The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy

GCCF Show Classes

Exemption Shows

These are "fun" shows. Some are cat shows held in conjunction with Agricultural shows, others are the "rehearsal" shows held by new Cat Clubs, gaining them the experience to run Sanction, then Championship shows.

The shows are usually small and they do not have to put on separate classes for all breeds. This means that they may have a single Open class for all colours of Persian, or the Siamese and Burmese might find that they are competing against one another. There are no Assessment classes, so new breeds compete against the established breeds, often in the same class. As with almost all GCCF shows there are also miscellaneous classes - for cats bred by the owner, cats which have had a limited number of previous wins etc. - and often club classes, put on by other supporting Clubs for their own members to enter.

There are no certificates to be awarded, no titles to be won, but you will often see Champions or even Grand Champions supporting an Exemption Show, especially if it is being run by a specialist breed club, just to enjoy the relaxed fun atmosphere.

A new Club must run three Exemption shows before it is allowed to progress to the next stage.

Sanction Shows

These shows really are rehearsals for Championship shows. Although no Challenge, Premier or Intermediate Certificates can be awarded, all the same classes have to be provided and the rules are just as strict as for a Championship show. Sanction shows do put on Assessment classes so Merit Certificates can be awarded.

A Club must run three Sanction shows, to the satisfaction of the GCCF, before being granted a licence to hold a Championship show.

Championship Shows

These are the serious shows of the Cat Fancy. They may be all-breed shows, in which case they have classes for each breed which is recognised by the GCCF, or specialist shows with classes for a breed section or sometimes for a single breed.

Each breed has its own Open Classes: there are separate classes for Male Adults, Female Adults, Male Neuters, Female Neuters and Kittens. Kitten classes are for kittens with a minimum age of 14 weeks up to nine calendar months old when they become adult; these kitten classes may be split by sex or age at larger shows, or even both ways if there is a big entry; at specialist breed shows they may also be split by colour. Adult and Neuter Open classes are not split further, no matter how big the entry, unless this split has been approved in advance. The cats in these classes are placed in order of merit, from 1st to 4th; in big classes 5th, 6th, Very Highly Commended, Highly Commended and Commended may be given if the show offers cards for these placings and the judge wishes to give them.

The winner of an Adult Open class will, if considered by the judge to be of sufficient quality, be awarded a Challenge Certificate. Similarly, the winner's of Neuter Open classes are awarded Premier Certificates. Three Challenge Certificates awarded by three different judges make a cat a Champion, three Premier Certificates from three different judges make him or her a Premier.

Champions and Premiers may be entered in the Grand Champion or Grand Premier class respectively as well as, or instead of, being entered in their Open class. There are not "Grand" classes for each breed - just one or two per show section - and only a Grand Challenge/Grand Premier Certificate and a Reserve Grand Challenge/Grand Premier Certificate are awarded per class - provided the judges consider the cats worthy of these high awards. Three Grand Challenge/Grand Premier Certificates from three different judges makes the cat up to Grand Champion or Grand Premier. A cat keeps its title when it is neutered so you will often find a Grand Champion in a neuter class after it has retired from breeding.

At ordinary Championship shows, full Grand Champions/Premiers may compete in special Imperial Grand classes for Grand Champions/Premiers only. Grand Champions/Premiers may enter their Imperial Grand, Grand or Open class, or any two out of these three; they may not enter all three of these classes. The winner of each Imperial Grand class is eligible to be awarded an Imperial Grand Challenge/Premier Certificate. The second placed cat is eligible for a Reserve Imperial Grand Challenge/Premier Certificate: this means that if the Imperial Grand Certificate winner is disqualified, the Reserve Certificate winner will be awarded the Imperial Grand Certificate which will count towards a title. No further placings are made in these classes, even if the certificates are withheld. Five Imperial Grand Challenge/Premier Certificates awarded by five different judges make the cat an Imperial Grand Champion/Premier.

Cats of Provisional status breeds also have their own Open classes, the certificate on offer being an Intermediate Certificate. Preliminary status breeds compete in Assessment classes, each cat being judged against its standard of points and being awarded a Merit Certificate if it is good enough. Again, these help the breed to progress.

Many shows offer Best of Breed awards for the best Adult, Kitten and Neuter of each breed, but these do not count towards a title of any kind. Some shows, especially specialist breed shows, hold a Best in Show but, again, winning this does not count towards any official title although it is a great honour for the winner.

The Supreme Show

Unlike most other shows the Supreme. has no miscellaneous or club classes. It does, however, have classes other shows do not have. There are four Adult Open classes for each championship status breed: Champion Male and Female classes for full Champions, the winners being eligible for Grand Challenge Certificates, and Pre-Champion Male and Female classes for cats with one or two Certificates or who have qualified as kittens, competing for Challenge Certificates. The same applies to the neuter classes which are split into Premiers and Pre-Premiers.

Cats which are already Grand Champions do not compete in these classes but in special classes for Grand Champions, Imperial Grand Champions, UK Grand Champions and UK & Imperial Grand Champions only, the winner being eligible for a UK Grand Challenge Certificate. Grand Premiers, Imperial Grand Premiers, UK Grand Premiers and UK & Imperial Grand Premiers compete for a UK Grand Premier Certificate. In these classes several breeds may compete together. UK Grand Certificates are only awarded at the Supreme Show, two such Certificates from different judges giving the cat the title of UK Grand Champion/Premier or UK & Imperial Grand Champion/Premier if it has additionally gained that title. There is no Reserve UK Grand Challenge/Premier Certificate.

Even a UK Grand Champion starts afresh when he is neutered, hoping eventually to gain the coveted new double title of UK & Imperial Grand Champion & UK & Imperial Grand Premier - something to aim for now there are several cats holding the title UK Grand Champion & UK Grand Premier.

Best of Breed winners at the Supreme Show do not get certificates but compete against the other BOB winners in their section for Best of Variety.

The seven Best of Variety Adults (Persian, Semi-Longhair, British, Foreign, Burmese, Oriental, Siamese) compete for Supreme Adult, the seven kittens for Supreme Kitten and the neuters for Supreme Neuter.

Finally, the Supreme Adult, Supreme Kitten and Supreme Neuter compete against each other for the honour of being judged Supreme Exhibit. No extra title - just the honour, a very large rosette and a silver trophy to hold for a year.

Provisional Status Breeds

Cats of Provisional status breeds also compete at the Supreme Show, but as they cannot win titles their classes are not divided into Champion and Pre-Champion. The Intermediate Certificate winners and Kitten class winners are considered for Best of Breed, as with the Championship status breeds, and the BOB winners go forward to compete against the Championship staus breeds for Best of Variety.

Preliminary Status Breeds

As at other Championship shows, there are Assessment classes at the Supreme Show, with Merit Certificates on offer. These cats, however, do not progress any further in the show as they are always (except in miscellaneous or club classes at ordinary shows) judged against their standard of points and not against each other.

Non-Pedigree cats

Household Pets, which are defined as unregistered cats with one or both parents unregistered, have their own section at all-breed shows and at many specialist breed shows. Household Pet Open classes are divided variously by colour and/or coat length; shows which expect a large entry offer more different classes than those which expect only a few, so one show may have a single class for Black, Black & White and White cats whereas a larger show may offer separate classes for each of these.

Household Pets do not have a standard of points but are judged on condition and temperament; if all the cats in the class are in tip-top sparkling condition and purring their heads off, the winner is the one the judge likes best. No certificates are offered and no titles can be won.

Household Pets also have their own section at the Supreme Show. The classes are split Male and Female, as for the pedigree cats but, unlike the pedigree classes, these classes may be split further after the entries are in if there are a very large number of cats in a particular class. The class winners are judged for Best of Group, the Best of Group winners compete for Best Non-Pedigree Longhair and Best Non-Pedigree Shorthair and finally these two compete for Supreme Non-Pedigree Exhibit.

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