FAQ

There are two ways to register for the National History Bee - Individual Registration and School Registration.  The Individual Registration pathway allows homeschooled students or students whose schools choose not to participate to compete in the National History Bee.  The School Registration pathway allows a school to register its entire student body to participate.

A sponsor can be any adult.  At the school-level, most sponsors will be teachers, though adminstrators, counselors, media specialists, etc. may also serve as sponsors.  For individual registrants, most sponsors will be parents, but any adult can be a sponsor.

Any child who has neither completed the eighth grade nor reached his/her fifteenth birthday as of August 1, 2012, is eligible to participate in the National History Bee.  We aim to be as inclusive as possible; so whether a student attends an elementary school, middle school, junior high school, private school or is homeschooled, he/she is eligible so long as he/she meets the grade and age requirement.

Absolutely.  The Individual Registration pathway to participation is designed to allow students to compete in the National History Bee without having to depend on a school to register.

You can pay the registration fee online by credit card or through PayPal using the link on your account screen.  We also accept money orders, personal checks, school checks or purchase orders.

Yes.  Associations of homeschooled children may register to compete using the school pathway to registration.  Alternatively, individual homeschooled students may register to compete through the Individiual Registration pathway.

Yes.  As long as a student still meets all of the eligibility requirements, he or she is welcome to participate again.

The registration fee is $125. This covers every student in the school under a School Registration. This fee also covers those students up through the Regional Finals.

No.  All students compete together regardless of age or school affiliation.

National History Bee questions are roughly split evenly between U.S. History and non-U.S. History.  While we don't have a set "curriculum" of material to study, we recommend starting your preparation by perusing our Resources section.  That should give you a general idea of what sort of material might be asked.  Generally speaking, the more students read about history, the better that they do.

The National History Bee makes a concerted effort to test information that students from all different age groups can answer, appreciate, and learn from. While older participants, such as those in middle school, have the advantage of more years of schooling, we expect that elementary students will absolutely be able to answer questions and enjoy their experience. We have been very pleased by the level of success we have seen from some of our fourth and fifth grade participants. Also, there is no better preparation for a middle school participant than having already tried the National History Bee as an elementary student!

The purpose of the Intramural test is to allow a school to select which four students who will represent it in Stage Two of the competition (Online Regional Qualifying Exam).  Because each Individual Registrant automatically competes in Stage Two of the National History Bee, there is no need for these students to participate in the Intramural Bee.  Individual Registrants will still be given a copy of the Intramural Bee, however, which they can use as a study resource.

Yes.  School sponsors are welcome to score the Intramural Bee - Written Test by whatever method is most convenient.

Each of the Intramural Bee activities also includes tiebreaker questions.  The answers to these questions will be a number (In what year was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? (1865) or How old was Victoria when she became Queen of England? (19), for example).  Whichever of the tied students is closest to the correct answer wins the tiebreaker.

Each school registration entitles the school to enter four students for participation in the National History Bee.  Ultimately it is up to the school-level sponsor to decide how best to select those four students.  We recommend selecting those students through the use of the Intramural Bee, but some schools choose grade point average or other criteria to select students.

Any computer with a high speed internet connection and a modern browser should work fine with our exam system. We strongly suggest running through one of our practice online exams to test your computer.

Our tests support IE7 + , Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and all other major browser.

You can take one of our practice online exams.

Yes.  Click here.

The National History Bee uses buzzers from Anderson Enterprises.

On Monday February 4, 2013, Sponsors will receive an email outlining their student(s)' scores and whether or not they were within the top 120 students in the region. Those students will then advance to the Regional Finals to compete for spots in the National Championship.

The Regional Finals will take place between February 9 and April 25, 2013.  Once a Sponsor is logged into the website, they should be able to see their region at the top of the screen. The date, location, and specific details for each of the Regional Finals can be found here.

No, Sponsors are not required to attend the Regional Finals with their students, although they are welcome to. A student does need to be accompanied by some adult, which could be a teacher, administrator, parent, or relative.

Nothing other than an accompanying adult (could be a teacher, parent, or other guardian), and their history knowledge.

Yes. All spectators are welcome. Be aware, however, that viewing space in some of the matches may be limited.

We ask that students dress in business casual or nicer for the Regional Finals. While we certainly want everybody to look nice for the event, this is not a requirement.

The National History Bee's National Championship will be on June 1, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency in Altanta, GA. More details can be found here.

The grand prize for the winner of the National History Bee: Middle School is $1000. The grand prize for the winner of the National History Bee: Elementary School is $500.

Although the HISTORY Channel is still a major supporter and sponsor of the National History Bee, they have decided not to televise the 2013 National Championship.

The Middle School Division's National Championship will look very similar to the Regional Finals. It will consist of six preliminary rounds of thirty questions answered using a buzzer system. This is followed by two Championship Rounds. The Elementary Division's National Championship will involve five preliminary rounds, each with a multiple choice component and an oral competition component. More details about both events can be found here.

To register for the National Championship, you need to submit an official Registration Form and a registration fee.

With the Souvenir Order Form!

An up-to-date list of the students who have qualified for the 2013 National Championship can be found here.