Q School Explained

Are you new to darts, or interested to learn more about what happens during the PDC season after the World Championships have ended?  Yes the World Championships are the pinnacle of the darts calendar, but darts never stops, and the next few days are the most important of the year for many players.

The PDC operates a system of 128 Tour Cards available each year.  Generally, these tour cards are distributed as follows:

  • Top 64 from the 2-year Order of Merit
  • Winners of the previous year’s Challenge Tour
  • Winners of the previous year’s Development Tour (if aged 16-23)
  • Everybody else qualifies via Q-School
  • Everybody else generally loses their tour card, EXCEPT: Challenge/Dev/Q-School Tour Cards last for 2 years, so anybody who earned a card 12 months ago retains their card even if they are outside the Top 64

 For 2025, this means:

  • The Top 65 all receive cards (usually Top 64, but because Steve Beaton is #56 on the Order of Merit and is retiring from the professional circuit, his card goes to #65)
  • 3 players from 2023 Challenge/Development tours, currently outside Top 64
  • 4 players from 2024 Challenge/Development tours, currently outside Top 64
  • 28 players from 2024 Q School, currently outside Top 64

So, based on the 128 tour cards rule, that means 29 tour cards are available in Q School 2025.

Q School is divided up in a few different ways.  First, you need to know there are two Q School venues – UK and EU, with completely separate lists of entrants.  Then, each venue is split into two stages:

 

Stage 1

  • Open for anybody to enter (475 GBP entry fee), and those entrants are already confirmed for 2025:
  • These numbers include a few players who receive free entry:
    • Top 8 from 2024 Womens Order of Merit
    • Top 8 from 2024 PDC Nordic & Baltic Tour
    • Honorary members nominated by PDC (e.g. John Part)
  • Over 3 days, each day will play a tournament until 8 quarter-finalists remain.  All 24 quarter-finalists qualify for the Final Stage.
  • Each win during the tournament also earns a point on the Order of Merit, which becomes important below.
  • All games are best of 9 legs

 

Stage 2

  • Top 16 from 2024 PDC Development Tour
  • Top 16 from 2024 PDC Challenge Tour
  • All players who lost their Tour Card after the 2024 season
  • All Stage 1 quarter-finalists
  • Plus, the remaining top players from Stage 1 Order of Merit, to ensure 128 players are available to compete each day
  • Over 4 days, each day will play a tournament where the winner receives a PDC Tour Card.
  • Each win during the tournament also earns a point on the Order of Merit; after all Day Winners are confirmed, the highest scorers on Order of Merit after Day 4 will also receive PDC Tour Cards.
  • All games are best of 11 legs

 

Got all that?  For 2025, what this means in practical terms:

 UK

  • 25 UK Final Stage Exempt Players: Andy Boulton, Keegan Brown, Henry Coates, Lee Cocks, Tavis Dudeney, Lee Evans, Callum Goffin, Beau Greaves, Graham Hall, John Henderson, Jamie Hughes, Mervyn King, Aden Kirk, Jim Long, Charlie Manby, Arron Monk, Josh Payne, Christian Perez, Daniel Perry, Darryl Pilgrim, Adam Smith-Neale, Graham Usher, Adam Warner, Brandon Weening, Simon Whitlock
  • +16 First Stage quarter-finalists
  • +87 from First Stage Order of Merit

 EU

  • 24 EU Final Stage Exempt Players: Stefan Bellmont, Jeffrey De Zwaan, Adam Gawlas, Dominik Gruellich, Andreas Harrysson, Dragutin Horvat, Danny Jansen, Daniel Klose, Robbie Knops, Boris Krcmar, Maik Kuivenhoven, Darius Labanauskas, Jacques Labre, Alexander Merkx, Kayden Milne, Geert Nentjes, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Owen Roelofs, Karel Sedlacek, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Jurjen van der Velde, Jimmy van Schie, Danny van Trijp, Marvin van Velzen.
  • +16 First Stage quarter-finalists
  • +88 from First Stage Order of Merit

Note the 29 cards are distributed based on the number of entrants in each school, so 474:354 means we probably see 16 EU/13 UK tour cards awarded.

Unfortunately Q School is not televised anywhere, so I recommend following along on Flashscore, or following Matthew Edgar on Youtube, who will be live-streaming every day.  I will also be tracking Q-School progress on Twitter @BohemianDarts if you are interested, but I still recommend EdgarTV!

Wondering if you are good enough to enter Q School?  Realistically you need a 84-94 average (16-18 dart legs) to be competitive.  The lowest average to earn a tour card at Q School 2024 was 83.05, whilst a 91.59 average missed out.

Thanks for reading! Who do you think will earn a Tour Card this year?

Sources: