There have been and remain multiple routes onto the professional snooker tour, with Q School a well-trodden path since being established in 2011.
Amateur players battle it out in stressful, intense tournaments with the winners booking a spot on the World Snooker Tour for the next two seasons, while those who fall short have to play their snooker elsewhere.
Players who have been on the pro tour since before 2011 have never had to face the pressure of Q School to keep their careers alive, so you won’t have seen the likes of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan or Mark Selby scrapping it out for their tour cards.
That is not to say that Q School has not seen plenty of fantastic players over the years, though, with a number winning their places on tour and going on to win ranking events.
For the following list of the greatest graduates from Q School, they are being judged on what they have achieved since their graduations.
The likes of Fergal O’Brien, Joe Swail and Andy Hicks came back onto tour through Q School later in their careers, but their glory days were long before those times.
But there are plenty who have earned their place on tour through Q School and gone on to great things, so any players lining up in Leicester this week can be inspired by these 10 names.
10. Jordan Brown – 2018
In one of the biggest surprises in snooker history, Jordan Brown won the 2021 Welsh Open, beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final after downing Mark Selby and Stephen Maguire on his way to the showpiece.
Just one ranking semi has followed that, which will disappoint the Northern Irishman, but what a win to have on his CV.
9. Jackson Page – 2021
Still just 23 years old, Jackson Page secured a brilliant piece of snooker history last month when he became the first player to make two 147s in the same match, doing so in World Championship qualifying.
The Welshman reached his first ranking final this season and is continuing to make his way up the rankings as one of the brightest young British hopes.
8. Fan Zhengyi – 2020
Similar to Brown’s shock win, Fan Zhengyi pulled off a wild result by winning the 2022 European Masters, beating O’Sullivan in the final.
He also hasn’t followed it up with more success but the Chinese is still only 24 and has shown more good flashes, including a run to the Champion of Champions semis.
7. Lei Peifan – 2019
Lei Peifan made a huge name for himself last season, firstly by winning the Scottish Open and then by beating defending champion Kyren Wilson at the Crucible.
The 21-year-old has not done a great deal else yet as a professional, but if those two performances are anything to go by there is a lot more to come.
6. Jak Jones – 2018
The first player on this list to have reached the world’s top 16, Jak Jones is also the first to have made it to a World Championship final.
His run to the Crucible Showpiece in 2024 was his career highlight so far and his challenge now is to bring his Sheffield game to the rest of the tour, having not been to any other final as yet.
5. Chris Wakelin – 2013
Chris Wakelin has enjoyed a brilliant and much-improved two-and-a-half years on tour, stepping up at least one level from where he stood before.
Winning the Shoot Out in 2023 remains his only ranking title, but finals of the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship have followed, as has a Masters debut and a run to the quarter-finals at the Crucible this year.
4. Si Jiahui – 2019
One of the great rising talents in the game, but one who is yet to get his hands on any silverware, despite coming close.
Si Jiahui has been to two ranking finals and the semi-finals of the World Championship and Saudi Arabia Masters, with a trophy for the 22-year-old seeming only a matter of time.
3. Zhang Anda – 2014
In Gloucester back in 2014 Zhang Anda came through Q School and after years of not making many waves, he made his splash in the 2023/24 season.
Zhang won the International Championship and reached the finals of the English Open and Players Championship, soaring into the top 16 in the process.
2. Dave Gilbert – 2011
Dave Gilbert had been on tour but fell off in 2011 and needed Q School to bounce straight back, just, losing in the first two finals before winning Event 3.
Since then he has been to five ranking finals, winning one of them, two World Championship and two Masters semis, reaching a high of number 10 in the world.
1. Zhao Xintong – 2018
If any Q School hopeful this year needs some inspiration then look no further than the reigning world champion as Zhao Xintong graduated at the Meadowside Leisure Centre, Burton-upon-Trent in 2018.
The Cyclone won the UK Championship in 2021 and German Masters in ’22 before being banned from the sport only to return and conquer the Crucible this month, seven years on from beating Dechawat Poomjaeng to win Q School Event 2 in Burton.
Honorary mentions go to the only future ranking event winner to come through Q School and not make this list, Michael Georgiou, and to Elliot Slessor who narrowly missed out on the top 10 because he’s very good but is yet to reach a ranking final.
UK Q School this year begins on Wednesday May 21 with 171 players competing to claim just eight tour cards.