How Judging Works

Our exclusive judging software, built for WNBF Australia.

1
Scoring criteria

Each judge ranks every competitor across each scoring criterion (1 = best). No two athletes can share the same rank from the same judge on the same criterion. The lower the number, the better.
2
Judge rankings

The system adds each judge's per-criterion ranks for every athlete to calculate that judge's combined score. It then sorts athletes from lowest to highest combined score, with the lowest combined score receiving a placing of 1 (best), and so on.
3
Drop scoring

Once all judges have submitted their scores, and at least 5 judges have scored the class, the system drops each athlete's single highest (worst) and single lowest (best) placing independently. This reduces the impact of outlier scores. If fewer than 5 judges score a class, no scores are dropped.
4
Final Placing Total

The system adds each athlete's remaining placings after the two drops to calculate their Placing Total. The lowest Placing Total wins, as this represents the athlete who was most consistently ranked highly by the judges.
Example: one athlete, seven judges
- 1 Dropped
- 2 Judge 2
- 2 Judge 3
- 2 Judge 4
- 3 Judge 5
- 3 Judge 6
- 4 Dropped
The best (1) and worst (4) placings are dropped, leaving 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 for a Placing Total of 12.
5
Tiebreak

If two or more athletes finish with the same Placing Total, the system triggers a tiebreak vote among all the judges to determine the final ranking.

Example Scorecard

A Bodybuilding class with three athletes and seven judges.

Athlete	Symmetry	Muscularity & Conditioning	Combined	Judge's placing
#12	1	2	1 + 2 = 3	1st
#27	2	3	2 + 3 = 5	3rd
#41	3	1	3 + 1 = 4	2nd

Swipe the table to see the totals

#41 was ranked 3rd for symmetry but 1st for muscularity, so this judge's combined score places them 2nd.

Every judge's placing for each athlete. Each athlete's best and worst placings are dropped (crossed out) and the rest are added up.

Athlete	J1	J2	J3	J4	J5	J6	J7	Placing Total	Result
#12	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 16	1st
#41	2	2	1	3	2	1	2	2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 29	2nd
#27	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 315	3rd

Swipe the table to see the totals

Judge 1's placings (1st, 2nd, 3rd) come straight from the scorecard above. #12 wins with the lowest Placing Total of 6.

Try our judging simulator. Rank a lineup of athletes yourself, just like our judges do on show day, and see how the scores come together.

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Hear from the judges

Every athlete gets a written report built from the judges' own notes, not just a placing.

24 hrs Your feedback report, within 24 hours of stepping off stage.

Judges give feedback in real timeWhile they score each class, every judge notes what stood out and what to improve for each athlete.
LineUp summarises it into one reportThe whole panel's notes are brought together, with your scores and placings for every class you entered.
Short-term and long-term focusClear improvements to make before your next show, and development goals for the seasons ahead.