252 Scheme

Archery 252 awards badges

The 252 is an unofficial award scheme (created by the archery community rather than a governing body) that is used to supplement the official classification schemes run on behalf of Archery GB.

At Yelverton Bowmen, we ask all new archers to work their way through the scheme, to show themselves and the club that they have the proficiency to shoot at a given distance. At any point, an archer would be able to shoot ‘conventional’ rounds involving distances equal to or shorter than their current 252 achievement. Please note the 252 scheme is intended to be a precursor to shooting the ‘conventional’ rounds for classifications, not a replacement. Our advice would be to do the 252 Scheme up to and including the minimum distance required for A1 classifications (50 yards) and then alternate between the two awards as you progress in distance.

You are able to claim a badge for 10 (juniors only), 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100 yards. Whilst it’s called the 252 scheme, that’s the required score for Recurve archers. Each bow type has its own target score.

Distance Compound Recurve Barebow
/ traditional other		 Longbow
20 yards 280 252 189 164
30 yards 280 252 189 164
40 yards 280 252 189 164
50 yards 280 252 189 164
60 yards 280 252 189 164
80 yards 280 252 164 126
100 yards 280 252 139 101

The rules

  • Normal Archery GB shooting rules apply.
  • The round involves shooting three dozen arrows, in ends of six (after six sighters), at a full-sized 122cm face.
  • Scoring is five-zone, so White = 1, Black = 3, Blue = 5, Red = 7 and Gold = 9.
  • The distances must be done in order, starting at 20.
  • Two qualifying scores must be achieved, signed, dated, witnessed and passed onto the Records Officer in order to progress.
  • Only one round per day will be accepted, in cases where multiple rounds are shot in a day e.g. for practice, only the first will count.

252 score sheets should be in the shed but they can also be downloaded here. Completed sheets should be passed to the Records Officer.

Below is an example of a completed 252 score sheet. Entries are made row by row, with scores (in ends of six) descending from highest to lowest. On completion of the round, scores, hits and the number of nines are totalled and signatures are given by the archer and a witness.

Please ensure that the score sheet is filled out in full!

Archery 252 score sheet sample

ArcheryGB Progress Awards

The Progress Award Scheme is a progression of awards for new archers after completion of their beginners’ course.

The Archery GB Progress Awards Scheme is for new and current archers who wish to boost their skills and knowledge. The scheme is a great motivator, encouraging archers to go further in the sport while having fun – with certificates and badges awarded for achievement along the way.

The nice thing about the awards is that it doesn’t matter which bowstyle you use, all archers are welcome. It also doesn’t matter about your gender as there’s not a separate scheme for women and men.

There are five badge colours you can receive – White, Black, Blue, Red and Gold – each colour depicting a particular skill level, and you can gain them in any order you like. So, if you have a particularly good session and get the scores for a Red or Gold before you’ve received your White? Then that’s perfectly fine. You just can’t claim more than one badge from one set of scores.

There’s a separate set of badges for indoors and outdoors, so you can chart your progress across both seasons.

The Round

The indoor rounds are shot at different distances (10 yards, 15 yards and 20 yards) depending on your age group and what colour you’re going for, but all are shot on a 60 cm Portsmouth target.

The outdoor rounds are also shot a difference distances but they are either on an 80 cm face or a 122 cm face.

You’ll need three qualifying scores to be awarded each badge. To gain a qualifying score, you will need to shoot 36 arrows in a single session – no splitting it across multiple sessions.

Everyone gets six sighter arrows, and extra sighters can be given by your
club, though a scoring starting point does have to be decided.

If you’re still having that brilliant session and arrows are flying into the gold with surprising regularity, there’s nothing to stop you from shooting more than one round in the same session.

Scores

There are five different age groups: U12, U14, U16, U18, and Seniors. Clubs can also offer an Over 65 award group, should they wish, using the U16 scores.

Outdoors for ALL bow styles, 5 zone scoring is used for the 122 cm face and 10 zone scoring for the 80 cm face. Indoors, 10 zone scoring is used for ALL bow styles but Compounds must use the inner 10 ring to score 10.

Score sheets can be found in the Club Score Sheets section of the page. Required scores can be found via the ArcheryGB website.

If you have questions about scoring, classifications, etc please speak to the Records Officer in person, or via the contact us page.