Qualification for Nationals and International Competitions – 2023-2024 – IAC

Qualification notes for all Varsity/Junior Varsity (V/JV) and Elementary & Middle School (EMS) students:

The number of teams and students that qualify for future competitions are inclusive for the # of teams and students that are tied. For instance, if there’s 20 students competing, and there’s a tie for 10th and 11th, then 11 students are qualified.

As we are again featuring three separate question sets for both V/JV (A set, B set, C set) and EMS (Red set, White set, and Blue set), students and teams have up to three chances to qualify for future competitions – there is no difference for qualifying purposes as to whether a team qualifies off one set vs. another, or if a tournament is listed as a state championship or not. For V/JV, A set is considered to be harder than B and C, which are relatively equal, and for EMS, all sets are the same difficulty.

EMS students that qualify for V/JV Nationals are not automatically qualified for EMS Nationals! They will still need to qualify for EMS Nationals through the proper channels(see below).

Varsity/Junior Varsity Qualification

Elementary/Middle School Qualification

Varsity and Junior Varsity National Championships Qualification

National History Bowl

National History Bowl teams qualify for V/JV Nationals by:

having a 50% or better preliminary record
winning a playoff game
Lower division teams may have to play up in the event of small field size (e.g., if only one JV team competes, they would be placed in the Varsity division)
JV teams can qualify for JV Nationals by defeating a Varsity team at some point during the day
JV teams can also play in the Varsity division if they wish
Varsity and Junior Varsity teams can only apply for a wild card bid in extremely extenuating circumstances, though it’s fine for schools to switch their Nationals bid(s) in the National History Bowl from Varsity to Junior Varsity and vice versa if possible
If schools wish to qualify teams at more than one tournament, then all students must be different from one qualifying team to the next, with the exception of JV players who can help qualify a JV and a Varsity team separately at more than one tournament. On the other hand, the lineup of students that a school uses at Nationals can be entirely different than the one used to qualify. Nor is there a limit to team size at Nationals – a team of 20 or more students is permitted (for regional play, teams are capped at 6 players).

National History Bee

Individuals qualify for the National History Bee at V/JV Nationals by:
finishing in the top 50% at any V/JV regional competition (either in person or online)
finishing in the top 3 at any V/JV regional competition, as long as you score at least one point

US History Bee, National Geography Bee, US Geography Championships, National Political Science Bee, and National Science Bee

Individuals qualify for the US History Bee, National Geography Bee, US Geography Championships, National Political Science Bee, and National Science Bee at V/JV Nationals by:

taking the respective National Qualifying Exam(NQE) at any in person V/JV regional competition and finishing in the top 50% of their division
taking the respective NQE online and either:
score a 75 or better
beat the median score for that exam, which is set roughly a month after the exam is published

Varsity and Junior Varsity International Championships Qualification

International History Olympiad (IHO)

Members of a History Bowl team qualify for the International History Olympiad by completing any of the following during the 2023-24 or 2024-25 season:

being on a winning team at a regional competition
having a winning preliminary record (first 5 games) at Nationals
finishing in the top half of small school entries(defined as a non-magnet, non-selective public school with 1000 or fewer students in 9-12 or 800 in 10-12).

Individuals qualify for the International History Olympiad by completing any of the following during the 2023-24 or 2024-25 season:

finishing in the top 25% of the National History Bee at a V/JV Regionals event, either after prelims or after finals
finishing in the top 3 of the National History Bee at a V/JV Regionals event, as long as you score at least one point
finishing in the top 50% of the National History Bee at V/JV Nationals
making the playoffs of the US History Bee at V/JV Nationals
finishing in the top 50% of the Ancient History National Championship Exam (NCE), offered at V/JV Nationals
medaling in any event at a previous IGC as long as they still meet the age and grade level criteria

International Geography Championships (IGC)

Individuals qualify for the International Geography Championships by completing any of the following during the 2022-23 or 2023-24 season::

finishing in the top 50% of the National Geography Bee at V/JV Nationals
finishing in the top 50% of the US Geography Championships at V/JV Nationals
scoring a 75 or better on the Geography NQE
medaling in any event at a previous IGC as long as they still meet the age and grade level criteria

International Environmental Science Olympiad (IESO)

Individuals qualify for the International Environmental Science Olympiad by completing any of the following during the 2022-23 or 2023-24 season:

finishing in the top 50% of the National Science Bee at V/JV Nationals
scoring a 75 or better on the Science NQE

Questions? Email us at info@iacompetitions.com.

Elementary and Middle School (EMS) National Championships Qualification

National History Bowl

MS or ES History Bowl teams qualify for EMS Nationals at a regional event by:

having a 50% or better preliminary record in their division
winning a playoff game
Lower division teams may have to play up in the event of small field size(such as if only one MS team competes, they would be placed in the JV division)

If this happens, and a MS or ES team defeats a Varsity or JV team, they will qualify for both EMS Nationals and V/JV Nationals
If an ES team defeats a MS team, they will qualify for EMS Nationals

Teams can choose to play up if they wish(e.g., a MS team already qualified for EMS Nationals wishing to play in the JV division to go to JV Nationals
History Bowl teams can also compete at Nationals as long as they have at least one player that is qualified for Nationals in the National History Bee

National History Bee, National Geography Bee, National Science Bee

Individuals qualify for the National History Bee, National Geography Bee and/or National Science Bee at EMS Nationals by:

first qualifying on their respective Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE), then:
- qualifying in the top 50% in that event at any Regional Final
- finishing in the top 3 in that event at any Regional Final, as long as they have scored at least one point

US History Bee, US Geography Championships, and National Academic Bee

Individuals qualify for the US History Bee at EMS Nationals by qualifying for Nationals in the National History Bee.

Individuals qualify for the US Geography Championships at EMS Nationals by qualifying on the Geography ORQE Exam.

Individuals qualify for the National Academic Bee at EMS Nationals by qualifying for Nationals in either the National History Bee, National Geography Bee, OR the National Science Bee.

Elementary and Middle School (EMS) International Championships Qualification