Model United Nations National Championships

Middle & Elementary School Divisions Homepage

New for the 2025-26 Academic Year!

Intro to Model UN
Intro to Model UN

Model UN Nationals Middle & Elementary School Divisions Overview

In May 2026, for the first time ever, Model United Nations will have a designated National Championship conference for middle & elementary school students in the USA! This will take place on Friday-Monday, May 22-25 at the International Academic Competitions Middle & Elementary School National Championships at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Orlando, FL. Please explore this page to learn more about how we are structuring this event, and how you / your student(s) / your child(ren) can qualify and take part in it.

  • Eligibility: tudents who have qualified by winning any award at any regional Model UN conference (whether run by IAC or not), or as part of the Introduction to Model UN program either in the 2023-24, 2024-25, or 2025-26 academic years. After 2025-26, qualification must be done in the academic year in which the National Championships is held.
  • Competitors:  Students in Grades 4-8. Students may compete either as a solo student or as a pair of two students. In case of a pair, both students must be from the same school, and must be in the same grade with the exception of 4th graders who can pair with a 5th graders if they choose.

  • Inquiries: Please contact IAC’s Model UN Coordinator, Ms. Audra Dankwardt at audra@iacompetitions.com

Jump To:

Intro to Model UN

Competition Format

The Model United Nations National Championships consists of preliminary committees and playoff committees. Please note that the Introduction to Model UN committees are not considered part of the Model UN National Championships, but students who participate in those and win awards in them qualify for the Model UN preliminary committees offered on Sunday.

Stage
1

Preliminary Committees

All students who compete at the 2026 Model UN National Championships begin by participating in the preliminary committees. There will be 6 preliminary committees at the Model UN National Championships. Each is open to any student who has qualified to compete at the National Championships. Each committee costs $99 per student regardless of the duration of the committee or whether students are competing as solo students or in pairs.

Committee Type Topic Announced Date & Time
UN Environment Programme Standard Nov. 2025 Fri, May 22, 8:15am-12:00pm
Security Council Crisis Nov. 2025 Fri, May 22, 1pm-4:45pm
African Union Crisis Nov. 2025 Sat., May 23, 8:15am-12:00pm
UNESCO Standard Nov. 2025 Sat., May 23, 1pm-4:45pm
Surprise Committee Standard 4:15pm, May 23 Sun., May 24, 11:00am-1:45pm
Surprise Committee Crisis 4:15pm, May 23 Sun., May 24, 2:30pm-5:15pm

Once the topics are announced (by January 2026 for the first four committees), background guides will be available to help students prepare. For the four committees on May 22 and 23, students will receive their country assignments the day after registration closes for the National Championships (i.e. on May 5, 2026) so that students who register earlier are not at an advantage. For the Surprise Committees, registration will run through 6:30pm on May 23, and country assignments will then be assigned at 7:30pm with background guides and the topics then also being available at that time.

None of the committees have any field cap for any age division, but if over 30-40 countries (at IAC’s discretion) are going to be represented within a committee within an age division, we will open a second (or potentially third or fourth) committee room for that committee within that division. Students will need to use parliamentary procedure during committee sessions; guidelines for how this will specifically be implemented will be posted to this website in the coming months.

Stage
2

Playoff Committees

Approximately the top 1/3 of countries in each preliminary committee will receive awards. Any student or pair who receives an award is then eligible to compete in the playoffs and can then register for the playoffs. Participants must register for the playoffs at the National Championships (since they are held at the same time as certain other events, and we need to know if students plan on participating in Model UN or the other events), which they can do so at any point from noon on Friday, May 22 (i.e. the end of the first preliminary committee, at which point its award winners will be announced) until 6:30pm on Sunday, May 24. Country assignments for the semifinals will then be announced at 7:30pm that same evening. It does not cost anything extra to compete in the playoffs. If students competed as a solo or pair in the preliminaries, they must compete in that same configuration through the duration of the playoffs. Leaving the playoffs early results in disqualification for award consideration (including if only one of two students leaves); thus please make travel plans accordingly.

Each delegation will be assigned to a semifinal committee. The semifinal committee will be a standard committee, though the final round will then be a crisis committee. If there are 35 or fewer countries participating in the playoffs within an age division, then only one room will be held. To the extent possible, we will endeavor to keep multiple rooms within an age division as evenly matched as we can (e.g. if there are two semifinal rooms and there are four separate delegations that won Best Delegate awards across the preliminary committees, then two of these will be in one semifinal room, and the other two in the other semifinal room).

How Final Ranks Will Be Determined if there are 16 or Fewer Delegations in the Playoffs

In the event that there are 14 or fewer delegations in the playoffs for a given age division, then all delegations would automatically compete in BOTH the semifinals and finals (i.e. there would not be a contraction of the field size after the semifinals; effectively in this case the semifinals would be the first part of the finals, and the finals would be the second part). In this case, the delegations would be ranked across their performance in both parts of the finals, with ranks 1-5 being recognized by awards at the end of the second part of the finals (i.e. the afternoon crisis committee).

How Final Ranks Will Be Determined if there are 17-35 Delegations in the Playoffs

In the event that there are 15-35 delegations in the playoffs for an age division, then all delegations in an age division will compete in the same semifinal room. However, in this case, only the top delegations would advance to the final committee. Please see the table below for how many delegations would advance to the finals given the number of competing semifinal delegations. The point values on the right side of the table correspond to the number of Playoff Points the top delegations (in descending order) would receive based on their semifinal performance. Thus, if there are 18 semifinal delegations, then the top 8 delegations advance into the Finals. The 4th best semifinal delegation receives 50 Playoff Points, and the 5th best semifinal delegation receives 40 Playoff Points, etc.

# of Delegations in the Semifinals Points for best finishes
17-22 100, 80, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10
23-28 100, 80, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, 10, 5
29-35 100, 80, 60, 50, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5

Delegations advancing into the finals will not be told at the end of the semifinal round how many points they amassed in the semifinals, so as to avoid unduly influencing the outcome of the finals.

In the finals, all competing delegations are ranked using the same point totals. Then, to determine the final outcome, the Playoff Points from BOTH the semifinals AND the finals are added. In the event of ties, the finals score is dispositive (as each delegation had more time to influence the outcome in the finals as there were fewer delegations competing). The top 50% of delegations will then receive specific placement awards; other delegations will receive finalist awards.

How Final Ranks Will Be Determined if there are 17-35 Delegations in the Playoffs

In the event that there are over 35 delegations in the playoffs, then two or more playoff rooms will be contested. The top delegations (the percentage will vary depending on enrollment numbers, but it will be the same number from each room) then advance to the finals. No further determination will be made as to how these students ranked among each other (again, to avoid influencing the outcome of the finals). In the finals, in this case, ONLY the final round placement will count toward determining the overall placements (since the delegations did not all compete against each other in the semifinals; thus determining relative semifinal performance among the finalist delegations is not possible). The top delegations in the finals will receive placement awards; all other final delegations will receive finalist awards.

Rules & FAQs

For the preliminary rounds, dress is casual. For the playoff rounds on Monday, western business attire is required. Jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers and other casual shoes (crocs, slippers, etc.) are not permitted. Please plan accordingly; further guidelines will be issued in advance of Nationals.

No, they are not required for any committee.

Yes! It is possible to do this, though you would not be able to compete in every preliminary committee session. You must keep a minimum of two of the four preliminary round blocks for the National History Bee, National Geography Bee, and National Science Bee free of other conflicts in order to compete in them. The playoff rounds of the Model UN (entirely on Monday, May 25) do not conflict with these events which all conclude on Sunday, May 24.

You can register for both of these, but note that if you make the playoffs of the Model UN National Championships and intend on competing in it, you would not be able to compete in the National History Bowl. Because of this, solo student teams are not permitted to compete in both of these events. However, students with History Bowl teammates who are not competing in the Model UN National Championships can plan on competing in both, and then decide on Sunday evening (if they qualify for the Model UN National Championship playoffs

If this impacts the size of the History Bowl team to the point of it potentially calling into question the size of the discount (since History Bowl teams with 1 or 2 players play for a lesser cost), then we can refund the differential minus a 10% processing fee. The team must register and initially pay for its highest potential size, however.

You can register for both, and then if you do not make the playoffs for the Model UN National Championships, you can compete in the US History Bee. We can refund US History Bee registrations in full minus a 10% processing fee if you qualify for and choose to compete in the Model UN National Championships instead.

If this impacts the size of the History Bowl team to the point of it potentially calling into question the size of the discount (since History Bowl teams with 1 or 2 players play for a lesser cost), then we can refund the differential minus a 10% processing fee. The team must register and initially pay for its highest potential size, however.

This is permitted, but note that if you qualify for the National Academic Bee playoffs, you are then obligated to compete in that, and would not be eligible to compete in the Model UN playoffs (as your withdrawal from the Academic Bee would impact the fairness of that event’s playoffs, but the Model UN National Championships playoff structure is not determined until Sunday evening, and not registering for it does not impact the fairness of that event).
Note that the National Academic Bee does not require prior qualifying, and is open to all students, including those who have never played in any buzzer competition before.

If this impacts the size of the History Bowl team to the point of it potentially calling into question the size of the discount (since History Bowl teams with 1 or 2 players play for a lesser cost), then we can refund the differential minus a 10% processing fee. The team must register and initially pay for its highest potential size, however.

Yes, you can take part in all of these events, which are open to all students at Nationals, including those who did not qualify for the National Science, History, or Geography Bees.
Note that the National Academic Bee does not require prior qualifying, and is open to all students, including those who have never played in any buzzer competition before.

If this impacts the size of the History Bowl team to the point of it potentially calling into question the size of the discount (since History Bowl teams with 1 or 2 players play for a lesser cost), then we can refund the differential minus a 10% processing fee. The team must register and initially pay for its highest potential size, however.

The hotels where we have room blocks, especially the host hotel, provide us with meeting space to hold the competitions and with sleeping accommodations for our staff, which we need to fly in from around the country. They do this in return for a commitment to fulfill a large number of sleeping room bookings over the course of Nationals weekend. For students who live near the Nationals host site for whom it would make sense to attend Nationals as a day trip and go back to their home each night, this rule does not apply.