Interim Rugby Football League CEO Abi Ekoku has confirmed that gradings will still decide who plays in Super League at the end of next season: but there is a new formula geared towards financial sustainability and on-field performance.
The gradings system introduced by IMG has once again been under review in the off-season, with some speculating that it would ultimately be removed in favour of conventional promotion and relegation.
However, Ekoku told a press briefing on Tuesday in Wakefield that the RFL Council had approved a decision to keep the system in place at the end of 2026 – meaning the top graded teams will be given automatic entry to the top-flight. As with before, any club that secures Grade A status is guaranteed to be in Super League, with the remaining places comprised of the highest-ranking Grade B clubs.
But Ekoku admitted it will be a ‘gradings plus’ system that is introduced, with some loopholes that had been exploited in recent years now removed.
He revealed: “The process began at the end of the season. Gradings has been criticised in some areas and talked about more positively in others. It’s there to drive up standards and give us metrics so that the clubs who are aspiring to get into Super League have comparable measures. It’s been good in that sense.
“Like any system that comes in, it needs to evolve. If you go in and evaluate a school with Ofsted, the parameters shift. This is a tweak and something that has been enhanced because of the gradings process.
“We looked at the different pillars of grading and saw some could be manipulated. Gradings is still the process and how you get from Championship to Super League. But what we’ve done is refined certain aspects within it. There wasn’t full agreement initially but we ultimately came to it and it’s good to have that debate. You’ve got to clash over some things to get to an end goal.”
The big changes come around rewarding clubs’ performance on the field and their financial landscape. The old system’s catchment pillar has been removed completely, with that 1.5 points distributed across performance and finance.
Crucially, the side winning the Championship will receive double in bonus points next year – 0.50 – with the rest distributed among the performance hierarchy to allow for an extra 1 point to be achieved in that category. A full 0.50 will also be allocated to finance.
Ekoku revealed: “There’s greater emphasis on financial sustainability and higher emphasis towards on-field performance. Gradings has provided a benchmark in that if you pass certain tests, you’re ready to be a Super League club. But by doubling the value of winning the Championship, it means the team that wins it has a great chance to be there in Super League.
“We’ve got rid of the catchment pillar which was easy to manipulate and some clubs were disadvantaged. Those points have been allocated to performance and financial sustainability. One point to performance, and half a point to financial sustainability.
“We’re working with IMG on this because their system they recommended was voted for by the clubs – and we need them. They’re a global name and they add value in ways that aren’t understood to people in the sport sometimes.
“The discussions have closed a lot of those loopholes. You’ll always have something someone can exploit but what’s proposed now is an improvement. It’s still gradings, but it’s gradings-plus.”