Appointments Policy 2026/27 

 

  1. Aim:

To appoint the right referee to the right game every time.

 

  1. Objectives

2.1   To meet and satisfy the realistic aspirations of all Society referees for most of their appointments.

2.2   To ensure that all referees cover a range of games above (see 3.1) and below (where necessary) their grade.

2.3   To ensure that every game has a referee appropriate to the characteristics of that fixture.

2.5    To cover at least 95% of fixtures submitted by subscribing clubs, schools, colleges and universities.

2.6   To maximize the satisfaction of players, captains and coaches involved in every Society appointed fixture.

2.7   To reward the commitments demonstrated by referees to the Society;

2.8   To ‘reward’, where possible, those clubs, schools, colleges and universities who support the efforts of the Society Appointments team.

 

  1. Principles:

G&D appointments will normally be made following the RFU principles of Referee Appointments, i.e.

3.1.   No referee will normally be appointed to a game more than two levels above their grade;

3.2    Only valid DBS checked referees will be appointed to Age Grade rugby.

Appendix 1 shows levels for clubs etc and referees and Appendix 2 shows RFU/RFRU guidance re appointments priorities.

 

  1. Procedure

4.1 All society appointments will be conducted within this policy under the auspices of the Society Appointments & Grading Committee.  The Committee shall comprise:-

  1. Society Chairperson/ViceChairperson as Chairperson of the Committee (Ch);
  2. Appointments Coordinator (AC);
  3. Society Referee Development Officer (RDO);
  4. Society Match Observer Development Officer (SMODO);
  5. Society Members’ Representative (MR);
  6. Society Exchange Officer (EO)

Other Appointments Officers (Sundays, Midweek and YMO) may attend at the Chairperson’s discretion.

4.2 Before the commencement of the season:

4.2.1 each referee will be encouraged to complete a statement of their aspirations for the season.  The RDO may advise referees on the realism of their aspirations. The Committee will endeavor to meet the realistic aspirations of all referees, consistent with this policy and the nature and number of fixtures available.

4.2.2 see section 6.

4.3   The Appointments Committee shall, before the season commences, review all referee aspirations and place referees in rank order, within their grade.  The order will take into account aspirations, ability and availability.  Referees will not be disadvantaged by circumstances where they are forced to limit their availability  (e.g. by work commitments), but otherwise, the more a referee is available, the more opportunities there are to meet their aspirations.

4.4    The Appointments Committee will recommend to the Executive Committee referees to be Members of the Gloucestershire Federation of Rugby Referees’ Societies.  Members are normally those referees who are perceived to have a realistic chance of progressing beyond Level 5 (South West Group) and who meet the entry requirements of the SWG, including fitness requirements.  Associates are normally referees who are perceived to have a realistic chance of becoming a Society Level 6 referee within the next two seasons.  The Appointments Committee reserves the right to exceptionally nominate to the Federation.

4.5   During the season, the Appointments Committee shall normally meet fortnightly.  Their function is to ensure, as far as is possible, the achievement of the Objectives of the policy.  They will

4.5.1 appoint all Exchange appointments, on the advice of the Appointments Coordinator;

4.5.2 oversee and approve all Saturday appointments made by the Appointments Coordinator, who will make such proposals in consultation with the other Appointments Officers;

4.5.3 oversee and approve all Combination Cup semi- and final competition appointments, including ‘teams of three’;

4.5.4 normally, Midweek and Sunday Appointments Officers and the YMO will make appointments without reference to the Committee, but within the objectives of this policy and by following the Appointments protocol for Appointments Officers.

4.5.6 The SMODO will be responsible for the allocation of Match Observers (Coaches, Performance Reviewers) and Mentors.

4.5.7 Every Appointments Officer shall ensure, via ‘Who’s the Ref’, that valid data is available to the Committee.

4.5.8 The Committee cannot guarantee that every fixture submitted will secure an appointment.  The Appointments team will use their best endeavours to appoint to every fixture.  However, it may be necessary, from time to time, to ration the deployment of referees, by taking into account, where possible, factors such as cry off rates by teams or whether a club has Society match official members.

4.6    Any concerns that referees have with the implementation of this policy will be conducted through the Members’ Representative, or Level Co-ordinators, who will convey such concerns to the Appointments Committee.  The Appointments Committee must consider the concern and respond, normally, via the Chairperson, within two weeks.

 

  1. Members’ Responsibilities.

5.1    Active referee members are required to very regularly update their availability on ‘Who’s the Ref’.  Appointments Officers will take this data as the up to date statement of availability.

5.2    Members must notify the Appointments Coordinator or Appointments Officers, as appropriate, of any last minute changes in their availability as well as to any club etc. to which they have been appointed.

 

6 Clubs, Schools, Colleges and Universities Responsibilities.

6.1    These subscribing bodies must ensure that any fixtures (other than RFU Competition league fixtures) are notified to the Appointments team asap.  Late notification may result in no appointment.

6.2     All clubs etc. must follow the Appointments Guidance for clubs etc.

 

  1. Monitoring and Evaluation.

The Chairperson and the Appointments Secretary shall be responsible for annually issuing a report to the AGM, setting out both data and commentary on the performance of the Committee.

 

Policy adopted:  August 2026

Review date:  August 2028

Appendix 1 Game levels

 

League Game Level
RFU Premiership/ Championship 1/2
National 1 3
National 2, West, East and North 4
Regional 1 Tribute SouthWest 5
Regional 2 Tribute Severn/West Midlands 6
Tribute Western North 7
Counties 2 Tribute Gloucestershire North and South 8
Counties3 Tribute Gloucestershire North and South 9
Counties 4 Tribute Gloucestershire North 10
GRFU District 11

Appendix 2: RFU/RFRU Guidance on Appointments priorities.

 

For Levels 3-5 

  1. Competition hierarchy
  2. Match Officials development needs.

For Levels 6 and below.  Overlaid by referee availability, all of whom are volunteers, where day of week may be significant

  1. Needs of the game
  2. Competition hierarchy
  3. MOs development needs
  4. Reward and recognition, without compromise to priorities 1 and 2.
Referee Society and Federation Appointments
Match Type Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9 Level 10
Male club and CB Competitions Regional Leagues

Reserve teams, L3-5 clubs

 Regional/CB Leagues

Local Merit

RFU Intermediate Cup

 Reg/CB Leagues

RFU Senior Vase

 Ditto

RFU Junior Vase

 Ditto
Schools and Colleges School Cup U18 School 1st XV

AoC sport Prem League

 School Cup U15

AoC Sport Reg. Leagues

 AoC Sport Reg. Leagues Ditto L9
Male and Female Univ Comps BUCS Men Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4

BUCS Womens Prem

 Tier 5

BUCS Women

Tier 1

 Womens Tier 2
Female club and CB Comps County Championship U15, U17 Club XV
Male Club and Youth M U16-19 League

NB

  1. Club 15 a side males U 16 – 19 higher than adult 15 a side 2ndXV of level 7 and below clubs
  2. 15 a side established rugby playing schools and colleges higher than adult15 a side 2ndXV of level 7 and below clubs.
  3. Club 15 a side female U 18-15 before adult15 a side 2ndXV of level 9 and below clubs