Judging Competitions

Judging A&S competitions is an important service to the A&S community. Without judges, we can’t run competitions, and feedback matters a lot to the people who enter each round. 

You don’t have to be an expert to judge a competition. If you’re interested in having a go and want to learn how, talk to your local A&S officer, or the A&S coordinator of the next event in your area that is holding a competition. You will always be working with at least one other judge, and the two (or more) of you should consult with each other about the process.

Lochac’s Kingdom A&S Competitions are judged using a standardised judging scheme (or ‘rubric’). This is designed to make it easier for judges across our extensive Kingdom to judge entries consistently and fairly. The information below provides advice on the judging process using this rubric.

Local or one-off competitions (rather than the Kingdom-wide rounds for the Championship) are not required to use the official process, but can do so if desired.

General Notes for Judging

  • Entrants want to finish a competition feeling good about it, and we want people to keep entering and enjoying the competitions.
  •  Anyone can judge a competition! You don’t have to be a Laurel, or at all knowledgeable about the topic. The Judging Criteria are there to guide you.
  • If you need extra help evaluating an entry, it’s okay to ask someone with more expertise.
  • Make working notes on a separate paper, so you can keep track of your thoughts without writing prematurely on the Judging Report.
    Don’t leave your working notes for others to see – hide them away once finished, or give them to the coordinator to dispose of.
  • Make sure to point out lots of positive aspects of an entry.
  • It’s better to under-criticise.

Preparation for judging

Ideally, the competition coordinator (usually the Kingdom or local A&S officer) will recruit the judges before the event itself. If you know you’re going to be judging a competition, you should:

  • Check the time and place judging will happen
  • Agree with the competition coordinator which competition theme you will judge
  • Refresh your memory of the rubric
  • Think about how to give good feedback

Judging Process (at the event)

    1. The competition coordinator will make sure there is a dedicated space to display and examine the entries. Each entry should be accompanied by its Entrant and Judging Form. Photographs should be taken of each entry.
    2. Copies of the Judging Guide, Record of Results, and writing equipment (including paper for your working notes), should be provided.
    3. Check which skill category (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced) you are responsible for, and get together with the other people judging that category. Judging is a group task!
    4. Look at each entry carefully, and read the documentation to find out more about it. The documentation provided will hopefully answer any questions which have arisen.
    5. Fill in your name (and contact details, if you are willing to be contacted) at the beginning of the Judging Report for each entry you will judge.
    6. Compare each entry to the Judging Criteria (rubric), and decide how many points you think the entry should receive in each criterion. Make working notes on your separate paper.
    7. Together with the other judge/s, discuss the entries, and place them in order from best to least.
      (If you have trouble deciding how to judge one of the rubric criteria, or deciding what fits under which criteria – that’s okay! Take your time, and talk to your fellow judges. If you feel like you need more expertise on a topic to judge an entry, you’re welcome to find someone who does have that expertise and ask them clarifying questions. It’s okay to ask for help.)
    8. Write the agreed scores into the spaces provided. Put the total for each criterion in the space provided.
      (If judges have given separate scores, without agreeing them first: Determine the average for that entry from the individual judges’ scoring, and write that in the space provided.)
    9. The total score for each entry in your category should confirm its place within your previously-agreed order from Step 7.
    10. Together, decide what feedback the judges will give. Remember to emphasise the positive!
      (For more detailed advice, see our page on giving feedback)
    11. One person should write the agreed comments onto each Judging Report.
    12. Give all the results to the competition co-ordinator. Tell them, if you think any entries are particularly worthy of acclaim. Outstanding entries should be mentioned in court, at the event where they were judged.

When Judging is Complete

The competition co-ordinator should confirm that they have all the information required (including photographs where possible.), both for ongoing records and for announcing the results of this round.

Individual results must be transferred from the Entrant and Judging Form to the Record of Results. Once the Record of Results is complete, the Entrant and Judging Form can be collected by each entrant, along with their item.

The overall winner/s of each category should be announced in court during the event, with prizes awarded.

It is worthwhile to praise other outstanding entries at the event where they were judged. As a rule of thumb, any rubric which scored higher than 80/100 (or 30/50) probably merits public mention. 

Once the scores have been recorded, the scoring sheets should be returned to the entrants. As a judge, try to make yourself available in case entrants have questions about your feedback.