Rules NSBS

1. The Oxford Advance Learners edition English Dictionary is the official dictionary of the competition.
2. The pronouncer announces the word to be spelled. She/he speaks slowly and clearly, without distorting the normal pronunciation of the word.
3. The speller listens carefully to the pronouncer and asks for the word to be repeated if necessary.
4. When the speller is sure she/he understands the word, she/he pronounces it, spells it and then pronounces it again. She/he must say it loud enough for the judge(s) to hear it.
5. Spellers may ask for a sentence, re- pronunciation of the word, the definition & etymology of any word.
6. The speller is not allowed to repeat the spelling of the word once she/ he pronounces it the second time.
7. Once a speller has begun to spell a word, he /she may not ask for a word to be re – pronounced, defined or used in a sentence.
8. In the first 3 round if the speller is not satisfied with their performance, she / he has the right to respell the word numerous times as- long- as it is within the time allowed.
9. At the challenging words round {once the speller had started to spell the word, he/ she will not be given any opportunity to change letters already pronounced. A speller may retrace provided that letters and their sequence are not changed in retracing}.
10. The spell checker should write the word as spelled by the speller.
11. Only judge(s) have the right to decide whether the word was spelled correctly or not.
12. If the correct spelling is given, the speller remains in the competition.
13. If the spelling is incorrect, the speller is eliminated from the competition at the end of the round. The pronouncer gives the correct spelling of that word. A new word will be given to the next speller.
14. The elimination procedure changes when the number of spellers is reduced to two. At this point, if one speller misspells a word, the other speller must spell that word correctly to be declared the winner of that round.
15. In the case of homophones, the judges have to mention the definition of the word whether or not the spellers ask for them.
16. The time allowed to complete the word is 60 seconds ONLY.
17. The first three rounds include words from the given list for the group and the assigned book for the group. After the 3rd round the judges have the right to use the challenging words to determine the winners. The challenging words are the above group’s word list.
18. In the case of group 4, the challenging words are chosen from the dictionary.