The Top pick judging mode in Award Force produces a group of winners with no ranking order. If you need a ranked list, you can calculate it outside Award Force using the Borda count method and the exported Top pick results.
Understanding the Borda count
The Borda count allocates points to entries based on the number of 1st, 2nd, 3rd (and so on) preferences they receive.
For example, if you want to determine a top five, you would assign point values as follows:
- 1st preference = 5 points
- 2nd preference = 4 points
- 3rd preference = 3 points
- 4th preference = 2 points
- 5th preference = 1 point
Each entry receives points based on how many times it appears in each preference position.
| Entry | 1st (5 points) | 2nd (4 points) | 3rd (3 points) | 4th (2 points) | 5th (1 point) | Total points |
| Entry A | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 43 |
| Entry B | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 39 |
| Entry C | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 48 |
| Entry D | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Entry E | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 66 |
Ranked results:
- Entry E — 66 points
- Entry C — 48 points
- Entry A — 43 points
- Entry B — 39 points
- Entry D — 32 points
How to calculate Borda count using your export
- In the Manage workspace, go to Judging > Leaderboard
- Open the Export drop-down
- Download Results – Top pick
- Open the export in Excel (or another spreadsheet tool)
- Add a new column next to each preference column
- Multiply each preference count by its point value
- Sum the totals in a Total column
- Rank entries from highest to lowest score
Good to know
- The Top pick mode does not produce a ranking inside Award Force.
- The Borda count method allows you to create a ranked list externally.
- You can adjust point allocations if your number of preferences differs.
- Excel formulas (e.g. =B2*5) make the calculations quick and repeatable.
- Always check your export to ensure there are no missing preferences before ranking.