A gymnast might perform a skill worth 0.40, receive a 6.0 D-Score at an international meet, or compete a routine with a 10.0 Start Value in college gymnastics. Each number describes a different part of scoring.
- D-Score, Start Value and Difficulty Value at a Glance
- What Is Difficulty Value in Gymnastics?
- What Is the D-Score?
- What Is Start Value?
- Difficulty Value, Value Parts and Difficulty Bonus
- D-Score vs. Start Value: Comparing the Final Calculations
- The Same Vault Can Have Different Values
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Reading the Numbers Correctly
Difficulty Value describes an individual skill or vault. The D-Score combines the difficulty credit earned under FIG rules. Start Valueis the score from which deductions are taken in programs such as women’s USAG Development Program, Xcel and NCAA.
Understanding which number belongs to which system makes gymnastics scores much easier to follow.
This comparison covers FIG artistic gymnastics and the women’s domestic programs named above. Examples use the 2025–2028 FIG Codes, 2026–2030 USAG Development Program materials, current Xcel rules and 2026–27 NCAA women’s modifications. Rules checked September 15, 2026.
D-Score, Start Value and Difficulty Value at a Glance
| Term | What it describes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty Value (DV) | The numerical difficulty assigned to one FIG element or vault | A D-rated element is worth 0.40 |
| D-Score | The credited difficulty component of a FIG performance | A routine receives 6.00 for difficulty |
| Start Value (SV) | The starting figure before performance deductions in a Start Value system | A routine starts from 10.00 |
The relationship between Difficulty Value and D-Score is especially important: individual Difficulty Values help build the D-Scoreon non-vault events.
Start Value belongs to a different calculation. Judges determine the available starting score under the program’s rules, then subtract deductions. They do not calculate a FIG D-Score and rename it the Start Value.
What Is Difficulty Value in Gymnastics?
In FIG scoring, Difficulty Value is the value assigned to an individual recognized skill.
Most non-vault elements have letter ratings that represent tenths of a point. For example:
| FIG skill rating | Difficulty Value |
|---|---|
| A | 0.10 |
| B | 0.20 |
| C | 0.30 |
| D | 0.40 |
| E | 0.50 |
A D-rated skill therefore contributes 0.40 in individual difficulty when it is recognized and selected among the counting elements. That 0.40 is not a score for how well the gymnast performed it.
Judges can recognize the skill at its full value while also taking execution deductions for bent knees, separated legs or a landing error. If the gymnast does not meet the skill’s defining technical requirements, its difficulty credit may change or be lost. These principles appear in Section 7 of the FIG Women’s Code.
Recognition and counting are also separate. A routine can contain more recognized elements than the rules allow judges to include in the final difficulty total.
For the complete letter scale, see how FIG Difficulty Values work.
Why Vault Uses a Different Kind of Value
FIG gives each vault a single numerical Difficulty Value in its vault table. Judges identify the vault performed and award the corresponding value.
They do not add separate letter values for the entry, flip and twist. Those features identify the complete vault, which already has an assigned value.
This makes Vault the main exception to the distinction between an individual Difficulty Value and a routine D-Score: on FIG Vault, the vault’s DV is its D-Score.
What Is the D-Score?
The D-Score, short for Difficulty Score, is the difficulty component of a FIG score. The D-Jury determines it from the content the gymnast successfully receives credit for.
On most apparatus, it combines several individual Difficulty Values with credit for other required or eligible content.
Women’s D-Score
On Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise, the basic structure is:
Counting Difficulty Values + Composition Requirements + Connection Value + applicable bonuses = D-Score
The current women’s Code counts up to eight Difficulty Values, including the dismount, subject to each apparatus’s selection rules. Composition Requirements reward specified types of routine content, while Connection Value rewards eligible links between skills.
Suppose a hypothetical routine receives:
| Difficulty component | Credit |
|---|---|
| Eight counting Difficulty Values | 3.60 |
| Composition Requirements | 2.00 |
| Connection Value and applicable bonuses | 0.40 |
| D-Score | 6.00 |
The individual skills account for 3.60, but the complete D-Score is 6.00 because the other difficulty components also count. The calculation follows FIG WAG Code, Section 7.
Men’s D-Score
Men’s artistic gymnastics uses the same distinction between individual skill values and total difficulty, but its routine requirements differ.
The current senior MAG Code counts eight elements on non-vault events. Floor has eight counting elements; Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar generally count seven eligible elements plus the dismount.
Men earn Element Group credit for including the required skill families. Eligible connections can provide additional credit on the apparatus that award it. These components are described in Sections 6–7 of the FIG Men’s Code.
For both disciplines, the D-Score depends on what the judges recognize during the performance. A planned connection or skill does not contribute simply because it appeared in the intended routine.
The detailed guide to how the FIG D-Score is calculated explains the apparatus-specific rules.
Does the D-Score Start From 10.0?
No. The D-Score is built upward from credited difficulty. The E-Score, which evaluates execution, is the component evaluated from 10.0.
FIG difficulty is described as open-ended because it does not use a universal 10.0 ceiling. However, gymnasts cannot accumulate unlimited points by repeating skills or adding more elements: counting limits, recognition rules and connection restrictions still apply.
What Is Start Value?
Start Value is the score available before execution and other applicable performance deductions in a Start Value system.
For example:
10.00 Start Value − 0.35 deductions = 9.650 final score
A 10.0 Start Value means the routine has earned the full ordinary starting score under that program’s rules. The gymnast still has to perform it without deductions to receive 10.0.
Likewise, a routine with a 9.80 Start Value has less scoring room before execution is considered. Clean performance does not automatically restore missing Start Value credit.
How Is Start Value Determined?
The calculation depends on the program, level and event.
| Women’s program | How Start Value is established on Bars, Beam and Floor |
|---|---|
| USAG Development Program optional levels | Level-specific Value Parts and Special Requirements, with Composition Credit and bonus where applicable |
| Xcel | Division-specific requirements and restrictions; Sapphire also uses bonus to build its Start Value |
| NCAA | Collegiate requirements, bonus and Composition Credit under NCAA’s modifications |
In these systems, judges assess whether the routine contains the required content and earns the available credit. Missing requirements, restricted elements or uncredited skills can affect the calculation.
The current USAG Levels 9–10 rules summary and Xcel Code show how these domestic calculations differ. For a full level-by-level explanation, see how the USAG Start Value is calculated.
An NCAA Start Value Example
For 2026–27, NCAA women’s Bars, Beam and Floor use:
9.20 base + up to 0.60 bonus + up to 0.20 Composition Credit = 10.00 Start Value
Assuming the routine meets its other requirements, full bonus with only 0.10 Composition Credit produces:
9.20 + 0.60 + 0.10 = 9.90 Start Value
Execution deductions then come off that 9.90. The structure is specified in NCAA’s 2026–27 Rules Modifications, Section 1.5.
Is Start Value Always the Absolute Maximum Final Score?
It is commonly described as the maximum score available before deductions. That is useful shorthand, but a program can have an additional bonus outside the ordinary Start Value calculation.
For example, current USAG Level 10 materials identify a qualifying extra 0.10 bonus as “not in SV.” The Start Value and any separate bonus therefore need to be read under the applicable rules. See the USAG Levels 9–10 rules summary.
Difficulty Value, Value Parts and Difficulty Bonus
Domestic gymnastics also uses letters such as A, B, C, D and E. This is another reason the terminology can become confusing.
A Value Part is a recognized element’s difficulty classification or the corresponding credit used in domestic routine requirements. A gymnast may need a specified number of A, B or C Value Parts for her level.
Meeting those requirements does not mean judges add FIG-style tenths to create a D-Score. For example, three A Value Parts and three B Value Parts cannot simply be added as 0.30 + 0.60 to determine the routine’s Start Value.
The phrase Difficulty Value Bonus, also called DV Bonus, appears in domestic rules too. It refers to extra credit for eligible difficult elements under that program’s bonus system.
| Term in context | Its role |
|---|---|
| FIG Difficulty Value | Assigns numerical difficulty to an individual skill or vault |
| Domestic Value Part | Provides element credit toward the program’s routine requirements |
| Domestic Difficulty Value Bonus | Adds eligible bonus credit toward Start Value |
The NCAA document, for example, uses both Value Part credit and Difficulty Value Bonus. It also distinguishes difficulty bonus from connection bonus. The abbreviation DV therefore needs to be understood in context. See NCAA Rules Modifications, Section 1.5.
D-Score vs. Start Value: Comparing the Final Calculations
The clearest distinction is what happens when execution enters the calculation.
| Step | FIG scoring | Start Value scoring |
|---|---|---|
| Determine difficulty or available starting score | Establish the D-Score | Establish the Start Value |
| Evaluate performance | Calculate an E-Score from 10.0 | Subtract performance deductions from SV |
| Combine the main parts | D-Score + E-Score | SV − deductions |
| Apply other provisions | Subtract separate penalties and handle applicable bonuses | Apply any other program-specific penalties or separate bonuses |
For a hypothetical FIG women’s routine:
6.00 D-Score + 8.250 E-Score = 14.250
For a hypothetical routine in a Start Value system:
10.00 Start Value − 0.15 deductions = 9.850
Both examples assume no separate penalties or bonuses. The larger FIG number does not by itself indicate a better performance; the scores were calculated on different scales.
There is also no extra E-Score to add to the domestic 10.0 Start Value. Execution has already been accounted for through the deductions taken from that starting figure.
Can a D-Score Be Converted Into a Start Value?
There is no universal conversion formula.
A FIG D-Score does not reveal whether the routine satisfies a particular domestic program’s requirements, restrictions, bonus formulas or skill ratings. Judges would need to evaluate the actual routine under the second program’s rules.
For the same reason, two routines with 10.0 Start Values can contain very different skills. Once both reach the ordinary Start Value ceiling, additional difficulty may provide no further increase to that starting figure.
The Same Vault Can Have Different Values
A Yurchenko full uses a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the table, and a stretched backward salto with one full twist after leaving the table.
Its assigned number depends on the scoring system:
| Scoring system | Yurchenko full value | What the number represents |
|---|---|---|
| FIG women, 2025–2028 | 4.20 | Difficulty Value, which is also the vault’s D-Score |
| NCAA women, 2026–27 | 9.95 | Start Value |
| USAG women’s DP Level 10, 2026–2030 | 10.00 | Start Value |
These values appear in the FIG WAG vault table, NCAA vault chart and USAG Level 10 vault chart.
Under FIG, a hypothetical 9.00 E-Score and no separate penalty would produce:
4.20 + 9.00 = 13.20
Under NCAA, hypothetical deductions of 0.10 would produce:
9.95 − 0.10 = 9.85
These are separate scoring illustrations, not an attempt to assign equivalent deductions across programs. The key distinction is that FIG adds execution to the vault’s difficulty, while NCAA subtracts deductions from its Start Value.
The complete comparison of vault scoring across gymnastics programs explains the other differences, including attempts, falls and two-vault results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Difficulty Value the same as D-Score?
Usually, Difficulty Value refers to one element, while the D-Score combines several difficulty components. FIG Vault is the main exception: the recognized vault’s Difficulty Value is its D-Score.
Is a 10.0 Start Value the same as a perfect 10?
No. A 10.0 Start Value is established before performance deductions. The final score depends on how the routine is performed and any other applicable scoring provisions.
Does a fall automatically remove difficulty credit?
No. Judges separately assess whether the skill meets its recognition requirements and what execution deductions apply. A fall can also affect connection or bonus eligibility, depending on the rules.
Why can the planned D-Score or Start Value change?
Both depend on credited performance. An unrecognized skill, broken connection or missing requirement can change the difficulty or Start Value the gymnast actually receives.
Does every gymnastics program use these terms in the same way?
No. The program and document matter. In particular, domestic Difficulty Value Bonus is different from adding individual FIG Difficulty Values into a D-Score.
Reading the Numbers Correctly
First identify the scoring system, then establish what the number represents. A skill’s Difficulty Value, a routine’s D-Score and a domestic Start Value answer different questions.
On FIG non-vault events, individual skill values help build difficulty, and execution is added separately. In Start Value systems, the rules establish the starting figure and deductions reduce it. On Vault, the published chart determines the value of the complete vault.