Competition Format

Overview

The International Humanities Challenge is designed to reward different forms of humanities excellence. Rather than focusing only on memorisation or only on public speaking, the competition combines individual and team events that test knowledge, argument, analysis, collaboration, and communication.

Age divisions

To ensure fairness and accessibility, the International Humanities Challenge is planned around two age divisions. These divisions allow for appropriate levels of difficulty, question design, and expectations in both written and spoken components.

Age is determined on 1 January of the competition year. Teams compete in the division of their oldest member. For both Senior and Junior there are 3 students per team.

1. The Big Question

Students begin with a major humanities question connected to the annual theme. After a short team discussion period, each student writes an individual structured response using evidence, argument, and critical thinking.

2. Individual humanities quiz

The quiz tests broad humanities knowledge across history, geography, economics, politics, culture, philosophy, and current global issues.

The purpose is not simply to reward memorisation, but to value curiosity and strong general understanding across the humanities.

3. Team Humanities Quiz

Teams collaborate to answer more demanding humanities questions that reward discussion, breadth of knowledge, and collective problem-solving.

4. Team challenge

Students compete in teams of three in a collaborative challenge requiring them to analyse a prompt, prepare a response, and communicate their thinking clearly.

This component involves a short preparation period followed by a brief presentation or solution-sharing task. It is designed to reward discussion, teamwork, problem-solving, and perspective-taking.

Awards and recognition

The competition is intended to recognise excellence across multiple areas rather than only naming a single winner. Awards include medals and certificates for top performances in individual sections, as well as overall team recognition.

This approach helps keep the event motivating, celebratory, and inclusive, while still maintaining a strong academic standard.