How will I know if I’ve made it to the Preliminary Round?

The results of the Selection Round will be sent to your school. If your school is invited to be a part of the Preliminary Round (based on the students’ performance), the school will select a team of 5 students (3 main + 2 reserve) and communicate the same with HT School. These students will represent the school in the Preliminary Round.

How many school teams will make it to the Preliminary Round of Smartacus?

Schools across India will be divided into four zones—North, South, East and West, and 16 teams from each zone will make it to the Preliminary Round.

How will school teams be selected for the Preliminary Round?

Invitations to participate in the Preliminary Round will be extended to schools based on their students' performance in the Selection Round. To ensure an even demographic distribution, HT School will try to accommodate participation from every state / union territory. However, the Quizmasters’ decision will be final and binding on all matters.

If a school is invited but fails to respond / declines the invitation / delays in responding, HT School will invite another school in its place.

What types of questions will be asked in the Preliminary Round?

A mix of textual and picture-based questions will be asked. All answers need to be provided verbally. The quiz will be based on the AQL Quiz format.

What happens if a question in the AQL format quiz goes unanswered after all passes are exhausted?

If a question is passed between the teams and the teams do not provide an answer, the Quizmaster will reveal the answer, and no points are awarded to either team.

How many members will a school team comprise in the Preliminary Round?

Every school can select a team of five students (3 main + 2 reserve). However, in any given match, only three members can participate. The remaining members will play the role of reserves and can strategically compete in other matches, based on the decision of the school.

Should every school team have a captain in the Preliminary Round?

Yes, every school team needs to have a captain. However, the captain can change from match to match, at the discretion of the school. The captain will participate in the toss and decide the order in which team members participate in the individual rounds. The captain will select the topic and choose the mystery bag in the team-based rounds. The captain’s decision will be considered final in team-based rounds.

What will be the format of every match in the Preliminary Round?

Two school teams comprising 3 members each will face each other in every match. A quiz board with 8 topics and 2 mystery bags will be displayed. Each topic will comprise 2 questions, and each mystery bag will comprise 3 questions. The questions in each topic / mystery bag will have varying difficulty levels. The team that has won the toss gets the advantage of choosing the first topic, followed by the opponent team. This sequence will continue till 6 topics are complete. Every member in each team will be given a chance to pick a topic.

The remaining 2 topics will be team-based, where the team that won the toss will first be allowed to select one of the topics. The members of the team can discuss the answers to the question as a team. The captain will then finalize one answer.

The mystery bag round will be conducted along the same lines of the team-based topic round. The opponent team gets the first go at choosing a mystery bag. Please refer to the Instructions document for the rules of the match.

How will each match be scored in the Preliminary Round?

If the person to whom the question is addressed answers the question correctly, the team will be awarded 2 points. If the question is answered incorrectly, it will first be passed to other members of the same team for 1 point. If the team fails to answer the question, it is passed to the opponent team for 1 point.

For the team-based rounds, the teams will be awarded 2 points for correctly answering a direct question and 1 point for correctly answering a passed question.

If a team member's connectivity is poor, can a reserve be brought in during the match?

Unfortunately, no. The team’s composition cannot be changed once a match commences.

What happens if a person answers a question out of turn?

The Quizmaster will take a decision on whether to award points to the opponent team in such cases. The Quizmaster's decision will be final and binding.

How can I mute / unmute myself if I cannot move my hands during the session?

The proctor will watch your movements closely. You can move the mouse / mouse pad to mute / unmute yourself. However, if excessive hand movement is detected, you will be warned and disqualified if the deviation occurs multiple times.

Should all the members of a team log in using different systems?

Yes, every member of the team should log in using the email address provided at the time of registration. It is of utmost importance that team members do NOT share a system.

How will the Selection Round be conducted?

The Selection Round will be conducted asynchronously on the Quizizz platform.

How many questions will the Selection Round have?

The Selection Round will comprise 60 questions, with a duration of 60 minutes.

Can I participate in the Selection Round more than once?

No, be disqualified if you try to attempt the Selection Round quiz more than once.

What happens if I start the quiz and I get logged out due to technical / connectivity issues?

If you fall out of the platform during the quiz owing to legitimate reasons, such as a power cut or internet connectivity issues, you are advised to re-login to the platform using the same username. You are also requested to send an e-mail to support@ht-school.com detailing the problem, so HT School can validate your claim and not disqualify you on the ground of multiple attempts.