|
| Ranking | School |
| 1 | Beija-Flor |
| 2 | Grande Rio |
| 3 | Vila Isabel |
| 4 | Salgueiro |
| 5 | Unidos da Tijuca |
| 6 | Mangueira |

It is Apotheoses Square, at the end of the Parading Avenue, where the results are counted and announced on Ash Wednesday, just after Carnival.
Usually the competition's worst scoring school drops down from the Special Group of the best schools into the Access Group (Group A) and the Access Group's winner joins the Special Group for next year's Samba Parade.
The Samba Parade is a glorious competition between the Rio Samba Schools, for which scores are given by the judges.
There are ten categories in which the schools are judged.
There are 4 judges of every category (altogether 40 of them) and they are allocated all along the Sambodromo's samba runway, in their booths.
Scores are given on a scale 7-10 (with fractions), 10 being the best.
2012 Samba Parade Results - announced on Wednesday, February 24th
| Order | School | Scores |
| 1 | Unidos da Tijuca | 299.9 |
| 2 | Salgueiro | 299.7 |
| 3 | Vila Isabel | 299.5 |
| 4 | Beija-Flor | 298.9 |
| 5 | Grande Rio | 298.3 |
| 6 | Portela | 297.2 |
| 7 | Mangueira | 297.0 |
| 8 | Uniao da Ilha | 296.2 |
| 9 | Mocidade | 295.8 |
| 10 | Imperatriz | 295.0 |
| 11 | Sao Clemente | 294.7 |
| 12 | Porto da Pedra | 291.7 |
| 13 | Renascer de Jacarepagua | 290.2 |
The last two Samba Schools (Porto da Pedra and Renascer de Jacarapagua) were downgraded to Access Group A.