while fans cheers and crowds watch the show, official judges scrutinize each element and score the overall performances.

elements of the parade ranging from the samba theme composed for the occasion, to the costumes, and the 'story telling' ability of the parade are judged and individually scored.

the samba schools are ranked into a number of divisions, including the grupo especial, comprising the best among all samba schools, série a, formerly called groupo de accesso and comprising the schools in the second tier, and finally the schools in grupo rio, divided in b, c, and d.