Guide to Judging: Judging Roles

Last revised on June 30, 2025

Section 2: Judging Roles

Overview: This section describes the roles and responsibilities of the Judges, Judge Advisors, and Event Partners in the judging process to ensure a consistent judging process at all qualifying events.
The Judge, Judge Advisor, and Event Partner roles each have specific age and suitability requirements. Additionally, it is important that conflicts of interest are mitigated. These occur when a Judge or Judge Advisor has a relationship with a team that would impact their ability to be an impartial judge.

<JR1> Dress/Attire Considerations

All Judge volunteers should dress appropriately for the role, such as wearing comfortable footwear and business casual attire. Judge volunteers should avoid wearing any clothing or items that would give the appearance of a conflict of interest with any team at the event. Many events will provide special apparel to identify Judge volunteers.

<JR2> Managing Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest occur when there is a relationship between a judging volunteer and one or more teams or organizations at the event. Additionally, that relationship could create—or appear to create—a situation where teams will not be judged fairly, and in which discussions during award deliberations will not be impartial. It is the responsibility of the Event Partner to avoid these situations by recruiting Judges and Judge Advisors who do not have these relationships, and who are individuals vetted for their good character. Due to the sensitive nature of the role of Judges at REC Foundation events, it is advisable for those roles to be filled selectively rather than by a public sign up or walk-ups.

Due to the volunteer nature of most events, avoiding all conflicts of interest may not always be possible. If a Judge has conflicts of interest, it is their responsibility to declare those conflicts to the Event Partner and Judge Advisor. They must mindfully avoid advocating for or against the teams with which they have a relationship and must not participate directly in the judging process for those teams, such as Team Interviews or Engineering Notebook evaluations.

Even when individuals are of unquestionable character, the appearance of conflicts of interest should also be avoided. Event Partners should look to recruit Judges from a variety of sources in order to mitigate conflicts of interest and to promote Judges having a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and knowledge that they bring to the judging process.

Note: For any VEX Robotics World Championship qualifying events, Judge volunteers cannot have any direct conflicts of interest with any team at the event (for example: parents or other family members associated with attending teams or team coaches would be considered to have direct conflicts of interest; this is not an exhaustive list). This is highly recommended for all events.

Judging Roles - Descriptions and Requirements

<JR3> Judge Advisor (JA)

  • Must have passed the current season’s Judge Advisor Training & Certification Course prior to the event.
  • Has no or minimal conflicts of interest with any teams attending the event.
  • Organizes and oversees the overall judging process at an event.
  • Facilitates deliberations and delivers final award winners to Event Partner.
  • Must be at least age 21 or older and not part of a team competing at the event.
  • Assists Event Partner with handling Code of Conduct and Student-Centered issues as necessary. Examples could include students reciting a script for interviews or plagiarizing notebook content.

Note: For more details regarding your responsibility with assisting the Event Partner in Rules and Conduct violations, please see the Code of Conduct Reporting Process.

Note: Exceptions to the volunteer age rules should be rare and require approval from the REC Foundation Regional Support Manager (RSM).

Note: Large or complex events may have Assistant Judge Advisors who take direction from the Judge Advisor, and may assist them with aspects of the judging process. This is a great role for someone to gain experience in the Judge Advisor role with the support of an experienced Judge Advisor, as well as a way for large events to delegate judging supervision to multiple people. Assistant Judge Advisors have the same requirements as Judge Advisors.

<JR4> Judge

  • Highly encouraged (but not required) to have passed the Judge Training & Certification Course.
  • Evaluates teams to determine eligibility for Judged Awards.
  • If interacting directly with students, they must work in groups.
  • It is helpful that some, if not all, Judges have a background in technology or robotics to better evaluate the more technically-focused awards. Good sources of volunteers can be local STEM-based companies or sponsors, local colleges, VURC teams, or program alumni.
  • Age requirements:
    • VURC/VAIRC – Must be at least age 21 years or older.
    • V5RC – Must be at least age 20 years or older and not part of a V5RC team.
    • VIQRC – Must be at least age 18 years or older. Younger volunteers ages 16-17 may be Judges if paired with another Judge who is 18 or older. Volunteers in this situation should be mindful of youth protection and conflicts of interest.

Note: Exceptions to the volunteer age rules should be rare and require approval from the REC Foundation RSM.

<JR5> Event Partner

  • Oversees the planning and operation of the entire event, including volunteer recruitment and providing support for the Judges and Judge Advisor.
  • The Event Partner and Judge Advisor must be two different eligible people. An Event Partner may not serve as a Judge or Judge Advisor at their own event, and Event Partners may not recommend or assign Judged Awards to any team.
  • The Event Partner and the Judge Advisor should work together to come up with a general schedule for completing the judging teams at the event, and to ensure there are adequate Judges for the event. If judging is in person, it is recommended to have two Judges for every 8-10 teams at an event to conduct the judging process within time constraints for a one-day event.

Note: There are no volunteer assistant roles for students in Judging. Any appearance of giving students access to judging information or materials should be avoided. For example, high school students should not accompany judges to interviews for V5RC events.

Note: For the VEX Robotics World Championship, all Judges must be age 21 or older.

<JR6> Best Practices for Volunteer Selection and Judging Panel Composition

What makes an effective judge?

Judge volunteers come from a myriad of backgrounds and may bring different experiences, strengths, and perspectives to the Judging Room. However, all effective Judges share some commonalities in serving with integrity, uniformly upholding the principles of judging explained earlier in this document, and working alongside their fellow Judges to deliver a positive student experience and a pleasant atmosphere for volunteers.

Effective Judges approach new situations with the mindset of expanding their horizons by learning from students and fellow Judges. Effective Judges are able to deliberate with one another, respecting and considering different perspectives while working towards decisions that follow the process and are made with integrity.

What makes an effective Judge Advisor?

Effective Judge Advisors have experience with the judging process at REC Foundation events. They are able to work with the Judges at their event with respect while not allowing undue influence from any internal or external factors. Effective Judge Advisors set a professional tone in their judging room, setting an example for other Judges to follow.

Effective Judge Advisors keep track of their Judges and ensure that processes are being followed, while being careful not to exert an undue influence over judging decisions. Judge Advisors are the shepherds of the judging process and are able to speak with both authority and humanity when working with other Judge volunteers.

What makes an effective judging panel?

An effective judging panel is made up of a Judge Advisor and Judges that bring a wide range of background experiences, professional and living knowledge, and perspectives that complement one another. A well-rounded set of perspectives and approaches make an excellent foundation for the evaluation and deliberation processes. All volunteers should abide by the principles of judging, including being transparent about conflicts of interest, keeping confidentiality, fostering student learning through a robotics competition, and keeping the student experience centered in their actions and mindsets during the judging process.

What makes a positive judging experience?

Judging at well conducted events functions best when the Event Partner has made plans to support judging by recruiting sufficient Judges to comfortably complete the judging process based on the event’s size and agenda, when the Judges and their Judge Advisor have all of the tools and supplies they need such, including a Judging Room, and when the Judge Advisor has passed the training and is following the judging process outlined in this Guide to Judging.

Continue to the next section, Guide to Judging: Event Preparation and Execution