Tomorrow marks the start of the Expanded ACE College league! But what is the ACE league? What changes have been made, and what should we expect across a brand new season? And just how important might this league become to the survival of English Rugby?
The ACE College League was founded in 2009, and consisted of two groups, North and South, with the top-ranked teams at the end of a round robin season meeting in the ACE Championship Semi-finals, before a final was held to decide a true ACE Victor. Hartpury took down Ivybridge Community College in that first finals day, and Hartpury College would go on to dominate the competition. There was a change in the offing last season, when Gordons took down the Acorns to claim their first championship. Still, throughout the competition, the gap between the two sides had been shrinking, with more competitive sides from the North of England, and serious investment from Premiership clubs, increasing the prestige of the competition year on year. The Women’s game has also prospered under the branch of the ACE College league, but that side of the competition has not undergone the revolution that the Men’s ACE League has experienced over the summer.
The League has been expanded as 5 new schools have been granted entry into the competition, while Brooksby’s rugby program has been placed into the hands of Loughborough University, who, like Hartpury and Gloucester, maintain a solid connection with Leicester Tigers. The League has retained its north and south structure, but space for the 6 new sides has been made possible with a reformed two-tiered system. That makes 4 groups in total. Tier 1 contains the 6 highest-ranked sides from last year’s competition in the north and south, respectively, whereas Tier 2 contains the new sides, accompanied by the lowest-ranked teams within each geographical split to make a pair of second tiers, each containing 5 sides. Got that? Have a look yourself, it might make a little more sense.
North Area Pool 1
Stourport High School and Sixth Form College (Gloucester Rugby, 5)
Gosforth Academy (Newcastle Red Bulls, 6)
Bishop Burton College (Yorkshire Rugby Academy, 7)
Loughborough College (Leicester Tigers, 8)
Oaklands College (Saracens, 14)
Myerscough College (Sale Sharks, 15)
South Area Pool 1
Gordon’s School (Harlequins, 1)
Hartpury College (Gloucester Rugby, 2)
Beechen Cliff School (Bath Rugby, 3)
Bishop Wand School (Harlequins, 4)
Truro College (Exeter Chiefs, 9)
Cardinal Newman (Harlequins, 10)
North Area Pool 2
Moulton College (Northampton Saints, 16)
Bede Sixth Form College (Newcastle Red Bulls, unseeded)
Ashton on Mersey (Sale Sharks, unseeded)
Wath Academy (Yorkshire Rugby Academy, unseeded)
Coventry College (Leicester Tigers, unseeded)
South Area Pool 2
SGS College (Bristol Bears, 11)
Exeter College (Exeter Chiefs, 12)
City of Oxford College (Gloucester Rugby, 13)
Peter Symonds College (Bath Rugby, unseeded)
Richard Huish College (Bristol Bears, unseeded)
The sides labelled “Unseeded” are new to the program, while each school is labelled with the corresponding academy and its ranking based on last season’s finals day. Spare a thought for SGS College, Exeter College and the City of Oxford, who all finished higher than the likes of Oaklands College last year, but still end up in tier two. The balance between the North and South remains uneven, even if it has improved in recent seasons. Each academy now has at least two schools to their name, except the Northampton Saints, whose long-time partnership with Northampton School for Boys, who may well be one of the best school-boy sides in the country this season, acts as the inspiration for the league itself – some might argue.
There is no more finals day, which is a shame for some, especially the players who loved the big day out at Sixways Stadium. Instead, after the October half term, the best performing sides from the two Tier 1s will be combined into a second pool, with the number one ranked side in this pool (Labelled as Pool “A” by the RFU) after a second round robin being crowned champions. Promotion and relegation between the two tiers is also in play right from the very first season, although the full details of this have not been clarified.
Matt Williams, the RFU’s Program Lead for Academie, believes that the “enhanced operational standards and increase in the number of teams will support a broader pool of players, allowing them to develop within a more inclusive, dynamic, and exciting competition”. The two-tiered system will certainly create a more competitive season, while allowing the new inclusions to catch up with their more experienced ACE opponents. Neil McCarthy, Head of Player Development at PREM Rugby, described the expansion as “a crucial step to ensure national coverage of the programme and broaden the talent pool, helping us diversify and strengthen the future of English rugby.” In a time when grassroots participation in rugby continues to fall, these ACE Colleges are not just exstensions of PREM Academies, they offer a standard of coaching, facilities and playing oppertunities that are rearly found outside of the independent schools sector. It would be thrilling to see these sides collide with the very best of the school’s game, but for now, we are delighted to see more and more young players being given the opportunity to excel, without first dispensing hefty school fees.
Fixtures begin tomorrow, and each matchday will be covered by us here at Nextgen Live. Can Gordons pull off a historic double, or will Hartpury rally to regain their crown? We shall have to wait and see.
You can find the full fixture list via this Link: https://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/search-results?competition=1664&season=2025-2026&division=66041#fixtures
