Figure Skating Scoring Explained: How the IJS (International Judging System) Works

The IJS is the scoring system for singles, pairs, ice dance and synchronized skating. It was introduced in 2004, replacing the old 6.0 system after the 2002 Olympics judging scandal, and it was built to make scoring more objective and accountable. U.S. Figure Skating uses the IJS too, but many of its adult and nonqualifying events now use a simpler system called CJS, which has its own section below. All that detail comes with a lot of acronyms, and untangling them is the job of this guide.

Whether you're a casual fan, a newcomer watching the Olympics, or an adult skater yourself, you'll know how every number on the scoreboard gets calculated by the time you're done reading, no math degree required. We'll work through the Technical Element Score (TES), Program Component Scores (PCS), Grade of Execution (GOE), levels, base values, and deductions in that order. If any of the vocabulary trips you up along the way, our ice skating terms guide translates the rest.

Figure skating scoring explained: the basics of the IJS

Under the IJS, a program's score is essentially points for what the skater did (the technical elements) plus points for how well they did it (the components). Instead of the old "5.8" versus "5.7" marks, each performance gets a Total Segment Score (TSS) that can run from about 60 to well over 100 points depending on the level of competition, and elite combined totals reach 300 and beyond. The big numbers are just the sum of many small parts.

At competitions, skaters perform two programs: a short program (the rhythm dance for ice dancers) and a free skate (the free dance). Each program is scored separately, and the final result is the sum of the two segment scores. Highest total wins.

Two separate groups of officials hand out all these points. A technical panel of specialists identifies each element and assigns its level or value, while up to nine judges grade the quality of each element and of the program as a whole. Everything feeds into a computer that calculates scores almost instantly, which is why detailed result sheets (called protocols) appear just minutes after a skater finishes.

Technical element score (TES): points for jumps, spins, and more

The Technical Element Score (TES) is the sum of the points for every technical element a skater performs. Each element, whether it's a jump, spin, step sequence, lift, twizzle, or synchronized skating formation, has a predetermined base value based on its difficulty. Think of the base value as the starting bid for that element's score: a single toe loop is worth around 0.4 points, while a quadruple Lutz carries over 11. The harder the element, the more it's inherently worth.

The technical panel, a team of specialists watching with instant replay, calls each element and assigns its level of difficulty. They decide whether a spin was Level 2 or Level 4, or whether a step sequence met the Level 3 criteria, and for jumps they identify the type (axel, Lutz, and so on) and check for full rotation. In other words, the panel sets the base value by confirming what the element was and how difficult it was.

Once the base value is set, the judging panel grades how well the element was executed, and that grade is the GOE. A top-level men's skater can rack up 100+ points in TES alone by landing multiple quads, complex spins, and difficult combinations. TES rewards difficulty, but it's always tempered by execution quality, which is where the judges come in.

What is GOE in figure skating? Grade of execution explained

GOE (Grade of Execution) is the quality score for each element. Judges rate every element on a scale from -5 to +5, where 0 means adequate execution, positive grades mean it was performed well or spectacularly, and negative grades mean there were errors. It's the judges' way of saying how well an element was performed, independent of how difficult it was.

Each judge gives their own GOE, and the marks are combined with a trimmed mean: with five or more judges, the highest and lowest are dropped and the rest are averaged. The final GOE isn't added as raw points. Instead, it adjusts the base value by a percentage, with each step worth roughly 10% of the base value in singles and pairs (about 16% in ice dance).

For example, a jump with a base value of 5.0 that gets +3 GOE earns 6.5 points (5.0 plus 30%), while the same jump with -2 GOE earns only 4.0. Same jump, same difficulty, and a 2.5-point gap between them. That's the whole idea behind GOE: attempting hard elements isn't enough, and you have to do them well to collect full value.

What earns positive and negative GOE

Judges add for things like big height and distance on jumps, good landing posture, effortless rotation, creative entries into spins, perfect centering, and clean, controlled footwork. They subtract for falls (a -5 reduction, from a starting grade no higher than +2), step-outs, hands on the ice, underrotation, wobbly spins, and stumbles. Because GOE is cumulative, judges weigh the positives against the negatives, so a jump with great height but a slight hand down on the landing might balance out to a small plus or zero.

Think of it like an exam. Choosing the hard questions is your base value, and GOE is the points you earn for showing your work clearly, or lose for careless mistakes. Falls get punished twice, which is worth a closer look.

The real cost of a fall

A fall triggers two separate penalties. Under the 2026-27 ISU guidelines, each judge takes 5 off the element's GOE, from a starting grade that can't be higher than +2, so it ends between -3 and -5 and loses 30% to 50% of its base value, and a separate deduction then comes off the total program score. In senior singles those deductions escalate the more often a skater falls, and they're applied in addition to the GOE reduction on the element.

PCS in figure skating: program component scores

While TES handles the technical elements, Program Component Scores (PCS) assess the artistic and presentation side of a performance. PCS is often called the "artistry score," though it's more nuanced than that. Judges mark each component on a scale from 0.25 to 10.0 in quarter-point increments, using the same trimmed-mean averaging as GOE, and as of the 2022-23 season the ISU consolidated the components into three categories.

Before 2022 there were actually five PCS categories, with separate scores for Transitions and Interpretation of the Music; to simplify things, Interpretation rolled into Presentation and Transitions into Composition and Skating Skills. The averaged SK, PR, and CO marks are added up and multiplied by a factor that depends on program length and discipline, so PCS counts proportionally to TES. A men's free skate, for example, uses a higher factor than the short program, giving the components more weight in the longer program.

Levels and base values for elements

Many elements have levels of difficulty that determine their base values. Spins, step sequences, lifts, twizzles, and synchronized skating formations can be performed at anything from Level Base (B) or Level 1 up to Level 4. The technical panel assigns the level based on how many difficulty features the skater includes, and each step up raises the base value.

For a spin, difficulty features include difficult position variations, a change of foot by jump, a difficult variation of the flying entry, or a clear change of edge. For step sequences, they include the variety of difficult turns and steps, rotating in both directions, body movements, and combinations of three difficult turns. That's why a Level 4 spin is worth more than a Level 1 spin of the same type, and a Level 4 step sequence earns more than a Level 2.

Pairs and dance lifts, twizzles, death spirals, and synchronized skating formations all follow the same level logic (more on lifts below). A few elements, though, have fixed base values with no levels: typically the choreographic elements, meaning choreographic sequences in singles and pairs, the choreographic spin new to singles in 2026-27, and choreographic lifts in ice dance. They carry a modest base value (3.50 for a choreographic sequence or choreographic spin in the 2026-27 scale of values) and can still receive GOE, but they're designed to encourage creativity rather than tick technical boxes.

Jump base values: rotation and type

Jumps don't receive levels. Their difficulty is defined by the number of rotations and the type of jump, and among jumps with the same rotation count the base values rank from highest to lowest: axel, Lutz, flip, loop, Salchow, toe loop. The axel sits at the top because it takes off forward, which adds an extra half rotation.

How are figure skating jumps scored?

Jumps carry the highest base values and get the most attention in singles and pairs. Their score starts with the base value and the judges' GOE, but rotation calls, edge calls, the repetition rule, and a bonus for timing can all move the final number. Here's how each of those factors works under the IJS.

Base value

Each jump's base value depends on its rotation count and type, so more rotations means a higher value. Jump combinations simply add up the base values of each jump in the sequence: a triple Lutz (base 5.9) followed by a triple toe loop (base 4.2) gives a combination base of about 10.1 points before GOE.

GOE for jumps

After the base value, the judges' GOE adjusts the score. A jump with excellent height, distance, and a clean landing earns positive GOE (judges love "wow" jumps), while errors drag it down. Even short of a fall there's a full spectrum of quality: a minor hand touch on the landing might be slightly negative, while stepping out of the landing or putting two hands down is penalized more severely. Judges also reward creativity, such as a difficult entry into the jump or an unexpected choreographic setup.

Underrotations and downgrades

This is one of the biggest score killers in the IJS. The technical panel reviews every jump for full rotation, and how far short of a full turn the landing is decides which call, if any, the jump gets.

A jump that looks landed to the untrained eye might be scoring much lower because of a < or << call, which is why skaters train so hard to rotate fully. The q call is the only one of the three rotation calls that keeps the full base value, though the judges still reduce GOE.

Edge calls on the Lutz and flip

The flip must take off from a back inside edge and the Lutz from a back outside edge, and the technical panel marks it when a skater uses the wrong one. A severe wrong edge (e) cuts the base value to 80%, while a mild edge issue (!) leaves the base value alone but means judges must reduce GOE by -1 to -2. That's why the infamous flutz (a Lutz from an inside edge) and the lip (a flip from an outside edge) can cost real points.

The repetition penalty (Zayak rule)

In a free skate, only two triple, quad or quint jumps can be done twice, and only one of those two can be a quad or a quint. If both tries of a repeated jump are solo jumps, the second is marked +REP and gets only 80% of its base value in the 2026-27 scale of values, and a third try of the same triple or quad doesn't count. From 2026-27, junior and senior free skates also can't include the same type of jump more than three times, whatever its number of rotations. The rule exists to encourage jump variety.

The second-half bonus

Jumps performed in the second half of a singles program earn a 10% base value bonus, marked with an "x" on the protocol, so a triple Lutz with a base of 5.9 becomes about 6.49. In singles, since the 2018-19 season, the bonus applies only to the last jump pass of the short program and the last three jump passes of the free skate, a limit fans nicknamed the "Zagitova rule." At U.S. Figure Skating events judged under the IJS, the bonus also covers the last three jump elements in adult silver and higher free skates, where the second half starts at the midpoint of the maximum time, but adult bronze and pre-bronze free skates don't get it. That's why skaters strategically backload jumps late in their programs: more reward, but a serious stamina challenge.

Spins, step sequences, and other element scoring

Jumps get the most attention, but spins, step sequences, lifts, and other elements all contribute meaningfully to the TES, and every point matters. Each of them has its own levels and its own picture of what good execution looks like, even though the scoring logic is the same one you've already seen.

Spins

Each spin's base value is set by its level (1-4), and a Level 4 combination spin is worth 3.60 base points, or 4.20 with a change of foot, in the 2026-27 scale of values. Judges give positive GOE for spins that stay centered, hold their speed, show flexibility, and feature interesting positions, and they penalize spins that travel across the ice, wobble, or lose speed. Missing a revolution or two usually costs GOE rather than base value. The panel only adds a "V" in a few specific cases, such as a change-foot spin in the free skate with fewer than three revolutions on one foot, and the "V" cuts the base value by about a quarter (a Level 4 change-foot combination spin drops from 4.20 to 3.15).

Step sequences (footwork)

Step sequences are the choreographed steps, turns, and edge work a skater performs, and they're usually one of the most musical moments in a program. They're leveled 1-4 based on complexity (difficult turns and steps, rotating in both directions, body movements, and combinations of three difficult turns), and a Level 4 step sequence in singles carries a base value of 4.10 in the 2026-27 scale of values. GOE rewards fluidity, speed, musical connection, and clarity of edges. In ice dance, step sequences are especially important and can include required pattern dance sections.

Lifts (pairs and ice dance)

Pairs lifts are the dramatic overhead maneuvers, and their base values climb with level. In the 2026-27 scale of values, the group 3 to 5 lifts are worth 3.90 to 5.80 points at Level 1 and 5.10 to 7.00 at Level 4, and the simpler group 1 and 2 lifts are worth less. One-arm holds, changes of position, and difficult or creative entries and exits all help raise the level. Dance lifts are shorter and more rhythmic, also leveled 1-4, with GOE shaped by how seamless, musical, and character-appropriate the lift feels.

Other discipline-specific elements

• Death spirals (pairs): a leveled element where one partner pivots while the other spirals low to the ice, judged on depth, speed, and stability.
• Twizzles (ice dance): synchronized one-foot turns done in unison, leveled 1-4 based on rotations and difficulty, with judges rewarding unison, speed, and precision.
• Throw jumps (pairs): one partner throws the other into a jump, scored like a regular jump but with throw-specific base values.
• Synchronized skating formations: blocks, wheels, intersections, and group lifts all receive levels, and falls by multiple skaters can compound deductions (-1.0 for one fall, -2.0 or more for group falls).

In every case the pattern is the same. The technical panel calls the element and its level, which sets the base value; the judges give GOE to reward or penalize quality; and everything adds up to the TES.

IJS vs. the old 6.0 scoring system

International figure skating used the famous 6.0 system until the IJS replaced it, and U.S. Figure Skating kept it at many of its own events until June 2026. Each judge gave two marks per program from 0 to 6.0, one for the technical side (required elements in the short program, technical merit in the free skate) and one for presentation, with 6.0 meaning perfection. Each judge's marks were turned into a ranking, and final places were decided by a majority of those rankings rather than by adding up points. It was simple and intuitive, but it had problems: small mistakes weren't precisely quantified, it was hard to explain why one 5.8 beat another 5.7, and it was vulnerable to block judging, as the 2002 Olympic pairs scandal exposed.

If the 6.0 system was a Yelp review, the IJS is an itemized receipt. Scores are cumulative points rather than ordinal rankings, every element has a fixed base value no matter who performs it, and there's no ceiling, so world records keep climbing as skaters push technical boundaries. The trimmed mean and (at one point) anonymous judging were both designed to reduce bias.

The tradeoff is that the 6.0 system was easy for casual fans to understand, while an IJS score of 150.37 doesn't mean much without context. Over time, though, fans have learned the benchmarks (roughly 300+ is elite for men's total scores and 220+ for women's), and the detailed protocols are there for anyone who wants to dig into the numbers. For the 2025-26 season, here's a rough guide to what senior international totals mean.

CJS scoring at U.S. adult and nonqualifying events

Most of this guide is about the IJS, but it isn't the only system used at U.S. Figure Skating competitions. Long after the ISU moved its own events to the IJS, U.S. Figure Skating kept 6.0 at many of its events, including plenty of adult ones. That changed on July 1, 2026, when the rulebook replaced 6.0 with the Component Judging System, or CJS. If your competition announcement lists CJS beside your event, this is how you'll be scored.

Like the IJS, CJS is a points system, but each judge gives just three marks. In singles, there's one mark for the technical elements, one for composition and presentation, and one for skating skills, all on the same 0.25 to 10.00 scale the IJS uses for its components. The rulebook's wording for that scale is kinder at the low end, describing marks under 1.00 as "beginning/starting" where the IJS version says "extremely poor."

The technical mark is where CJS parts ways with the IJS. Nothing in the calculation uses base values, levels or GOE, so judges don't score each jump and spin separately. Instead, each judge looks at your elements as a whole, weighing how difficult they were against how well you did them. An element that doesn't meet your level's requirements doesn't count, a spin short of its revolutions counts as an execution error, and a fall pulls the mark down.

The marks are averaged across the panel (with five or more judges, the highest and lowest are dropped first), multiplied by the event's factors and added, and deductions come off the total. As in the IJS, the highest score wins (6.0 placed skaters by a majority of the judges' rankings instead), and two skaters on the same segment score are simply tied. With no element-by-element breakdown, your coach will tell you more about each jump than the result will.

Rule 1041 in the rulebook sets out which events use which system, and the table below pulls out the adult ones. Championship singles at adult sectionals stay on the IJS, and so do the masters, adult gold, silver, bronze and centennial singles and pairs at Adult Nationals. Local nonqualifying competitions can judge adult free skates under either system, so the competition announcement is the place to check before you enter.

Two practical things are different at a CJS event. The rulebook only asks for a planned program content sheet in IJS events, so you won't need to file one. A CJS result also can't be used for test credit, because rule 4201 only accepts protocols from events judged under the IJS, which means that if you're hoping to pass an adult silver or higher singles test with a competition score, you'll want an IJS event.

Sources

The rules and values in this guide come from the ISU and U.S. Figure Skating documents below. The ISU updates its rules most seasons, so check the current edition before relying on any single number.

• ISU Technical Panel Handbook, Single Skating (2026-27 edition): rotation calls (q, <, <<), edge calls (e, !), the repetition rules and the three-appearance jump cap.
• ISU Communication 2786, Scale of Values for Single & Pair Skating (2026-27): jump, spin and step sequence base values, reduced values for "e" and "<" jumps, and the 80% value for +REP.
• ISU Communication 2788, levels of difficulty and GOE guidelines for 2026-27: spin features, the fall reduction and the +2 cap on the starting grade.
• ISU Special Regulations & Technical Rules, Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance: deductions for falls and illegal elements (Rule 353), program component factors, and the second-half bonus.
• ISU Communication 2176, Single & Pair Skating changes accepted by the 2018 ISU Congress: the -5 to +5 GOE scale and the limit on the second-half bonus.
• ISU Communication 2494, Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance changes accepted by the 2022 ISU Congress: the move to three program components.
• 2026-27 U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook: rules 1040 to 1063 (the IJS and CJS, and which events use each), 1071 (IJS calculation and the second-half bonus, including adult silver and higher free skates), 1402 (falls under CJS), 3054 (planned program content), 4201 (test credit from IJS protocols), 6911 to 6914 (marking singles under CJS) and 7020 (who can skate pairs).
• 2025-26 U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook: rule 1040 and its footnote (the 6.0 majority system replaced by the Component Judging System from July 1, 2026), rule 1041 (where 6.0 was used), rules 1064 and 1065 (placing by majority) and rules 6914 and 6915 (the two 6.0 marks).
• 2026 Eastern Adult Sectional Figure Skating Championships announcement: an example of the judging system listed beside each event.
• U.S. Figure Skating, Scoring System: the IJS introduced in 2004, and the CJS.
• U.S. Figure Skating, Iconic 6.0 Scoring Laid to Rest (July 2026): the 2002 Olympic pairs scandal, and the IJS replacing 6.0 with the intent of objectivity and accountability.