The PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Qualifying School or Q-School, was an annual tournament which was historically the main method by which golfers earned PGA Tour playing privileges, commonly known as a Tour card. Beginning in 2013, Q-School will only grant privileges on the Web.com Tour, the PGA Tour's official developmental circuit. The first tournament was played in 1965. In several early years, two separate tournaments were played, one in the spring and one in the fall (autumn) (1968–69, 1975–81). The format of the tournament has changed several times, ranging from a 72-hole tournament to a 144-hole tournament. The current format (in place since 1982) is 108 holes over six days in late November/early December. Before 2013, the top 25 players and ties earned their tour cards. The next set of fifty finishers earned full Web.com Tour cards. The remaining participants received conditional Web.com Tour status.
The 2012 Qualifying Tournament was the last to grant playing privileges for the PGA Tour. On March 20, 2012, the tour announced radical changes to its season structure and qualifying process, and announced further details on July 10 of that year.
The 2013 season will end with The Tour Championship in September, and the 2014 season will begin the following month. As a result, the Qualifying Tournament will only grant playing privileges on the Web.com Tour (known as the Nationwide Tour at the time of the March 2012 announcement). A new series of four tournaments known as the Web.com Tour Finals, to be held in September, will grant 50 PGA Tour cards to a field consisting of the top 75 on the Web.com Tour money list and the golfers placed 126 to 200 on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list. The top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list before the Finals will receive PGA Tour cards, with total money earned in the Finals determining the remaining 25 card earners.