44+ Sample Judging Score Sheet Templates

What Is a Judging Score Sheet?

Are you a fan of any talent show? According to Ranker, The Voice, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, The X Factor (UK), and Dancing with the Stars are the top five most popular talent shows ever. These shows expose individuals with special skills, and the judges from each show play a significant role in finding who deserves to win despite having many talented people to choose from. While audiences can vote for their favorites, judges must pick their favorites without bias. To do that, a scoring system outlined in a document is necessary for effective judgment. Hence, this document or judging score sheet is used as the basis for judges to test, criticize, and pick which participants in competitions have impressed them the most and who did not impress them at all. And such scoring sheets detail how every performer has done throughout the competition.

judging-score-sheet-templates

Based on a survey, the top five most popular talent shows ever are The Voice, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, The X Factor (UK), and Dancing with the Stars.

Also, Statista reported that 3.82 million Americans from six years old and up participated in cheerleading in 2017.

Why Are Judging Score Sheets Important?

Judging score sheets are vital mainly for evaluation purposes. Without such documents, it will be hard to decide carefully and fairly on whoever wins and loses in contests. The sheet contains the criteria, list of contestants, and other elements in judging properly, so it should not be absent. Moreover, the forms are necessary for documentation. When the judges are done evaluating and scoring, other people might want to know what each judge has inputted in the sheets. Thus, it will be easy to tell if there was anything wrong in the document or discover what scores and comments the contestants received.

Furthermore, judging score forms benefit many fields. Whether the plan is to evaluate a dance competition, pageant, science fair, speech, motorcycle show, or anything else, the scoring sheets are useful. But, there are appropriate score sheets for each type of event. You would not use the scoring form meant for a singing competition in a fashion show contest anyway. And most importantly, competitions run successfully and quickly. Some judges could be confused about what criteria to observe while choosing the winners, which can be time-consuming. Hence, a pre-formatted template with the outlined criteria helps in judging competitions conveniently. 

Who Prepares Judging Score Sheets?

Anyone assigned to help judges in the scoring process can prepare the judging score sheet of a competition. That way, all judges would have the same criteria and other significant details in assessing or scoring. If each judge has to create their score sheet, they might not meet in similar terms. For example, judge A could have forgotten to consider a debater’s stage presence in a debate. Meanwhile, judge B correctly scored the debater’s stage presence but failed to consider the debater’s points in an argument. However, do not just let anyone make the sheet. Set some standards too by having someone skilled in developing effective criteria and scoring system.

What Are the Elements of a Judging Score Sheet?

While the judging score sheet’s meaning and purpose are already clear, are you already familiar with what that sheet contains? Indeed, you can use the document for different applications, but there are common elements found in most scoring forms. What are they? The following are the typical elements to see inside a standard judging score sheet:

Title: Any judging score sheet should be identified as a judging score sheet. And what is the quickest way to do it? Add the title. Although a “Judging Score Sheet” title would suffice, you can specify it more. For example, you label the title as the “2020 Regional Karaoke Contest Score Sheet.” That way, anyone who checks the document would automatically know what the sheet’s purpose is.Names: Scoring sheets generally have names included. Names are essential to know which contestant or group is being judged. Without writing the names, judges might mix up one sheet to another. Hence, the scores of particular contestants might get interchanged, which affects the scoring wrongly. More so, the judges’ names are needed to input. It is helpful for reference in confirming who wrote the scores in each document.Category of Criteria: Scoring sheets must have categories for the criteria. Those criteria are the main basis for scoring in the first place. Take a beauty pageant, for example. There could be one category specifically for judging every contestant’s walk, another for talent, presentation, costume, etc. So, not only a single score will be given if many categories exist in competitions.Possible Scores: Never forget to incorporate the possible scores given for every criterion. For each category, there is a maximum score to give. An example is in judging a music competition. The possible points for audience response could be 10 points. Thus, it is not right for a judge to score the audience response for 11 or more points. If the possible scores are not the same for every category, then indicate them individually in the sheet.Points Awarded: The next category, which often follows the possible points, is awarded. Expect this part to have blanks since the scorer will write how much to award for every category and participant. And these scores will be calculated to tally the total score afterward. How many scores to give will depend on the judge, but every answer must not exceed the maximum possible points.Comments: There should be extra space for writing comments and notes. Maybe a TV show judge wants to point out certain factors worth commenting on during the show. Regardless, the “Comments” section is just for additional notes. It can be used for any purpose by the scorer, like jotting down every presentation’s total time and affixing signatures.

How to Make a Judging Score Sheet

Judging can be easy, but it can also put a lot of pressure and work on the judges. Take cheerleading, for example. A 2017 report confirmed that 3.82 million Americans from six years old and above participated in cheerleading. So, a lot of participants might have joined in a cheerleading competition. Thus, more candidates to judge will be done. And identifying who is the best among the best from many competitors takes some work. So, judging score sheets exist to help lessen the struggle in scoring. And to create the sheet itself, please follow these simple steps on making an acceptable judging score sheet:

Step 1: Introduce the Judging Score Sheet

You already know that a title is important in the sheet, as discussed earlier. So, introduce what the judging score sheet is about. A brief introductory statement helps the judges or scorers receive a refresher on what to do with the score sheet. The introduction should inform the event’s purpose, scoring mechanisms, and instructions. Make it to the point where every judge will not have to ask further questions using the document.

Step 2: Add the Judging Score Sheet’s Elements

Recall those elements of a judging score sheet that were introduced before. From the title down to the comments, they must be inserted into the form one by one. Those facets make up a complete score sheet anyway. But, do not just insert randomly. Be sure the appropriate elements, or the ones fit for the event, will be used in the form. The elements even create categories, so scorers already know which details signify the criteria, scores, etc.

Step 3: Observe an Organized Format

Never forget to deal with the scoring document’s format. Maybe you just added all the elements without bothering to arrange them. Of course, a sense of organization in presenting the details cannot be ignored. Also, have you tried editing the format of our sample judging score sheet templates already? Explore the templates by changing their design, style, and format until all your preferences will be followed.

Step 4: Be Specific

Reread all your content if you were already specific enough in the statements. A common error overlooked by some people who make the score sheet is writing long sentences when they could be shortened to be more specific. In the criteria, maybe you were too broad in stating to score a contestant’s showmanship. Showmanship can refer to many things. Are you referring to the participant’s poise, enjoyment, confidence, or other aspects included in showmanship? Specify it so judges will not have to guess the meaning.

Step 5: Keep It Easy

The last thing scorers want is to fill out forms that are complicated to understand and are not user-friendly. Work hard in making the experience to fill out the sheets in a hassle-free experience instead. A tip is to provide instructions so judges would know how to work on the form. Next, avoid using complicated words, even though they sound fancy. The key is to keep things understandable, not just impress with your vocabulary. Conduct an assessment checklist to check if the output is giving a simple experience. If not, then it tells you to improve the sheet.

FAQs

What are the benefits of preparing judging score sheets?

Many benefits are associated with making a judging score sheet. Examples include deciding fairly in tallying scores and saving time and effort in judging. And with sample templates available, you need not start from scratch. Just fill in what is missing in the sheet to complete it.

How do you calculate judging scores?

In standard, every judge’s score is calculated by scaling. Scale by having zero mean and one standard deviation. The raw score is also subtracted by the average score, which will later be divided by its corresponding standard deviation. After standardizing every judge’s scores, calculations for the average score follow. Although that is generally used, scoring systems may differ according to the rules given in an event.

What does judging criteria mean?

Judging criteria refer to the pointers or tailored elements that a set of judges will evaluate from a contestant list. And they are vital to ensure the best and most deserving contestant wins in a competition.

According to US district judge Harold H. Greene, “With competition everyone has to try harder.” Greene’s statement is true, considering not everybody wins in a contest. For example, do you think Susan Boyle would have won Britain’s Got Talent without using her story and voice to outshine other contestants? Also, who was responsible for her winning moment? The judges. And same as the participants, the judges must try harder too. Although deciding the winner can be challenging, you can make it easier for them by using editable, downloadable, and printable judging score sheet templates.