Solo Piping Judges Association doubles down on accreditation and teachers judging pupils

About 25 of the Solo Piping Judges Association‘s 45 members attended the organization‘s 2025 annual general meeting and seminar on November 16, held at the Army School of Bagpipe Music & Highland Drumming in Edinburgh, with online access for those unable to attend in person.

Bruce Hitchings, who was re-elected as SPJA chair, again emphasized the association‘s commitment to preventing teachers from judging their own pupils at UK solo piping competitions. This policy aligns with the Competing Pipers‘ Association‘s rule that members should not compete when their teacher is adjudicating.

The CPA code of conduct further stipulates that its members should compete only in events that employ accredited adjudicators, whether a single judge or a multi-judge panel.

The SPJA stressed to its members that solidarity should be demonstrated by adjudicating alongside fellow SPJA members at UK contests. “Judges should ensure that, when accepting invitations to officiate at events in the UK, all adjudicators are drawn from the SPJA membership,“ the SPJA said in a statement, noting that this reflects and supports recent CPA changes concerning the recognition of prizes for grading and eligibility purposes.

The CPA determines grading for its members aged 18 and over primarily by evaluating results achieved throughout the year at competitions it considers to have credible adjudication and sufficiently large entries. Results from events that do not meet these criteria are discounted.

Because there is no single sanctioning body for solo piping competitions, organizers across the UK remain free to appoint judges of their choosing unless they formally commit to SPJA and/or CPA policies and their respective membership requirements.

Both the SPJA and the CPA, which was represented at the meeting by CPA President Gordon McCready, agreed to issue a joint letter to competition organizers reinforcing these policies.

“If these conditions cannot be met, an application or notification must be submitted before the competition, by judges to the SPJA and by competitors to the CPA,“ the SPJA said.

A professional development seminar followed the AGM. Members of the SPJA’s list of 14 “supplementary” judges, comprising active competitors, joined SPJA members to discuss a range of issues, including the use of recordings as a judging aid and competitors taking longer than the allotted time to tune. McCready led a session addressing current issues and priorities affecting competing pipers.

In addition to Hitchings‘ re-election as chair, Euan Anderson and Roddy Livingstone were confirmed to continue in their roles as treasurer and secretary, respectively. Logan Tannock and Jim McGillivray completed their terms as committee members, while Peter Hunt and Donald MacPhee were elected to fill the resulting vacancies.

The editor of pipes|drums is a member of the SPJA.