Updated 12/17/24

Overview

Middle School and Elementary School students can participate at History Bee and Bowl events in the National History Bee and/or National Qualifying Exams as individuals, and can form National History Bowl teams in the Middle School division.

As with high school teams, Middle School Bowl teams can be made up of up to 6 players, with up to 4 players competing at any one time.

Please read below for more details concerning each event.

National History Bowl

Middle School teams are welcome to choose whether they want to participate in the JV or MS division of the National History Bowl. If at least three MS teams choose to play in the MS division, a MS division will be created. The top teams in the MS division at the National History Bowl will qualify for only the Middle/Elementary National Championships and can qualify by either finishing prelim play with a .500 record or better among teams in their division, or by winning a playoff game.

If there are not enough teams to create a MS division, those teams will be combined with the next highest division for prelims, using the Small Field rules as needed. To qualify for MS/ES Nationals, a team must either finish prelim play with a .500 record or better among other middle school teams or win a playoff game. MS/ES teams can also qualify for V/JV Nationals by defeating a team from a higher division during prelims.

Middle School teams that choose to play in the JV division can only try to qualify for JV Nationals at that event.

At our B and C Set events, there will be a Middle School set of Bowl questions, but there will not be a Middle School question set at our A Set events. Middle School divisions of the bowl can still be formed at those events, but they would use our Varsity/JV Bowl questions.

National History Bee

Middle/Elementary school students are welcome to choose whether they want to participate in the JV or MS division of the National History Bee as well. MS/ES students that choose to participate in the JV division can only attempt to qualify for JV Nationals, and MS/ES students that choose to participate in the MS division can only attempt to qualify for MS/ES Nationals.

The National History Bee proceeds the same way as the National History Bee at our National Science/History/Geography regional events, using the Small Field rules if needed.

MS students still need to take the ORQE to participate in the Middle School division of the National History Bee, unless they are also playing on a MS Bowl team at that event. They do not need to take the ORQE to participate in the JV division.

National Qualifying Exams

Middle/Elementary School students that take our National Qualifying Exams can only be classified in the JV division, as there is not a Middle/Elementary division of those events at our Varsity/JV Regional events. Because of this, Middle/Elementary students that qualify for Nationals would qualify for the JV National Championships only, not the Middle/Elementary School National Championships.

Other Middle/Elementary Student Opportunities

Middle/Elementary students interested in competing in the National History Bee, National Science Bee, or National Geography Bee at their grade level can sign up for our National Science/History/Geography Bee events, however they cannot play up to the JV level like they can at History Bee and Bowl events. For more information, email ems-info@iacompetitions.com . Please note that the National Political Science Bee is not contested at EMS Nationals, though there is a Political Science National Championship Exam offered there that is available to any Middle/Elementary school student.

Qualifying for International Events at V/JV events

International History Olympiad: Finish in the top 33% of students in your division in the National History Bee, or be on a team that finishes in the top 25% in their division. If a Bee field is 4 or fewer, the Small Field rules will be consulted.
International Geography Championships: Score a 65 or higher as a 7th/8th grader, or 55 or higher as a 2nd through 6th grader on the Geography NQE exam.
For more information on our international events, including alternate qualifying methods, please check out our international websites.