Full calendar of events
Portland Bowl
The Portland Bowl is the inter-university knock-out competition which runs through the academic year. The semi-final and final are hosted by the Portland Club in London each April. It is open to all British higher-learning institutions, and in the early rounds matches may be played online to help more remote universities take part. Entries for 2025/26 will need to be submitted by end October 2025. The 2024/25 winners were Cambridge B. Please contact comps@ebu.co.uk to enter. We are always pleased to hear from university clubs and to provide help with materials and teaching. If you would like to get a club going at your university or feel that you might benefit from the support of your local bridge association, please contact mark@ebedcio.org.uk.
National Schools Championship
Organised by English Bridge Education and Development, this is a one-day bridge event for school-age players of all experience levels. It is free to enter and consisting numerous competitions including the Schools Cup. More information is available on the EBED website. The 2026 Young Bridge Challenge will take place in March, further details TBC.
Junior Bridge Camp
The Junior Bridge Camp is a residential bridge event, including tuition, competitions, and other sporting and social activities. It is run by English Bridge Education and Development. See its website for details.
Inter schools league
The Inter-Schools Bridge League is teams competition between school bridge clubs and is sponsored by the House of Lords. It was started in 2021 with 14 teams divided into divisions. Each school may enter multiple teams if they have enough enthusiastic players. Matches are played online as teams-of-4 on RealBridge, and each team will play against the other teams in their division with the top teams going up and the bottom teams going down at the end of the season. There are two seasons per academic year.
The winners of Division 1 in 2024-25 were Habs, who were presented with the Lord's Trophy following a match at the House of Lords.
Teams can join the league in at the start of the autumn term or at Christmas. Any school wishing to enter a team should please contact EBED's National Youth Coordinator Joan Bennett (joan@ebedcio.org.uk).
Grand Prix pairs event
This event consists of 6 events for youngsters under 21 by the date of the Junior Teach-In in August. It is held on a mixture of Real Bridge and Face to Face. To qualify, children have to enter 3 events. There are prizes for all levels, so maximum participation is the goal. Clearly those that enter more events, either as individuals or pairs have a greater chance of winning as they can discard their less satisfactory results.
Regional junior event
A number of events for juniors take place during the year, organised by groups at a local or regional level. Please see the calendar on the EBED website for more details on upcoming competitions