The Online Regional Qualifying Exams for the National Science Bee, the National History Bee and the US Geography Championships/International Geography Bee are now ready to be taken at this link: https://orqe.iac-exams.com/. There is no cost to take any of these exams and they will stay open until February 7 (this has been extended and is the final deadline). You don’t need to register your students in advance for them, they will just enter all their information right before they take the Exams. In order to access the ORQEs, your students will need to provide your sponsor code and confirm the name associated with it. That code can be found at the bottom of the Home tab on the sponsor homepage once you log in at https://orqe.iac-exams.com/.
Students can take up to three Exams – one of which serves to qualify students for the Regional Finals for the National Science Bee, one of which serves to qualify students for the Regional Finals of the National History Bee, and one of which serves to qualify students for the National Championships of the US Geography Championships and International Geography Bee. Each Exam takes 20 minutes and is taken online (either on a computer or on a tablet). Students need to be supervised while they take the Exams and are not permitted to use any resources including any other website. Students can take all three Exams at once, or at different times (including on different days, with different sponsors if needed). Each student can only take each exam once. If we get more than one entry per student per exam, we reserve the right to disqualify this student.
Results of exams will be sent out each weekend for the preceding week. You will know right away if your students qualified for the National Championships of the US Geography Championships and International Geography Bee as qualification for these is based on getting a minimum score depending on their grade. However, we won’t be able to tell you if your students have qualified for the National Science Bee or the National History Bee Regional Finals until after all students have finished taking the Exams. Once we have determined which students have qualified for the Regional Finals (most likely in mid to end-February), we will email all the sponsors to let them know.
Here are some FAQs regarding the ORQE Exams:
How much does it cost to take the ORQE Exams? All three Exams are free of charge.
Who can take the ORQE Exams? Students in 8th grade and under can take the ORQE Exams. We offer separate divisions for students in 8th grade, 7th grade, 6thgrade and 5th grade and under. Parents can administer the Exams if a school does not want to register. Students in 9th grade and above who are interested in competing should contact info@iacompetitions.com for instructions on how to compete in the Varsity or JV Divisions.
How do my students register? – This link: https://orqe.iac-exams.com/ links to pages on which the student will type in your sponsor code and then give their name, grade, birth date (optional), etc. Once they have filled in this information and selected the Exam that they want to take, they will be taken to the exam.
Can I enter more students than what I had indicated in the sponsoring form? – Yes, the sponsoring form was only meant to be indicative. You are welcome to have more students take the exams than the number you originally estimated when you registered.
What happens if the students incorrectly fill in their registration information? – Please help your students to make sure their registration information is correct (especially their name and grade). We have thousands of students taking these Exams, and this will help make sure we track them properly. This is a big part of the reason we are asking for students to be supervised when taking the Exam. We want to be sure to be able to attach your student’s great score to the right person!
What is my sponsor number? – One of the items students will need to fill in when they register is your Sponsor Number. That code can be found at the bottom of the Home tab on the sponsor homepage once you log in at https://orqe.iac-exams.com/.
What score will my student need to qualify for Regional Finals? – For the Science Bee and the History Bee, qualifying scores will be decided based on the body of received scores at each level of competition. We will let the sponsors know which students have qualified for the Regional Finals once the ORQE Exams have closed (so after February 7, but most likely not before mid to end-February, unless your Regional Final is taking place on February 15-17).
In the case of the Geography Exam, if the students score at least 50 for 8th Grade, 45 for 7th Grade, 40 for 6th Grade, or 35 for 5th Grade and Younger, they qualify for the National Championships. If they get 75 regardless of the division, they also qualify for the 2020 World Championships (see www.igbworlds.com for further details on this).
How much time does my student have to take the Exam? – All Exams are 50 multiple-choice questions, and students have 20 minutes to take each exam. The sponsor must time the exam and tell the student when the 20 minutes have elapsed.
How are the Exams scored? – Each correct answer will receive 2 points. An incorrect answer receives minus 1 point. Any unanswered question (including choosing the No Answer option) receives zero points. Students are welcome to change their answers.
Should students be supervised while taking the Exams? – As much as possible, yes. Please make sure that their name and grade are entered correctly and help them stay focused on the Exams. Also, those supervising must avoid assisting students, as tempting as it may be. Students should determine the answers to questions entirely on their own and without any other resources than their brain (including the internet). Please also instruct them not to discuss the Exams in case other students have yet to take them.
What is the deadline for students to take Exams? – For the History Bee and Science Bee, students have until Midnight PST at the end of the day on February 7, 2020 (extended and final deadline). At that point, we will begin assessing who has qualified in preparation for opening Regional Finals registration in early February. For Geography, students will be able to take the Exam until the National Championships registration closes in May.
Can my student take an Exam for which I did not register them? – Absolutely. Your students may take all three Exams if they so choose. There is no cost for these Exams, and they just might qualify if they try! If the teacher does not want to administer all the Exams, then a parent or a different teacher can create a sponsor account to administer the other Exam(s).
That should pretty much cover everything, but please feel free to ask questions as they arise by emailing info@iacompetitions.com.
Best of luck to all of your students!