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 are now closed. 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 richard.croot@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 on Saturday 28th February 2026.
Youth Bridge Camps
English Bridge Education and Development (EBED) runs three Youth Bridge Camps a year, in the Spring, Summer, and Autumn. These are residential bridge camps, including bridge tuition, competitions, and other sporting and social activities, open to young people age 7-26 of all experience levels. See its website for details.
Inter Schools League
The Inter-Schools Bridge League is a 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).
Youth Bridge Grand Prix
This event consists of six events for young bridge players who are under-21 at the end of the season (1st Sep). Three events are held online, and three are held face-to-face at the Spring/Summer/Autumn Youth Bridge Camps. To win a prize, a player must have played in at least three events. There are prizes for all levels, so maximum participation is the goal.
Regional Junior Events
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