Selection for British teams usually takes place each Spring for the forthcoming Championships events. These are usually the European TrailO Championships (ETOC) and the World TrailO Championships (WTOC). As there is no WTOC in 2026, selection in 2026 will only be for ETOC 2026 taking place in Poland in early August. A full selection policy has been published by British Orienteering. It is available on the main British Orienteering website Selection page. Interested athletes should note in particular the deadline for submitting expressions of interest - 11 May 2026.
In advance of the full publication, the GB TrailO Selectors published an 'Advance Notice' to help TrailO athletes who may wish to apply for selection to the GB team at this year’s ETOC. The selectors considered that an early indication of some key aspects should be published and made available. Although useful for all athletes, it should be particularly helpful for any juniors who may be interested in selection as a member of the GB Junior TrailO team. Following a new IOF policy, this is the first time that a Junior Class is included in the Championships. The Advance Notice is available here: Selection 2026 – Advance Notice
There is an annual league competition which uses the results of many of the TrailO events staged in the UK each year. Designated events need to meet certain minimum standards but, when approved, competitors on the main course at the event (usually the 'Elite' course) will gain points towards their League score. A competitor's best total score from a set number of these events is then used to determine the BriTOL winner for the year.
For more information about the League, see the details on the separate website: British TrailO League. For 2026, the scores are hosted on the Trail Open Project (TOP) website: BriTOL 2026: Current standings. For previous years (2020-2025), see: British TrailO League
Following applications from event organisers, each year the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) designates various events as 'World Ranking Events' (WRE). Competitors attending these events are then awarded ranking points based on their performance and taking into account the status of the competitors taking part. Since mid-2023, the method used to allocate points results in the best competitors getting scores close to 1000 with those lower down getting decreasing number of points. Actual scores depend on the current ranking of the competitors at the event.
A competitor's points from their best 6 WRE events in the last 18 months is then calculated to give a competitor's total score. The top ranked competitors therefore have scores close to 6000. The list is updated after each WRE.
For the current World Ranking List, see: Trail Orienteering World Ranking List. Further details about the operation of the scheme are contained in the IOF document covering the ranking schemes of all 4 orienteering disciplines. This can be accessed from the IOF page: TrailO Competition Rules. A simplified summary of the scheme appeared in the August 2023 Newsletter and is available as a separate document - see: How to Estimate your World Ranking Points
Most WREs are elsewhere in Europe. The last WRE events in the UK were the PreO and TempO events at the JK in 2019.
[Note - The British TrailO Ranking list was suspended during the COVID pandemic due to a lack of events. The information here has been retained for possible use when a decision is taken on reinstating the List]
The TrailO Steering Group operates a Ranking List that may be used to assist selection decisions. An explanation of how it works is given below.
Links to the latest Ranking List and the points scored from the individual Ranking Events held up to now this year are to be found at the foot of the text.
1. Who gets ranked?
The Ranking List was originally developed to assist the Selectors make their decisions, so it only contains the names of those trail orienteers eligible for selection for the GBR team. BOF Members (except those from NI) are included in the ranking calculations. Since many/most NI orienteers compete for Ireland rather than GBR they aren't automatically included, but if they declare an interest in selection for GBR only rather than IRL then they can be included from that moment onwards.
2. Which events provide ranking points?
Only events selected in advance by the TrailO Development Steering Group (TSG) are included in the rankings. These will usually be the British Championships, the JK and the Irish Championships. When overseas events are included which take place over more than 1 day, then the results are combined. Only Elite classes earn Ranking Points.
3. How are the points calculated?
The full calculation details are provided in Brian Parker's Technical Note http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IOF-TrailO-TN-10-01-Ranking.pdf
4. How long do scores stay on the Ranking List?
The Ranking List is basically a rolling 2-year list, so events "fall off" the list on the 1st January following the date the event happened OR when the event is replaced by its 2-year successor. So, for instance, BTOC 2012 fell off the rankings on the 1st January 2015 (as there wasn't a BTOC 2014 in 2014 itself) whereas BTOC 2013 fell off on the weekend of BTOC 2015.
5. How are the points combined into a ranking?
Only your best X scores are combined. At the given date when rankings are considered for selections, the total number of qualifying events are added up. If there are only 5 events then it is best 3 to count, if it is 6-9 then it is the best 4. 10 and above it is best 5.
6. What is the "Planner's bonus"?
A significant number of the Ranking Events are planned by a subset of the contenders for WTOC and ETOC places. In order to encourage people to plan and control Ranking events, planners and controllers of Ranking events during the qualifying period, who therefore do not have enough qualifying results, will have the ranking points from their lowest results doubled up. Those who have planned/controlled (or otherwise given up on a competitive run to enable an event to take place) are allowed to double up their 3rd score (if best 4 to count) or 4th score (if best 5 to count). If it is best 3 to count then the 2nd score is only doubled if the competitor does not have the requisite 3 events.
Historic Ranking Points Data