The biggest U.S. dates for adult figure skaters in 2027 are the three adult sectionals in March, with the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships to follow on April 7 to 10 in Rochester, Michigan. Entries for both close on February 1. Most adults start well before any of that at a local club competition, where the tests you've passed decide your level.
Key takeaways
- The U.S. adult sectionals are March 5 to 7 in Norwood, Massachusetts, March 12 to 14 in Madison, Wisconsin, and March 12 to 14 in Irvine, California. The top four in each championship event go on to Adult Nationals in April.
- You don't have to qualify for everything at Adult Nationals. Its nonqualifying events, from Adult Bronze free skate to dance and showcase, are open to adults who meet the test, age and membership rules.
- The age classes at Adult Nationals changed for 2026-27, and free skate now runs in ten-year bands from 21 to 30 up to a new class for skaters 71 and older.
- Adult Pre-Bronze needs no test, and Learn to Skate USA's Compete USA events have adult levels too, so you can compete before you've tested.
- As of October 2026, the full Adult Nationals announcement and most of the 2027 details for the international and non-U.S. adult events weren't in any document we could read, so check with each organizer before you book anything.
Once the holidays are over, the talk at the boards turns to competitions, and somebody always wants to know who's going to sectionals this year. This guide puts the adult figure skating competitions of 2027 in one place, from the U.S. qualifying season to the international adult competition in Germany. Where an organizer hasn't published its 2027 dates in a document we could read, we say so rather than guess, and each section explains who can enter.
It's written mostly for skaters in the United States, with a section for readers in Canada, the UK and Australia. If this would be your first competition, our guide to preparing for your first adult competition covers entering, music, outfits and the day itself, so this one sticks to the calendar. Every date and rule here comes from the U.S. Figure Skating rulebook, a U.S. Figure Skating document or an organizer's own event page, and the sources at the end list them.
How adult competitions work
U.S. Figure Skating splits its competitions into qualifying and nonqualifying events. The adult qualifying track has just two steps, the three adult sectional championships in March and the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships in April, which most people call Adult Nationals. Everything else, from your club's spring competition to a big adult-only weekend, is nonqualifying, so you enter directly and nobody has to place anywhere first.
For most U.S. Figure Skating competitions you need to be a member, either through a club or as an individual member. Adult singles events are for skaters who are 21 or older by the closing date for entries, and your level depends on the tests you've passed rather than on how your jumps feel that week. Each competition publishes an announcement with its events, deadlines and fees, and that's the document to read first.
The 2026-27 rulebook allows two judging systems, and the old 6.0 system is no longer one of them. The International Judging System (IJS) gives points for each element, while under the Component Judging System (CJS) each judge gives three marks, for technical elements, composition and presentation, and skating skills. Our guide to IJS scoring explains how the IJS points add up.
Which system you get depends on the event. Adult Bronze and higher singles events at sectionals and Adult Nationals use IJS, while showcase events and many of the dance events there use CJS. Local competitions are allowed to use CJS for any adult free skate, so check the announcement if you're hoping for a full protocol afterward.
The levels and events adults can enter
Adult singles levels run Adult Pre-Bronze, Adult Bronze, Adult Silver and Adult Gold, then Masters Intermediate-Novice and Masters Junior-Senior. You enter the level that matches the tests you've passed, and Adult Pre-Bronze needs no test at all, so it's a natural place to start. Standard-track tests count as well, so a skater with the standard preliminary singles test goes into Adult Bronze.
Adult programs are short, and the times are maximums with no 10-second leeway. In 2026-27 a free skate can run up to 1 minute 40 seconds at Adult Pre-Bronze, 1 minute 50 at Adult Bronze, 2 minutes 20 at Adult Silver, 2 minutes 50 at Adult Gold and 3 minutes 10 at both Masters levels. Former novice, junior or senior competitors at the U.S. Championships or certain ISU events go straight to the Masters events.
Singles free skate is only one kind of event. Showcase events are built around a character, a story or a song, and at Adult Nationals they're called emotional performance and lyrical pop, character or comedy. Adults can also enter partnered or solo ice dance, in pattern dance or free dance, and pairs. Each kind of event has its own test rules, and the showcase ones are in U.S. Figure Skating's showcase handbook rather than the rulebook.
If you're still in group lessons, Compete USA competitions are run by Learn to Skate USA programs and can include adult free skate events for the Adult 1 to 6 class levels. An open Compete USA competition only asks for a Learn to Skate USA membership, and the adult programs are up to 1 minute 40 seconds long. It's a gentle way to try competing before you join a club or book a test.
The 2027 dates at a glance
The table puts the 2027 events in date order. Where an organizer hadn't published dates in a document we could read by October 2026, the table says so, and it gives a usual month only where we've read a past announcement ourselves. The full U.S. adult sectional and Adult Nationals announcements, with fees and schedules, are due by December 15 under the rulebook.
| Event | Dates | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern and Midwestern synchronized skating sectionals | January 20 to 23 | Reading, Pennsylvania, and Wichita, Kansas |
| Ann Arbor Adult Open | January 22 to 23 | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Pacific Coast synchronized skating sectionals | January 28 to 30 | Highlands Ranch, Colorado |
| British Adult Figure Skating Championships | Date not confirmed yet; check British Ice Skating | Not confirmed yet |
| Stillwell Adult Mid-Winter Warmup Championships | February 13 to 14 | Artesia, California |
| U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships | February 22 to 27 | Henderson, Nevada |
| Eastern Adult Sectional Championships | March 5 to 7 | Norwood, Massachusetts |
| Skate Ontario Adult Championships | March 5 to 6 | Stratford, Ontario |
| Midwestern Adult Sectional Championships | March 12 to 14 | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Pacific Coast Adult Sectional Championships | March 12 to 14 | Irvine, California |
| Australian Adult Figure Skating Championships | Date not confirmed yet; check Ice Skating Australia | Not confirmed yet |
| U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships | April 7 to 10 | Rochester, Michigan |
| ISU International Adult Figure Skating Competition | Date not confirmed yet; check the ISU | Oberstdorf, Germany |
| National Theatre On Ice | Date not confirmed yet; late June in 2022 to 2025, and June 22 to 26 was proposed in the call for host bids | Not confirmed yet |
| National Showcase | July 27 to 31 | Norwood, Massachusetts |
Adult sectionals and Adult Nationals
The three adult sectional championships are the qualifying round for Adult Nationals. In 2027 the Eastern sectional is at The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, from March 5 to 7. The Midwestern sectional follows on March 12 to 14 in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Pacific Coast sectional on March 12 to 14 in Irvine, California. Your section is set by where your home club is, or where you live if you're an individual member.
The qualifying events at sectionals are the championship free skates at Adult Silver, Adult Gold and the two Masters levels, for women and men, plus championship adult dance, championship adult solo dance and championship masters pairs. The top four in each event go on to Adult Nationals. If four or fewer skaters enter an event in your section, or 12 or fewer across all three sections, the skaters entered can go straight through to Adult Nationals.
Sectionals also hold nonqualifying events alongside the championship ones, chosen by each host club. This season the showcase events at all three adult sectionals count toward U.S. Figure Skating's new National Showcase Series, which is worth knowing if showcase is your favorite kind of event. The full list of events for each sectional will be in its announcement.
U.S. Figure Skating's event page puts the 2027 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships on April 7 to 10, 2027, in Rochester, Michigan, though the full announcement wasn't in any document we could read by October 2026. U.S. Figure Skating's call for host bids asked for April 7 to 10 or April 14 to 17, 2027, and the 2026 championships were April 8 to 11 in Duluth, Georgia. So plan for April, and watch U.S. Figure Skating's competition pages for the announcement.
The same call for bids describes the event as drawing about 400 athletes and crowning eleven national champions in its championship events. Recent hosts have ranged from Salt Lake City to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and Rochester, Michigan, so most skaters travel for it. Budget for a hotel and a few days away, and book early.
You don't have to qualify for most of what happens there. Adult Nationals also runs nonqualifying events in free skate from Adult Bronze to Masters, in pairs, in partnered and solo dance and in showcase, and adults who live in the U.S. and meet the test, age and membership rules can enter them directly. Each skater can enter up to four events, and someone who qualifies for a championship free skate can keep a nonqualifying free skate entry as well.
Entries for sectionals and Adult Nationals are made online through U.S. Figure Skating's members site and close on February 1, and your tests have to be passed by then. Passing a higher test after entries close can cost you your place. In 2026 a championship event at sectionals or a first singles event at Adult Nationals cost $210 to enter, plus a $10 administrative fee, and the 2027 fees will be in the announcement.
Nonqualifying free skate, solo dance and showcase events at Adult Nationals are split into age classes. For 2026-27 the free skate and showcase classes run in ten-year bands, from Class I at 21 to 30 to Class V at 61 to 70, plus a new Class VI for skaters 71 and older. Solo dance has three wider bands, and pairs and partnered dance have none. The old classes started at 21 to 35, so check which one you're in now.
Club competitions and adult-only weekends
Most adult competing happens at nonqualifying competitions run by local clubs. Many of them include adult events split by level, and some are named for adults outright. Our events calendar collects adult competitions and clinics that readers send in, and your coach will know which competitions near you have good adult events.
Two adult competitions already have 2027 dates on U.S. Figure Skating's list of approved showcase series competitions. The Ann Arbor Adult Open, hosted by the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club, is January 22 to 23 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Stillwell Adult Mid-Winter Warmup Championships, hosted by the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, is February 13 to 14 in Artesia, California.
Some rinks run ISI competitions instead, with their own levels and rules, and the U.S. Figure Skating rulebook lets its members take part in ISI-endorsed competitions. We didn't find ISI's 2027 adult events in a document we could read, so if your rink runs ISI programs, ask your coach or the skating director which competitions it sends skaters to, or check ISI's own site. Either way, the announcement for each competition is where the levels and entry rules live.
Showcase, synchro and Theatre On Ice
Showcase has a new structure this season. From October 1, 2026, to June 6, 2027, U.S. Figure Skating is running a National Showcase Series at approved competitions around the country. Adults from Adult Bronze to Masters who'd like to reach National Showcase sign up by March 1 and skate at two to four series competitions, and invitations go by their best two scores. The 2027 National Showcase is July 27 to 31 in Norwood, Massachusetts.
Adult Pre-Bronze skaters can still skate showcase at local competitions, but they can't join the series or go to National Showcase. The series application costs $90, and scores only count from competitions you skate after you've signed up. Each adult level also has a minimum score, from 15.0 at Adult Bronze to 20.0 at Masters. The adult sectionals' showcase events count toward the series and Adult Nationals doesn't, so it's worth planning your two competitions with that in mind.
Adult synchronized skating runs on its own calendar, and its big events come earlier in the year. The synchro sectionals are January 20 to 23 in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Wichita, Kansas, and January 28 to 30 in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships on February 22 to 27 in Henderson, Nevada. Team entries for 2027 closed on October 1, 2026, so if you'd like to try synchro, ask a local adult team when it takes new skaters.
Adult synchro teams have 12 to 20 skaters aged 18 or older who have passed at least a preliminary or adult bronze skating skills test, or one of a few similar tests. Masters teams have 12 to 20 skaters aged 25 or older and need no tests. Sectionals add Open Adult and Open Masters levels for teams of 8 to 20 with no tests, and all these ages count from the July 1 before the season.
Theatre On Ice teams have Adult and Open Adult levels for skaters 18 and older, and teams don't have to qualify for National Theatre On Ice. That event has been held in late June every year since 2022. A host and dates for 2027 hadn't been announced by October 2026, though U.S. Figure Skating's call for host bids proposed June 22 to 26, 2027.
Oberstdorf and the ISU adult competition
The International Skating Union, the ISU, supports an international adult figure skating competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, and it's the event U.S. adults usually mean when they talk about competing abroad. Its 2027 announcement, with the dates, categories, age rules and entry details, wasn't in any document we could read by October 2026, so none of that is in this guide. The ISU publishes its adult competition announcements on its own site, and that's the place to check.
If you're tempted, read the announcement's eligibility section closely once it's out, and ask your club how entries from skaters in your federation are handled, before you book flights. An international trip is a big step up in cost from a club competition, and the next section of this guide covers working that out. It's also worth asking around your rink, because adult skaters who have been tend to be generous with advice about the trip.
If you skate in Canada, the UK or Australia
Each country's federation runs its own adult competitions, with its own levels and age groups, so a U.S. level doesn't carry over and the rules in this guide don't either. In Canada, adult events are run by Skate Canada and its sections, including the Skate Ontario Adult Championships. Skate Ontario lists its 2027 Adult Championships for March 5 to 6 in Stratford, but we couldn't read Skate Canada's 2027 calendar, so its events pages and your club are the places to ask about other Canadian events.
In the UK, British Ice Skating runs the British Adult Figure Skating Championships, and in Australia, Ice Skating Australia has an Australian Adult Figure Skating Championships. The 2027 details for both weren't in a document we could read by October 2026, so check British Ice Skating's events pages, or Ice Skating Australia's site and your state association, before you plan around them. As with any competition, the announcement is the document that settles the levels, ages and deadlines.
How to pick your first competition
For a first competition, a local nonqualifying event usually makes the most sense. It costs less to get to, you might already know the ice, and you can enter at whatever level your tests allow, including Adult Pre-Bronze or a Compete USA adult event if you haven't tested yet. Sectionals and Adult Nationals will still be there next year, when you know what a competition day feels like.
Add up the whole weekend before you enter. The entry fee is only one part of it, because there's also travel, a hotel for anything out of town, any practice ice you buy, and often a fee if your coach comes with you. A competition close to home usually costs far less than a sectional you have to fly to, and our guide to the real cost of adult figure skating has more on budgeting.
Pick the level and event you can skate well on a nervous day, rather than the one you're hoping to land by spring. If jumps make you anxious, a showcase event can be a softer start, because it's judged on performance and the rules limit how many jumps go in. Many adult events are also split by age, so you'll often be skating against people around your own age.
Nerves come with competing at every level, and a small, friendly event is a kind place to meet them for the first time. It helps to choose a competition a skating friend is entering too, or one your club goes to as a group, so there are familiar faces in the dressing room. Our guide to your first adult competition covers entering, music, the day itself and handling nerves, and it's worth reading once you've chosen.
Give yourself plenty of time once you've picked one. Entries often close weeks before the event, and for sectionals and Adult Nationals they close on February 1, more than a month ahead. Our Competition Prep Kit is a printable with a three-week plan, checklists and a page for afterward, if you like having it all on paper.
This is general information gathered from the organizers' own documents as of October 2026. Dates, fees and rules can change after an announcement goes out, so check each competition's announcement, and ask your coach, before you enter or book travel.
Sources
Every date, rule and fee in this guide comes from documents we read directly on 11 and 12 October 2026, the 2026-27 U.S. Figure Skating rulebook and the documents and event pages listed below. Where an organizer's 2027 announcement wasn't available to us, the guide says so rather than quoting a date, and we'll update it as the announcements come out.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-27 Official U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook: judging systems (rules 1040 and 1041), adult championship events and announcement dates (rules 2054 and 2062), eligibility, the February 1 closing date and the four-event limit (rules 2212, 2401 and 2405), sections (rule 2411), qualifying and age classes (rules 2540 to 2552), nonqualifying, Compete USA and ISI competitions (rules 3061, 3111 to 3133 and 3600), adult singles test levels (rule 6500) and synchronized skating ages and tests (rule 9400).
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-27 National Showcase Series Approved Competitions (PDF, updated September 21, 2026): dates, cities and host clubs of the three adult sectionals, the Ann Arbor Adult Open and the Stillwell Adult Mid-Winter Warmup.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2027 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships and 2027 Pacific Coast Adult Sectional Championships event pages: the Adult Nationals dates and city, and the Pacific Coast sectional dates.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-2027 Showcase Series Athlete Handbook (PDF): series dates, the $90 application, adult minimum scores and the 2027 National Showcase.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-2027 Showcase Handbook (PDF): showcase judging and the jump limits in showcase events.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-27 Synchronized Skating Approved Competition Calendar (PDF): synchro sectionals and the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-2027 Adult Singles Free Skating Requirements (PDF): adult program times.
- Learn to Skate USA, Compete USA competition manual, Adult 1-6 Free Skate (PDF).
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026 adult qualifying season announcement (PDF): 2026 entry fees, and the 2026 championships' dates and city.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2027 and 2028 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships call for bids (PDF): preferred 2027 weeks, event size and past hosts.
- U.S. Figure Skating, 2026-27 Theatre On Ice Guidelines and 2027 and 2028 National Theatre On Ice call for bids (PDFs): adult levels, past dates and the proposed 2027 week.
- Skate Ontario, Adult Championships event page: the 2027 dates and venue.
