Grade or age: which grouping fits your school?
Choose year-level or age-grouped events, understand calculation dates and combined age brackets, and check what can change later.
When you create a carnival, you choose whether students compete by their school year level or by age. Start with the groups in your school’s programme: Year 5 or Year 8 events use Grade, while Age 13 or U/14 events use Age.
The comparison below explains what each option needs. If your school uses age brackets, you will also choose the date used to calculate ages and the brackets the carnival will run.
| Choose | When to use it | What students need |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Events are for year levels, such as Year 5 or Year 8. | The correct grade or year level in Students. |
| Age | Events are for age brackets, such as Age 13 or U/14. | A date of birth in Students. |
How age grouping works
If you choose age grouping, these settings determine which bracket each student belongs to:
- Age Group Calculation Date: the date used to work out each student’s competition age. Check it against your school’s rules. The suggested date is 31 December of the year before the carnival starts.
- Age Group Format: the label shown for each bracket. A category with an upper age of 13 is labelled Age 13 or U/14. The label does not change the calculation.
- Age Categories: the brackets your carnival runs. Read the age ranges beside the selected categories and make sure they cover all your competitors.
For example, selecting categories 11, 13 and 15 combines ages as follows:
| Age on the calculation date | Category | Under label |
|---|---|---|
| 11 or younger | 11 | U/12 |
| 12 or 13 | 13 | U/14 |
| 14 or 15 | 15 | U/16 |
| 16 or older | No selected category | None |
Make your choice before adding events
You can switch between Grade and Age while the carnival has no events. Once events exist, the grouping method is locked.
Age format, calculation date and categories can still be edited. Changing the date or categories can move students between brackets, so recheck entrants and any pool nominations afterwards.
Once you have chosen the grouping, you are ready to create the carnival. If a student later appears in the wrong bracket, check their date of birth, the carnival’s calculation date and the selected age categories.