High School Quiz Show - Gameplay & Rules

The gameplay and rules for High School Quiz Show®, GBH’s academic team competition for high school students in Massachusetts, are outlined below.

The Game: There are 4 rounds of gameplay on High School Quiz Show: Toss-up, Head-to-Head, Category, and Lightning.

Round 1: Toss-up

Format: Team vs. team
Time Limit: 6-8 minutes
Questions: Varied topics; open-ended and multiple choice (questions may include visual or audio clues). There may also be visual or audio questions.
Points: All questions are worth 10 points.
Penalty: There are no deductions for wrong answers in this round.
Buzzing: Teams may buzz in only after the question is read in its entirety. Team members must wait for the host to call on them by name before attempting to answer a question.
Conferring: Team members can confer before, but not after, buzzing in.
Bouncing: If a team buzzes in and cannot answer, or answers incorrectly, the other team has the option to buzz in and answer.
Score: The score is visible to each team during this round.

Round 2: Head-to-Head

Format: Each team forms a line and participates in a relay round, with players from each team going head-to-head one at a time.
Time Limit: 90 seconds
Questions: Varied topics; open-ended.
Points: All questions are worth 10 points.
Penalty: Incorrect answers result in a 10-point deduction.
Buzzing: There is no buzzer lockout in this round. Team members may buzz in at any time at their own risk. If a question is interrupted by a player buzzing in, the host will stop and ask for an answer without reading the remainder of the question. Team members must wait for the host to acknowledge them before attempting to answer a question.
Conferring: Players are not allowed to confer with their teammates.
Bouncing: If a player cannot answer a question or answers incorrectly, the host gives the correct answer and moves on to the next question. The other team is not given the opportunity to respond.
Score: The score and countdown clock are not visible to players during this round.

Round 3: Category Round

Format: Teams individually take turns answering complete categories.
Time Limit: When both teams have completed two categories.
Questions: Teams pick from a board of six themed categories such as “Lost in Space” (astronomy) or “The A-List” (all answers begin with the letter “A”). Each category has five open-ended questions which must be answered in order. There may also be visual or audio questions.
Selection: The team that is trailing after Round 2 chooses a category to complete independently, answering all five questions, in a non-competitive fashion. The opposing team is locked out except in the event of an elected “toss” (see below). The opposing team then chooses a category to complete in the same fashion. Category selections continue to alternate until four categories have been completed. (In the event of a tie after Round 2, a coin toss is used to determine the team that makes the first category selection. The team closest to the host on the left is heads and the team farthest from the host at the right desk is tails.)
Points: Questions are worth 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 points, in increasing levels of difficulty. A correct response earns the point value for the question. Questions appear and must be answered in order of difficulty.
Penalty: The point value associated with the question is deducted for wrong answers.
Buzzing: There is no buzzer in this round.
Conferring: Team members can confer.
Answering: Each team must designate only one player to provide the team’s answer to each question in this round (the “Spokesperson”). The team shall have 6 seconds to confer and then the host will ask the team Spokesperson for the team’s decision (to answer, pass, or toss).
Tossing a Question: Each team is allowed two tosses in this round, one per category. With a toss, the team will send the question and its associated points to the opposing team. The opposing team will then have 8 seconds to confer and answer the question; the question MUST be answered (the opposing team cannot choose to pass at that point). For example, if Team A tosses a 30-point question to Team B, Team B will have to answer the question; if correct, Team B gets 30 points. If incorrect, they lose 30 points. A team may not re-toss a question back to the original team. Once the opposing team answers the “tossed” question, the category continues with the original team completing the rest of the category questions (unless the toss happens on the last question of the category).
Passing a Question: Teams have the option to “pass” or not answer a question. There is no penalty for not answering. Teams can pass as many times as they wish in a category.
Score: The score is visible to players during this round.

Round 4: Lightning Round

Format: Team vs. team
Time limit: 90 seconds
Questions: Varied, open-ended.
Points: All questions are worth 20 points.
Penalty: Incorrect answers result in a 20-point deduction.
Buzzing: There is no buzzer lockout in this round. Team members may buzz in at any time at their own risk. If a question is interrupted by a player buzzing in, the host will stop and ask for an answer, without reading the remainder of the question. Team members must wait for the host to call on them by name before attempting to answer a question.
Conferring: Team members are not allowed to confer before or after buzzing in.
Bouncing: If a team cannot answer a question or answers incorrectly, the host gives the correct answer and moves on to the next question. The other team is not given the opportunity to respond.
Score: The score and countdown clock are visible to players during this round.

End of a Round: If the host is asking a question at the end of a round and no one has buzzed in, all action stops, and the round is over. If a player already has buzzed in or is in the process of answering a question, he or she will be permitted to answer. If the team that buzzed in answers a question incorrectly at the end of Round 1 and 3, the other team is permitted to answer. If a player gives an incorrect answer in Rounds 2 and 4, there is no opportunity for the other team to answer the question.

Delay of Game: High School Quiz Show does not accept instances of delay of game or instances of signaling. If a team is found to be stalling, communicating information to other teammates via a signal, or obstructing the natural flow of the game in any way before or after buzzing in to answer a question in any round, the team will receive a warning. If the behavior persists, further action will be taken at the discretion of GBH, up to and including a required forfeit.

Match Tiebreaker (if needed): In the event two teams are tied at the end of the match, one additional Toss-Up question will be asked and the first team to buzz in and answer correctly wins the match. Team members are allowed to confer before buzzing in however, they are not allowed to buzz in before the question is read in its entirety. If a team buzzes in and cannot answer or answers incorrectly, the question is then posed to the other team. If neither team gives a correct answer, the host moves on to another question. This continues until a correct answer is given and one team is declared the winner. There are no point deductions for wrong answers.

Judging: GBH makes every effort to ensure a fair game, but the occasional mistake may occur. If the producers become aware of a mistake, every effort will be made to correct it. Questions are repeated at the discretion of the host or producers. Disputes or discrepancies should be voiced by the coach at the end of a round. If the dispute is determined to be valid by the producers, play stops and the discrepancy is addressed in the sole discretion of the GBH production staff. Scores may be adjusted, or questions eliminated, if necessary. Play then resumes. Any ambiguity or disputes that may arise concerning the rules of play and their interpretation is clarified or resolved by the production staff. Once an individual round is completed and the next round begins, the completed round becomes final and challenges are not accepted retroactively. In the event of a tie, the competition is final once a tiebreaker round has been completed and any further disputes or discrepancies have been addressed. No protests are accepted after teams leave the studio.

Code of Conduct: To encourage a positive atmosphere and foster good sportsmanship, all participating schools and teams (including coaches, students and administrators) are presumed to be responsible individuals and will be treated as such and are therefore expected to conduct themselves in a responsible and ethical manner. This includes, but is not limited to, treating all other players, coaches, GBH staff, and audience members with courtesy, abiding by all decisions of the High School Quiz Show staff, promptly reporting violations and honestly reporting details of game situations to the High School Quiz Show Executive Producer.

Coaches and administrators are expected to actively use their influence to enhance sportsmanship in the broadest possible manner and should not engage in conduct that may incite players or audience members during the competitions and tapings. Unsportsmanlike conduct includes any actions or comments by coaches, players, or audience members which are intended to bait, anger, ridicule, or demean others, whether or not the deeds or words are vulgar, or in order to gain an unfair advantage during the competition. Public criticism of GBH, the crew of High School Quiz Show, any participating team players, coaches, and audience members during the competition or taping will be considered disruptive and unethical.

GBH at its sole discretion reserves the right to decline participation of a school prior to and at any point during the competition, including future competitions, due to unsportsmanlike, disruptive, or unethical behavior.

Confidentiality: All participating teams and coaches agree to keep and retain in the strictest confidence such confidential information as guest and team member appearances, including identity and information, game results, game questions, references, and any information not publicly known, since such disclosure will affect and/or destroy the surprise, tension, and outcome of the series for the viewing public or may provide an unfair advantage to other participating teams.