Junior Talent Programme

Athlete representing England at the England Athletics U20 & U23 Championships

England Athletics works to grow opportunities for everyone to experience athletics and running, to enable them to reach their full potential.

The Talented Athlete and Coach Pathway provides a progressive support structure for athletes and coaches to develop skills and competencies with the aim of moving athletes on to representative honours at England and GB & NI Level. 

Aims of the programme

The England Athletics talent pathway aims to increase the number of talented athletes who have the skills, competencies, knowledge, and resilience to progress to World Class Programmes, succeed at Senior Championships and gain a positive life experience from the journey. It will aim to do this across all events. 

Following completion of the Youth Talent Programme (YTP) or through direct selection, English athletes will have the opportunity to transition onto the Junior Talent Programme. Places on the JTP are limited due to the capacity of the team to deliver the programme ambitions. England Athletics manage a selection process based on applications to the programme on an annual basis.  Decisions on the level of support/programme an athlete will receive are taken at the selection stage. 

Selections for the 2023 to 2024 programme

The selection process is split across four stages:

The purpose of the selection panel is to prioritise athletes who have highlighted potential aligned to the below criteria and are deemed to have shown signs of progressing onto the next stage of the pathway (e.g. UKA Futures, England Athletics Senior Talent Programme).

The selection panel will comprise of the following:  

  • UKA Performance Pathway Manager (Olympic)  
  • England Athletics Head of Talent Development  
  • England Athletics Event Group Lead Speed (or representative)  
  • England Athletics Event Group Lead Endurance (or representative) 
  • England Athletics Event Group Lead Jumps and Combined Events (or representative)  
  • England Athletics Event Group Lead Throws (or representative)  
  • England Athletics National Talent Event Leads (or representatives)  
  • Talent Hub Managers (or representatives)

Guidance 

2023-2024 Junior Talent Programme cohort