Academic & Youth Fair · General
National History Day with Junior and Senior divisions across paper, exhibit, documentary, performance and website, judged as individual and group entries.
Sets up a national-style student history contest: five categories (paper, exhibit, documentary, performance and website), Junior and Senior divisions, separate individual and group classes, and marks out of 100 per judge.
This template rebuilds the structure of a national student history contest from the United States, so a coordinator opens an event that already carries the real divisions, the five categories and the individual and group classes instead of a blank catalogue. It suits a school, a district history fair or a youth programme that wants students to research a topic in depth and present it in a form they choose.
There are five competition items: Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance and Website. Paper is individual only. The other four run as separate Individual and Group classes, with groups of two to five students entering the division of their oldest member. That gives 18 classes in all, and each is ranked on its own, so an individual exhibit never competes directly against a group exhibit. The two divisions are Junior (grades 6 to 8) and Senior (grades 9 to 12); the age ranges in the template (11 to 14 and 15 to 18) are an approximation of those grade bands, so adjust them to match your own schools.
Every entry is built around original research. The source limits are a paper of 1,500 to 2,500 words, an exhibit of 500 student-composed words, a website of 1,200 visible student-written words, and a documentary or performance of no more than 10 minutes, which the template keeps as the item time limit with a warning at minute nine. A process paper of up to 500 words and an annotated bibliography go with every entry in every category, so plan how you will collect and store those documents before the event day.
The source scheme weighs historical quality at 80 per cent and clarity of presentation at 20 per cent, and its judges work together to rank entries rather than assign numbers. The template needs a number to tabulate, so each judge marks out of 100 and the platform ranks on the total; treat this as a practical configuration, not a rule of the original contest. Placings install as First, Second and Third with 10, 6 and 3 points, which are also contest-level settings you can change. Use the Registration Page to collect entries, confirm each student’s grade, and record group members before assigning a class.
Where this event comes from
The contest model comes from a long-running United States programme in which students in grades 6 to 12 research a historical topic and present it in one of five categories, advancing from local to national level.
Where this event is run
United States, as a school-based programme that moves from local to regional and then national contests, with each region sending a limited number of entries per division and category forward. The template follows that structure and suits any organiser who wants a research-led history contest judged on evidence and clear presentation. It is less suited to performance festivals where many items run for all ages in parallel.
- United States (school history contest)
Key facts
- 5 items: Paper (individual only), Exhibit, Documentary, Performance and Website (each as Individual and Group)
- Two divisions: Junior (grades 6 to 8) and Senior (grades 9 to 12), 18 classes in total
- Groups of 2 to 5 students enter the division of the oldest member
- Paper 1,500 to 2,500 words; exhibit 500 words; website 1,200 words; documentary and performance up to 10 minutes
- Process paper (up to 500 words) and annotated bibliography with every entry
- Marks out of 100 per judge as a platform setting; the source ranks entries together without numeric scores
- Age groups
- 2
- Competition items
- 5
- Competitions
- 18
- Grade bands
- 0
- Rank awards
- 3
Age groups
Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.
Junior Division
Candidates aged 11 to 14 compete in this group
Senior Division
Candidates aged 15 to 18 compete in this group
Competition items
The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.
Competitions by group
The full schedule matrix, sectioned by age group then category — which item runs for whom, and for how long.
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Division | |||||
| Off Stage | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Paper | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Exhibit | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Exhibit | Team | — | English | 100 | — |
| Website | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Website | Team | — | English | 100 | — |
| On Stage | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Documentary | Individual | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Documentary | Team | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Performance | Individual | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Performance | Team | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Senior Division | |||||
| Off Stage | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Paper | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Exhibit | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Exhibit | Team | — | English | 100 | — |
| Website | Individual | — | English | 100 | — |
| Website | Team | — | English | 100 | — |
| On Stage | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Documentary | Individual | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Documentary | Team | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Performance | Individual | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
| Performance | Team | — | English | 100 | 10 min |
Grades and ranks
How scores turn into grade bands, and how many points each placing is worth.
| Rank | For | Points |
|---|---|---|
| First | 10 | |
| Second | 6 | |
| Third | 3 |
Frequently asked questions
Can I change this template after installing it?
Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.
Do I need technical knowledge to set this up?
No. Installing a template does the setup work for you; you only need to review the details (dates, unit or house names) and open registration.
Want the fuller picture first? See our guide to judge scoring and tabulation software.
Install this template in eTalenter
Everything above is installed as a live, editable event in one step — age groups, items, rules and scoring. Start your own below.
