Dear Athletes, Coaches, and Community Members,
Over the course of 2025, we’ve had many conversations about the qualifying process for our yearly British Open Classic. We heard your concerns regarding last year’s procedure, particularly around clarity, fairness, and consistency. We want to thank everyone who took the time to provide honest and constructive feedback.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that we will be bringing back the old method of Qualifying Totals for the British Open Classic with some minor adjustments.
Why the change?
One of the key objectives of the 2025 qualification structure was to increase participation at Home Nations events. However, attendance remained largely unchanged, with particularly low turnout at the Northern and Southern qualifiers. We also received feedback from athletes who were unable to attend their national championships and found the alternative qualification routes difficult to align with their schedules. While we remain committed to raising standards and maintaining a high level of competition, the board has decided that the 2025 qualification system will not be carried forward into 2026. The feedback made one thing clear: athletes value a qualification pathway that is measurable, meaningful, and driven by performance.
What’s new?
Qualification will now be based on set performance totals. These standards are calculated using data from the past two years, taking the average of the top five results and applying 87.5% (adjustments made for outliers).
Athletes will qualify by achieving these totals at any sanctioned competition within the qualification window. This period begins after the British Open Nationals 2025 and runs until five weeks before the SBD British Open Championships 2026.
This updated approach provides:
✔ Greater transparency — Everyone knows the exact standard.
✔ Athlete control — Qualification is based directly on performance.
✔ 16 lifter cap instead of 14 – Spare slots from undersubscribed classes will be distributed to other weight classes to allow more athletes to compete. This will be prioritised by GL score.
A full breakdown of the new qualifying totals will be published soon but can be observed below:
| Men | |
|---|---|
| Bodyweight (kg) | Total (kg) |
| 59 | 390 |
| 66 | 520 |
| 74 | 610 |
| 83 | 677.5 |
| 93 | 727.5 |
| 105 | 770 |
| 120 | 785 |
| 120+ | 780 |
| Women | |
|---|---|
| Bodyweight (kg) | Total (kg) |
| 47 | 282.5 |
| 52 | 330 |
| 57 | 387.5 |
| 63 | 412.5 |
| 69 | 422.5 |
| 76 | 455 |
| 84 | 442.5 |
| 84+ | 487.5 |
Achieving the qualifying total does not guarantee placement. Entries will be prioritised based on highest totals achieved.
Our commitment moving forward
We recognise that changes to qualification standards are significant. Our goal is not just to adjust numbers — but to create a system that the community understands and trusts. We will be:
- Monitoring outcomes at the event.
- Review participation and competitive balance data.
- Continue gathering athlete and coach feedback.
If you have questions about the new qualifying totals, please reach out to us via our contact form on the website.
Thank you for your continued dedication to excellence in British Powerlifting.
Kind Regards,
British Powerlifting