What are the cash prizes for all grades at the World Championships? Here are the details

We recently reported that the cash prize for the 2025 Grade 1 World Champion band was £2000, or about USD$2,694, with commensurately decreasing prizes for the following five places. There are no other pipe band cash prizes.

We subsequently asked the RSPBA what the cash prizes were for the other grades, since it is often assumed that the awards decrease with each grade after Grade 1.

We were pleasantly surprised not only to receive a response from the association, but also to learn that after Grade 1, every level, from Grade 2 to Novice Juvenile B, receives the same amounts.

The total prize pool for bands is £42,700 or about USD$57,690.

Although there’s probably no band that competes for money, one would assume that any performer who provides the musical and visual product being sold should be compensated commensurately with the stature, gate receipts, and other revenues generated for an event. A competing pipe band is an expensive proposition.

A typical per-day range for hiring a 50-seat bus/coach travelling about 100 miles is £850–£1,500. A band from New Zealand can expect to spend about £3060 (NZD$7,000) per member on a week-long trip to compete in Scotland. A 35-member band would spend a total of about £107,100 (NZD$245,158) to compete at the World’s

The RSPBA also confirmed that no prize money will be awarded for the World Solo Drumming Championships.

The association does not generally publicize the cash prizes for competitions to its members or the general public. At least three leaders from Grade 1 World’s prize-winners did not know what they received.

There are sponsors of the various RSPBA championships, but whether the association would entertain a wholesale name change to an event like the World’s is a question we posed.

The RSPBA confirmed, “The board of directors would consider any sponsorship proposal.”