I'm still trying to wrap my head around the GOE system. I presume its still evolving? I've not competed solo under GOE yet, but I can imagine the scores must be demoralizing at the lower levels. Since by and large that's going to be kids, seems like even just for the psychological factor there'd be an argument for percentage based rather than flat rate deductions.
You'd be surprised Loops. We compete all levels from beginners upwards on IJS. I've yet to see a -ve score although I've seen some very low numbers. I was on 8 something for my first competition. Double digits was a big deal. But the big change is that everyone starts with sit spins and camel spins which fit the text book definition. Similarly with jumps. As an adult, you can spot the returning ones who skated under the old system as kids. While they can generally skate better than me and have harder jumps, their sit spins don't get low enough, even if they look fabulous.