Competition Format

Three rounds. One word at a time.

Every contestant advanced — or was eliminated — one carefully chosen word at a time, moving through three progressively harder rounds until a top three emerged.

ROUND 01

Category A — General Words

All 48 registered contestants took the stage, each given one word from the general everyday-words list. Correct spelling advanced a contestant to Round 2.

57 words in the study bank
ROUND 02

Category B — Intermediate Words

Only contestants who cleared Round 1 returned to the microphone for a more advanced word — one packed with silent letters and unusual spellings.

43 words in the study bank
ROUND 03

Category C — Occupations

The remaining finalists spelled out the names of occupations. Where more than three contestants remained, additional occupation words decided the final top three.

87 occupation names

House rules

  • Each contestant could ask for their word to be repeated once, and request a sentence using it.
  • No coaching or assistance from teachers, parents or the audience — interference risked disqualification.
  • Once spelling began, a contestant could not restart except for a genuine technical issue, at the judges' discretion.
  • Ties were broken by additional words from the relevant category until a winner emerged.

Scoring & eligibility

  • Every answer was simply marked correct or incorrect by the panel, with a Chief Judge settling any split decisions.
  • Contestants had to be enrolled in primary school and born no earlier than 2015 to qualify.
  • Prizes were awarded per contestant, not per school — 1st, 2nd and 3rd place received cash and educational materials.
  • Every other participant went home with a gift bag as a token of appreciation.