# Drum Corps United Kingdom

Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) is a governing organization for drum and bugle corps in the United Kingdom. DCUK operates the British drum corps circuit which holds drum and bugle corps competitions for corps across the country. It is part of the national charity Marching & Performing Arts UK.
DCUK is a strategic partner of Drum Corps International and through this partnership offers DrumLine Battle and SoundSport in the UK.

## About

Competitive Corps participate in competitions between the months of June to September, traditionally the British Drum Corps Championships takes place on the weekend before last in September. Competitions occur at sports arenas (i.e. athletic tracks, football or rugby grounds) and are judged by a panel of approved and training volunteer Judges on general effect, visual performance, and musical performance. Every year, each drum corps prepares a single new show, approximately 8–15 minutes in length, and carefully refines this throughout the entire summer year. This focus on a singular show takes advantage of the large amount of time needed to honing and refining a modern drum corps program, with a momentum that continues to build up to the last performance of the season, the Drum Corps United Kingdom Championships. DCUK finals has been held at the Select Security Stadium since 2013.

## Adjudication

DCUK utilizes the adjudication manual published by Drum Corps Europe which is based on three broad categories: Music, Visual and Effect. Each of the categories are further subdivided into reference criteria, or captions. All sanctioned competitions require nine adjudicators, including an adjudicator responsible for Timing & Penalties.
| Category | Caption | + | Caption | + | Points |
| Music | Field Music (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Music (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Music | Field Percussion (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Music (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Visual | Field Visual (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Visual (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Visual | Color Guard (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Visual (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Effect | Music Effect (20) | + | Visual Effect (20) | = | 40.00 |
| | | | Subtotal | Subtotal | 100.00 |
| | | | Timing & Penalties | Timing & Penalties | - 0.00 |
| | | | Total | Total | 100.00 |

## Past champions

Below is a list of champions organized by class.
| Year | Open Class | — | — | — |
| 1980 (1st) | Dagenham Crusaders $^{(1)}$ | | | |
| 1981 (2nd) | Dagenham Crusaders $^{(2)}$ | | | |
| 1982 (3rd) | Dagenham Crusaders $^{(3)}$ | | | |
| 1983 (4th) | Green Lancers | | | |
| 1984 (5th) | Imperial Knights | | | |
| Year | Open Class | A Class | — | — |
| 1985 (6th) | Blue Barons | Concord | | |
| 1986 (7th) | Conquest Alliance $^{(1)}$ (and) Dagenham Crusaders $^{(4)}$ | Waterlooville | | |
| 1987 (8th) | Conquest Alliance $^{(2)}$ (DCUK) Concord $^{(1)}$ (BDCF) | Kenilworth Corp D'Elite | | |
| 1988 (9th) | Southern Knights (DCUK) Concord $^{(2)}$ (BDCF) | British Gypsum | | |
| 1989 (10th) | Blue Eagles $^{(1)}$ | Caversham Ambassadors | | |
| 1990 (11th) | Blue Eagles $^{(2)}$ | No competition | | |
| 1991 (12th) | Blue Eagles $^{(3)}$ | New Surrey Raiders | | |
| 1992 (13th) | Blue Eagles $^{(4)}$ | Valiant | | |
| 1993 (14th) | Senators $^{(1)}$ | Black Knights | | |
| 1994 (15th) | Blue Eagles $^{(5)}$ | Saxon Shadows | | |
| 1995 (16th) | Blue Eagles $^{(6)}$ | Free Spirit | | |
| Year | Open Class | A Class | Junior Class | Cadet Class |
| 1996 (17th) | Blue Eagles $^{(7)}$ | Cadence | No competition | Squires |
| 1997 (18th) | Senators $^{(2)}$ | Poynton Commodores $^{(1)}$ | Avenger | Black Knights |
| 1998 (19th) | Sunrisers | 6th Hove Scouts | North Star | 6th Hove Scouts |
| 1999 (20th) | Cadence $^{(3)}$ | Guardsmen | The Statesmen | Phoenix Guildford |
| 2000 (21st) | Senators $^{(3)}$ | The Statesmen | Forgemen | 37th Kingswood Cadets $^{(1)}$ |
| 2001 (22nd) | Senators $^{(4)}$ | Forgemen | Ibstock Scouts | Concord |
| 2002 (23rd) | Southern Aurora | Squires | Stafford Lancers | Aurora Cadets |
| 2003 (24th) | Senators $^{(5)}$ | Phoenix Coventry $^{(1)}$ | Concord $^{(1)}$ | Encore |
| 2004 (25th) | Senators $^{(6)}$ | Phoenix Coventry $^{(2)}$ | Senators | Black Knights Cadets |
| 2005 (26th) | Senators $^{(7)}$ | Southern Aurora | Staffordshire Knights | 37th Kingswood Cadets $^{(2)}$ |
| 2006 (27th) | Black Knights | Concord $^{(2)}$ | Staffordshire Knights $^{(2)}$ | 37th Kingswood Cadets $^{(3)}$ |
| Year | Intl. Open Class | National Open Class | National Junior Class | — |
| 2007 (28th) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(1)}$ | Poynton Commodores $^{(2)}$ | Black Knights Cadets | |
| 2008 (29th) | Senators $^{(8)}$ | Poynton Commodores $^{(3)}$ | Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors $^{(1)}$ | |
| Year | Open Class | A Class | Junior Class | — |
| 2009 (30th) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(2)}$ | Staffordshire Knights | 6th Hove Scouts B | |
| 2010 (31st) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(3)}$ | Cheshire Cadets | Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors $^{(2)}$ | |
| 2011 (32nd) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(4)}$ | Revolution Show Corps $^{(1)}$ | Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors $^{(3)}$ | |
| 2012 (33rd) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(5)}$ | Beeches | Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors $^{(4)}$ | |
| 2013 (34th) | The Company $^{(1)}$ | Revolution Show Corps $^{(2)}$ | Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors $^{(5)}$ | |
| 2014 (35th) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(6)}$ | Liberty | Thurrock Marching Brass | |
| 2015 (36th) | The Company $^{(2)}$ | The Pacemakers $^{(3)}$ | Concord AllStars $^{(2)}$ | |
| 2016 (37th) | The Company $^{(3)}$ | No competition | Concord AllStars $^{(3)}$ | |
| 2017 (38th) | The Company $^{(4)}$ | No competition | Concord AllStars $^{(4)}$ | |
| 2018 (39th) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(7)}$ | The Pacemakers $^{(4)}$ | Concord AllStars $^{(5)}$ | |
| 2019 (40th) | Kidsgrove Scouts $^{(8)}$ | The Pacemakers $^{(5)}$ | Thurrock Marching Brass $^{(2)}$ | |
| 2020 (—) | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | |
| 2021 (—) | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | In 2020 and 2021 no events took place due to COVID | |
| 2022 (41st) | Beeches $^{(1)}$ | No competition | No competition | |
| 2023 (42nd) | Beeches $^{(2)}$ | No competition | No competition | |