Skating Skills Tests

Skating skills tests check the quality of a skater's basic skating: edges, turns, stroking, spirals and step sequences, skated as set patterns without music. Until July 2023 they were called moves in the field tests. There are eight levels, taken in order, and each singles test requires the skating skills test at the same level.

How the tests are skated

• The patterns are skated in a fixed order, as diagrammed in the USFS rulebook.
• Each pattern starts from a standstill, with no more than seven introductory steps.
• There is no music, though soft background music is allowed.
• One pattern may be reskated if the judges need to see it again.

What the judges look for

The judges consider the accuracy of the pattern, the quality and depth of the edges, how the turns are executed, extension and posture, quickness of the feet, power (speed built without visible effort), continuous flow, and the ability to skate equally well on both sides, clockwise and counterclockwise, forward and backward. Covering the ice with flat or shallow edges does not count in the skater's favor.

From Preliminary up, each pattern is marked from −3 to +3, with 0 as the passing average for the level, and a judge's total decides between pass, honors and distinction. The Pre-Preliminary test is marked pass, pass with honors or retry as a whole.

Adults (21 and over) have their own skating skills track; from adult intermediate up it uses the same patterns as Pre-Silver through Gold, judged to a lower standard. The basic skills behind these tests are covered in our pages on stroking, edges, crossovers and turns.