From this year onwards, qualification for the Long and Middle races at a World Orienteering Championships (WOC) is by a points system based on results at the previous two World Championships. Federations are placed into three men’s divisions and three women’s divisions. For WOC 2015 and onwards, a promotion and relegation system comes into effect.
The number of start slots a Federation has in the Long and Middle races depends on the Federation’s division: Division 1 Federations have 3 places, Division 2 Federations have 2 places, and Division 3 Federations have 1 place. These Divisions have been used for the first time for the 2014 Championships just held in Italy.

The host Federation has 3 places, regardless of which division it is in.
Points for each Federation are calculated by a system in which specific numbers of points equate to specific finishing positions in the Long and Middle races and the Relay in the previous two years. Full details can be found in the document Specific Rules: Qualification for the World Orienteering Championships Long and Middle distance competitions on the IOF website.
For each Federation, the points are added to give a total men’s score and a total women’s score. Separately for men and women, the top 8 Federations are placed in Division 1, the next 14 in Division 2 and the rest in Division 3. WOC results from 2012 and 2013 were used to determine which division a Federation was allocated to for the 2014 WOC.
For 2015 and onwards, a promotion and relegation system comes into effect. The highest-scoring Federation in Division 2 is promoted to Division 1 for the 2015 WOC, and the lowest-scoring Federation from Division 1 is relegated to Division 2. Two Federations are promoted from Division 3 and two relegated from Division 2.
Calculations based on the results of the 2014 and 2013 Championships have now been completed and checked, to determine which nations are promoted and relegated. The outcomes are as follows:

Men
Relegated from Division 1 to Division 2: Latvia
Promoted from Division 2 to Division 1: Ukraine
Relegated from Division 2 to Division 3: Spain, Portugal (Poland rank ahead of Spain because of their superior position in this year’s Relay, that being the tiebreaker)
Promoted from Division 3 to Division 2: Australia, Ireland

Women
Relegated from Division 1 to Division 2: Great Britain (but they will keep their 3 runners next year anyway as hosts)
Promoted from Division 2 to Division 1: Latvia (by 1 point from Lithuania)
Relegated from Division 2 to Division 3: Spain, Hungary
Promoted from Division 3 to Division 2: New Zealand, Japan