Q: What is the cost

A: Free to sign up for an account and use the exams that are available to account holders. The fee for the "Iowa KB Qualification Test" is $10 per student on the team. Your account will generate an invoice for any teams that take the actual qualifying exam. You can submit payment at any time and it does not have to be received before the deadline.

Q: How many students on a team?

A: Normally 4 students work and 5 is the max. There are some teams that have tried qualifying with only 3 students. If you make the finals, you must compete with the students that you qualified with.

Q: What is the format of the Knowledge Bowl competition?

A: Qualifying is done online. The top 12 teams in each division advance to the in-person, head to head competition in Ankeny. The Iowa KB is unique in that it is one of the only competitions in the country that use a three buzzer system in our live, head to head competitions.

Q: What is the format of the head to head competitions?

A: We start with a written round that is completed with your team. This is followed by 7 additional rounds of head to head competition with buzzers. After lunch and when the 8 rounds are completed, the top three teams from each division meet for a final round on stage to determine 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Everyone starts with 0 points for the final round.

Q: Can people watch the competition rounds as they are happening?

A: Yes, there is plenty of room for parents, students and fans to watch each round.

Q: How can I create practice competitions?

  1. Log into your account and click on the competitions tab.
  2. Click on the green box "Create Competition".
  3. Name your competition, choose the "Question Types", Click Create.
IF you are using this test as practice for your students only THEN:
  1. Click on the Teams Tab, then click on the “Add Team” green button.
  2. From the drop down, choose the practice test you just created.
  3. Fill out the team name, password (make it easy) and member names.
  4. You will see a list of your teams, give your teams their specific “Login” number.
  5. Student teams will use their “Login Number” and Password to access and begin the test from the Iowakb.com home page.
  6. Student teams can close the test if they run out of time. They can restart the test at the place they stopped by signing in at a later time with their team “Login” number.
IF you are inviting other Schools or organizations to join in your “Competition” THEN:
  1. In your account, under the “Competitions” tab, you will see the competition you created and a six letter “Registration Code”
  2. Have the person/teacher you would like to invite, go to Iowakb.com and either “Create” an account or log into their existing account.
  3. They will click on the Competitions tab and enter your registration code in the “Register for Competition” box. Click the blue Register box.
  4. Now they will see your competition as an option and can follow steps 4-9 to sign up teams.
For your practice competitions, the account holders will be able to see the “Scoreboard” to see how teams are doing. This will be under the “Competitions Tab” in your account. There is no limit on how many teams can compete in your own competitions. You can also adjust the begin and end dates when initially creating the competition. After the “end date” students will no longer be able to log in and take your test.

The process remains the same for signing up teams for every competition, including the actual qualifying exam which has 150 questions for the JH and 200 questions for HS.

I made the finals, anything I need to know?

  1. Directions to DMACC and Food Options.docx
  2. Rules for the Iowa Knowledge Bowl Finals - 3 team_buzzer system.docx
  3. Schedule for Knowledge Bowl Competition Finals.docx