Astley won his opening match of the season 5–2 against Mike Dunn to reach the main draw of the Wuxi Classic. In his first appearance in a ranking event Astley was whitewashed 5–0 by Robert Milkins.&lt;ref name="2013/14"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; He won a match in a ranking event for the first time by edging out Ken Doherty 6–5 in the UK Championship, a performance he described afterwards as the best of his career. He lost 6–1 against Stuart Carrington in the next round. Astley also qualified for the China Open with a 5–2 success over Robbie Williams and then came through a wildcard round match once in China, before losing 5–1 to Ding Junhui. Astley beat Sam Baird 10–9 in the first round of World Championship qualifying, but his season ended in his next match with a heavy 10–2 loss to Jamie Cope. He finished his debut season on the tour ranked world number 98. Astley was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award at the World Snooker Annual Award Ceremony.