In addition to all the general contest rules stated by North South Foundation, the following rules are applicable for Vocabulary Bee Competition.

1. There are 2 levels of competition for Vocabulary Bee:
   • JVB (Junior Vocabulary Bee): Grades 2, 3 and 4
   • IVB (Intermediate Vocabulary Bee): Grades 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
2. National winners of junior vocabulary bee can participate in the intermediate vocabulary bee. A contestant who participated in a higher level bee cannot participate in a lower level bee in subsequent years.
3. Vocabulary bees (JVB and IVB ) are held in two phases: Phase I (written) and Phase II (oral). Parents are not allowed in Phase I. They may be allowed in Phase II at the discretion of the judges, if the space permits.

Phase I (written):

4. Phase I is a written test with 25 words and the contestant has to find the most appropriate meaning of the word. Ten words will be selected from the published list (this is the list of 1,000 words provided to the contestants), and the remaining fifteen words will be from external sources. All the contestants will get the same 25 words.
5. During this phase, contestants will be a given sheet with 25 words along with multiple choices for each word. For each word, the contestant has to circle the answer choice and the meaning from the list of multiple choices. To aid the contestant, the pronouncer will pronounce the word and read the multiple choices for each of the 25 words.
6. Unclear and illegible writing might be open for misinterpretation. So, contestants are expected to write clearly and legibly. The decision of the judges is final.
7. There will NOT be any partial credits. There will be NO negative points for any incorrect answer. The contestant will be awarded one point for the correct answer and zero for an incorrect answer.
8. All Phase I sheets should be returned at the end of the contest. All contestants will advance to Phase II (oral round.)

Phase II (oral):

9. Phase II contains 8 oral rounds. All the words in Phase II are used from the published list of 1,000 words.
10. During this phase, the pronouncer pronounces a word (hands over an index card with the word along with its multiple choice of meanings or displays the same information on a screen) along with the corresponding multiple choices to the contestant. The contestant will pronounce the word along with his/her selected answer from the multiple choices. In addition to making a choice, the contestant must read the meaning of the word. The contestant will be awarded zero points for failing to provide the correct multiple choice and meaning.
11. During each of the six rounds, each contestant gets a new word from the list. If a contestant gives an incorrect answer, the judges provide the correct answer. The next contestant will be given a new word from the list.
12. The contestant is allowed 30 seconds to provide his/her choice of the answer. The judges may award zero points to any contestant who ignores a request to start giving an answer.
13. The contestant will be awarded one point for the correct answer and zero for an incorrect answer.

Winners and Ranks:

14. Based on the combined scores of Phase I & II for a combined total of 31, the judges will determine the winners. The 1st place winner shall be ahead by at least one point to be declared as the champion. In announcing the ranks 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, the judges will follow these rules:
    • Announce Ranks 1, 2 and 3, if and only if there are at least 10 contestants;
    • Announce Ranks 1 and 2 ONLY, if there are 8 or 9 contestants;
    • Announce Rank 1 ONLY, if there are 5-7 contestants;
    • DO NOT announce any ranks if there are less than 5 contestants.

Tiebreaker Rules:

15. The tiebreaker rules apply ONLY if there are at least 5 or more contestants participating in a given center and at the discretion of the judges/regional coordinator.
16. After tabulation of scores (out of a total of 31) from Ph I (words 1-25) and Ph II (6 words), if there is a tie, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given, to break the ties:
    • Phase I score (words 1-25)
    • Phase I score among words 21-25
    • Phase I score among words 16-20
    • Phase I score among words 11-15
    • Phase I score among words 1-10
17. If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, the foundation may use additional measures to resolve them or award joint ranks.

Invitation to National Finals:

18. Invitation to National Finals is based on the relative scores [Phase I and Phase II] of all the contestants nationally and is not based on a direct correlation of ranks achieved by a contestant in a regional contest. Thus, the combined Phase I & II score of each contestant relative to all such scores around the country will determine whether the contestant will be invited to the National Finals. The regional tiebreakers are only helpful in determining the winners for a particular center, but have no bearing on the Finals invitation. Holding of the National Finals for the Senior Spelling Bee depends on the total number of participants at the regional level.

The following page contains tips and resources for preparation for the Vocabulary Bee conducted by NorthSouth. NorthSouth is committed to encourage children to improve their language skills and encouraging the same. The links below provide some sample words for the Vocabulary Bee tests -- please note that these are examples of words and DO NOT COVER all the words that might come in the tests.