National Primary Schools' Chess Championships

2025 Competition

Semi-Finals

Four of the five Semi-Finals for the 2025 National Primary Schools Chess Championships have now been completed. This year’s competition sees 249 teams from 135 schools take part across five Semi-Finals.

11 May – Belmont, Mill Hill Prep School

18 May – Mill Hill School

8 June – Nottingham High School

8 June – King’s College School, Wimbledon

The last Semi-Final will take place at Haberdashers’ Girls’ School, Elstree on 15 June.

Final

The NPSCC Final will be hosted at Westminster School on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June 2025.

Sixteen of the twenty finalists have now been decided:

Finalists – U9:

  • Eltham College

  • Hallfield

  • Hereward House

  • Lochinver House

  • RGS Newcastle

  • St. Paul's Juniors

  • The Hall

  • Wren

Finalists – U11:

  • Belmont

  • Hallfield

  • King's College Wimbledon

  • Pointer's School

  • St Bridget's

  • St. Paul's Juniors A

  • St. Paul's Juniors B

  • The Hall

Angela Eyton 

EPSCA National Schools Controller 2025

Getting ready to play! The magnificent venue for the Grand Final, 2023. More photos here.

2023 Final

Congratulations to our 2023 champion schools: Westminster Under (Under 11) and Kings College (Under 9). Thanks to Mike Forster for these photos of the final.

Under 11 Final
Westminster Under 29.5
Dulwich Prep. 24
Highgate 19.5
Hallfield 19.5
University College S 17.5
The Hall 13.5
RGS Newcastle 11
St Martins 5.5
   
Under 9 Final
Kings College 27
The Pointer School 22.5
City Juniors 21
Eltham College 21
The Hall 14
Hereward House 14
Hallfield 14
The Beacon 6.5

Details

This successful competition started in 1969. It is open to all schools in England, Scotland and Wales. Although the aim is to find the strongest chess-playing schools in the Country, it is intended to be an interesting challenge to schools of any chess-playing ability. The format can vary from year to year, so the following is just to give an idea of how it works.
Teams:     5 players – plus 1 reserve
Under 11 (Year 6 & below)
Under 9  (Year 4 & below)

Stage 1: Zones
Local events where a number of schools send teams and try to qualify for the semi-finals. Usually held in January, February and March.

Stage 2: Semi-Finals:
Teams qualifying from the zones play in semi-finals, usually in May and June.

Stage 3: National Finals:
Usually a two-day event held in July