The FIG determines the rules that govern acrobatic gymnastics. At major international competitions, two judging panels - each consisting of a Chair of Judges' Panel, two difficulty judges, four technical judges, and four artistic judges - are present. Each panel judges different events. For example, Judges Panel A may judge pairs (women's pairs, men's pairs and mixed pairs) while Judges Panel B may judge groups (women's groups and men's groups). The Chair of the Judges' Panel organizes and supervises the work of the judges on the panel. The responsibilities of the difficulty judges include calculating the proposed difficulty of the competitor's exercise from the illustrated tariff sheets turned in before the competition. During the competition, the difficulty judges ensure that the proposed difficulty was completed in the routine and take deductions as necessary. The technical judges evaluate the exercises for execution faults, while the artistic judges evaluate the performances on structure and composition, choreography, presentation, and originality and creativity.

The final score for an exercise is the sum of the difficulty score, the average of the technical scores and the average of the artistic scores. The difficulty score is determined by the value of elements performed in the exercise. An exercise that meets all requirements and is considered to have "full" difficulty will have a difficulty score of 10.0. The level of difficulty which can be performed by seniors is open; therefore, a difficulty score could exceed 10.0. However, above a 10.0, the difficulty score increases minimally compared to the degree of additional elements being performed. This is to prevent the performance of high risk elements of difficulty from compensating for poor execution. Penalties for not meeting partner height requirements, static element time faults, tariff sheet violations, missing special requirements and other errors are deducted from the difficulty score. The technical and the artistic marks each start from a 10.0. A good score for an elite pair/group is 28.00.

In the United States, the Acrobatic Gymnastics Program Committee and Technical Committee determine the rules that govern acrobatic gymnastics. At National-level competitions, two judging panels, each constituting of a Chair of Judges' Panel, two difficult judges, four technical judges, and four artistic judges, are present. Each panel judges different events. For example, Judges Panel A may judge pairs (women's pair, men's pairs and mixed pairs) while Judges Panel B may judge groups (women's group and men's groups). The Chair of the Judges' Panel organizes and supervises the work of the judges on the panel. The responsibilities of the difficulty judges include calculating the proposed difficulty of the competitor's exercise from the illustrated tariff sheets turned in before the competition. During the competition, the difficulty judges ensure that the proposed difficulty was completed in the routine and take deductions as necessary. The technical judges evaluate the exercise for execution faults, while the artistic judges evaluate the performances on structure and composition, choreography, presentation and originality and creativity.

The final score for an exercise is the sum of the difficulty score, the average of the technical score and the average of the artistic scores. The difficulty score is determined by the value of elements performed in the exercise. An exercise that meets all requirements and is considered to have "full" difficulty will have a difficulty score of 10.0. The level of difficulty which can be performed by each level is written in the Acrobatic Gymnastics Specifications. The level of difficulty which can be performed by elites (highest level of athlete) is open; therefore, a difficulty score could exceed 10.0. However, above a 10.0, the difficulty score increases minimally compared to the degree of additional elements being performed. This is to prevent the performance of high risk elements of difficulty from compensating for poor execution or lack of artistic value. Penalties for not meeting partner height requirements, static element time faults, tariff sheet violations, missing special requirements and other errors are deducted from the difficulty score. The technical and the artistic marks each start form a 10.0. A good score for a athlete group is 28.00.