Band Rankings

Our rankings system reflects a band's recent form based on their results at the Regional Championships (Area contests) and the National Finals.

Each result from the past five years is converted into a points score using a formula that accounts for the band's placing and the number of competitors in their section. This ensures fairness across contests with different band counts.

Additional bonus points are awarded to bands that qualify for the National Finals and to those that gain promotion in any given year.

To reflect recent form more strongly, points are weighted by year using a decay system - a result from the most recent contest is worth more than the same result from five years ago.

To better reflect the increasing difficulty of higher sections, results are also weighted by a small section multiplier - for example, a Championship Section result scores slightly more than an equivalent result in the Fourth Section. This rewards bands for success at more competitive levels while still allowing comparison across all sections.

More info on how we calculate scores

How Points Are Awarded

A band that places 1st in an Area contest receives 100 points; last place (or withdrawal/disqualification) receives 0. Placings in between are scaled proportionally based on the number of bands in the section.
Bands that qualify for the National Finals receive a 15-point bonus.
Bands that gain promotion also receive a 15-point bonus.
At the National Finals, 1st place earns 125 points; last place (or withdrawal/disqualification) receives 0. Placings in between are similarly scaled by field size.
Each score is also multiplied by a small section factor: for example, 1.20 for Championship, 1.05 for Third, 1.00 for Fourth, etc. This rewards strong results at tougher levels.
Results are also subject to a decay multiplier, so that more recent results have more of an impact on the band's overall score than older results

How are ranking points calculated?

Each band’s contest result is converted into a score using the following formula:

(1 - ((placing - 1) / (competitors - 1))) × base points × section multiplier

This ensures that:

Placing 1st always gives the full base points
Placing last gives a score of 0
Other positions are evenly scaled in between

Why do we subtract 1?

We subtract 1 from both the placing and number of competitors to ensure consistent scaling across contests of different sizes. This way, the best possible result always equals the full score, and the worst equals zero.

1st of 10: (1 - (0 / 9)) × 100 = 100
10th of 10: (1 - (9 / 9)) × 100 = 0
5th of 10: (1 - (4 / 9)) × 100 ≈ 55.56

Result Decay Multipliers

Contest Age	Multiplier
Most recent contest	×1.0
1 contest ago	×0.8
2 contests ago	×0.6
3 contests ago	×0.4
4 contests ago	×0.2

Section Multipliers

Section	Multiplier
Championship	×1.20
First	×1.15
Second	×1.10
Third	×1.05
Fourth	×1.00

Scoring Examples

Below are examples showing how points are calculated using placing, number of bands, bonuses, section multiplier, and year-based decay:

🎯 Example 1: Area Contest

A band places 3rd out of 14 in the Area contest, 2 years ago, in the First Section.

Base Score = (1 - ((3 - 1) / (14 - 1))) × 100 = (1 - (2 / 13)) × 100 ≈ 84.62
Section multiplier (First Section) = ×1.15 → 84.62 × 1.15 ≈ 97.31
No finals qualification or promotion bonus
Decay multiplier = ×0.6
Final score = 97.31 × 0.6 = 58.39

🎯 Example 2: National Finals

A band qualifies for the Finals and places 5th out of 18, 1 year ago, in the Championship Section.

Base Score = (1 - ((5 - 1) / (18 - 1))) × 125 ≈ 96.32
Section multiplier (Championship) = ×1.20 → 96.32 × 1.20 = 115.58
Nationals bonus = +15
Decay multiplier = ×0.8
Final score = (115.58 + 15) × 0.8 = 104.46

🎯 Example 3: Promotion Bonus

A band finishes 2nd out of 10 at the Area contest this year in the Second Section and gains promotion.

Base Score = (1 - ((2 - 1) / (10 - 1))) × 100 = 88.89
Section multiplier (Second Section) = ×1.10 → 88.89 × 1.10 = 97.78
Promotion bonus = +15
Decay multiplier = ×1.0
Final score = (97.78 + 15) × 1.0 = 112.78

Filter by Region

All Regions West of England London & Southern Counties Midlands Wales North West Yorkshire North of England Scotland

Filter by Section

All Sections Championship First Second Third Fourth

North of England Rankings:

#	Band Name	Region	Section	Score
1	Durham Miners Association	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	345.188
2	Ferryhill Town	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	316.806
3	York Railway Institute	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	293.085
4	East Cleveland Brass	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	263.451
5	Harrogate	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	167.865
6	Ripon City	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	159.020
7	Houghton Brass	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	154.198
8	Kirkbymoorside Town	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North of England	1 First	92.095