the samba school with the highest combined score is then announced as the carnival champion.

the highest scored school in each group moves up into the tier above it for the following year's parade, and the lowest scored school in each group gets demoted into the lower rank group.

for example, the samba school in the grupo especial with the lowest score is demoted to série a for the following year's samba parade, and the school with the highest score from série a gets to join the grupo especial.