.org. 2014-05-16. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  14. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2015)". Snooker.org. 2015-05-14. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  15. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2015)". Snooker.org. 2015-05-20. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  16. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2016)". snooker.org. 2016-05-16. Archived from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  17. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2016)". snooker.org. 2016-05-22. Archived from the original on 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  18. ↑ "Q School Order of Merit (2016)". snooker.org. 2016-05-22. Archived from the original on 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  19. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2017)". snooker.org. 2017-05-14. Archived from the original on 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  20. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2017)". snooker.org. 2017-05-20. Archived from the original on 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  21. ↑ "Q School Order of Merit (2017)". snooker.org. 2017-05-20. Archived from the original on 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  22. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2018)". snooker.org. 2018-05-19. Archived from the original on 2018-08-12. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  23. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2018)". snooker.org. 2018-05-25. Archived from the original on 2018-08-12. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  24. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2018)". snooker.org. 2018-05-31. Archived from the original on 2018-07-21. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  25. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2019)". snooker.org. 2019-05-23. Archived from the original on 2019-05-25. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  26. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2019)". snooker.org. 2019-05-29. Archived from the original on 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  27. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2019)". snooker.org. 2019-06-04. Archived from the original on 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  28. ↑ "Q School Order of Merit (2019)". snooker.org. 2019-06-04. Archived from the original on 2019-06-25. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  29. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2020)". snooker.org. 2020-08-08.
  30. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2020)". snooker.org. 2020-08-08.
  31. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2020)". snooker.org. 2020-08-08.
  32. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2021)". snooker.org.
  33. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2021)". snooker.org.
  34. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2021)". snooker.org.
  35. ↑ "Q School Order of Merit (2021)". snooker.org.
  36. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2022)". snooker.org.
  37. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2022)". snooker.org.
  38. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2022)". snooker.org.
  39. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2023)". snooker.org.
  40. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2023)". snooker.org.
  41. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2024)". snooker.org.
  42. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2024)". snooker.org.
  43. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One (2025)". snooker.org.
  44. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2025)". snooker.org.
  45. ↑ WPBSA Statement - Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
  46. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One Asia & Oceania (2022)". snooker.org.
  47. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two Asia & Oceania (2022)". snooker.org.
  48. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One Asia & Oceania (2023)". snooker.org.
  49. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two Asia & Oceania (2023)". snooker.org.
  50. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One Asia & Oceania (2024)". snooker.org.
  51. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two Asia & Oceania (2024)". snooker.org.
  52. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One Asia & Oceania (2025)". snooker.org.
  53. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two Asia & Oceania (2025)". snooker.org.
  54. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event One Asia & Oceania (2026)". snooker.org.
  55. ↑ "Qualifying School - Event Two Asia & Oceania (2026)". snooker.org.
  56. ↑ "Lam secures immediate tour return". wst.tv. World Snooker Tour. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020.
  57. ↑ "Jubilant Burden wins first ranking title at Shoot Out". World Snooker Tour. 13 December 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.