RESOURCE LIBRARY

In order to compete at the 2025 FIRST^® Championship, a 2025 registered FIRST^® Robotics Competition team must be eligible.

Teams are eligible to register for the FIRST Championship if they are:

• a Pre-Qualified Team, or 
• a Merit-Based Qualifying Team

Pre-Qualified Teams

The following teams will be pre-qualified for the 2025 FIRST Championship based on their performance at the 2024 FIRST Championship:

• 2024 FIRST Championship Winners: 1690, 4522, 9432, and 321
• 2024 FIRST Impact Award Finalists: 2438, 3990, 5614, 5985, and 6429
• 2024 Engineering Inspiration Award Winners: 2638, 2642, 3478, 4091, 4403, 6413, 8159, and 9008
• 2024 FIRST Impact Award Winner: 2486
• Due to extreme outside factors that impacted their ability to attend the 2024 FIRST Championship, Team 9739 has been pre-qualified for the 2025 FIRST Championship

The FIRST Impact Award, formerly the Chairman’s Award, is the most prestigious award in the program and is the only way FIRST Robotics Competition teams can enter the Hall of Fame. To honor this achievement, Hall of Fame teams that earned their Chairman's / FIRST Impact Award at the last ten FIRST Championships prior to 2024 are also pre-qualified teams. These teams are: 27, 321, 503, 597, 987, 1114, 1538, 1629, 1816, 1902, 2614, 2834, 3132, and 4613. 

Merit-Based Qualifying Teams

Merit-Based Qualifying slots are issued based on a team's performance during the season. Eligible teams are automatically given the opportunity to register for the FIRST Championship at the time of their win at either a Regional Event or at their District Championship. Teams who compete in District areas will not be able to advance to the FIRST Championship from Regional events. Teams from Districts that are Regional Winners will generate Wild cards at that event. Teams from Districts are also still not eligible to win the FIRST Impact Award, Engineering Inspiration, or Rookie All-Star award at Regional events.

District Model

Each District determines the number of Dean’s List Finalists, FIRST Impact Awards, Rookie All Star Awards, and Engineering Inspiration Awards to present at their District Championship, within a range established by FIRST. The team counts are based on the team representation of the respective District at the Championship. For the awards, ranges are developed by using ratios agreed upon by FIRST and District Leadership. These ranges allow each District to represent their own community as they see fit.

• For the FIRST Impact Award, the ratios range from one FIRST Impact Award team for every 18 Championship District teams to one FIRST Impact Award team for every nine Championship District teams.
• For the Dean’s List Finalist Award, the ratios range from one Dean’s List Finalist for every nine Championship District teams to one Dean’s List Finalist for every six Championship District teams.
• All Districts, regardless of FIRST Championship Slot allocation, may award one or two Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All-Star Awards.

The following teams competing in the District model earn a Merit-Based Qualifying slot:

• District Championship 
  • FIRST Impact Award Winners
  • Engineering Inspiration Award Winners
  • Rookie All-Star Winners (the District can decide if they present this award or not)
  • Winning Alliance members
• as many teams in District-points total order to fill the Allocated FIRST Championship slots granted per the table below. 

Districts receive the percentage of 'available slots' at FIRST Championship, rounded up to the nearest whole slot, equal to the percentage of teams they have in their District compared to the total of all FIRST Robotics Competition teams. 'Available slots' are calculated by taking the total number of slots at FIRST Championship and subtracting the number of pre-qualified teams. This overall calculation uses a ‘snapshot’ of teams that have registered and paid as of three weeks after initial season payment was due.

Regional Model

The following teams earn a Merit-Based Qualifying slot:

• FIRST Impact Award Winner
• Engineering Inspiration Award Winner
• Winning Alliance: Captain
• Winning Alliance: 1^st Pick

Regional Pool

All teams who don't earn a slot at a Regional event are ranked in order in the Regional Pool. Teams earn points in the Regional Pool as described in the Regional Advancement Changes Overview document. Teams are invited to the FIRST Championship from the Regional Pool after competition Weeks 2, 4, and 6.