2026 International Academic Competitions Championships

International Academic Competitions will hold its 13th annual Asian Championships at the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort and Spa in Khao Lak, Thailand on 12-14 June, 2026. Registrations are now open!

JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort Info

Competition Schedule

List of Qualified Schools & Students

2026 Costs

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO READ ALL THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE REGISTERING!!!

International Academic Bowl

  • Team event – minimum of five rounds of play
  • $365 USD per team of 3+ students, $280 per team of 2 students, $195 per team of 1 student)

International Academic Bee

  • Individual event – minimum three rounds of play
  • $105 USD per student

International Geography Bee

  • Individual event – minimum four rounds of play

  • $140 USD per student

International Science Bee

  • Individual event – minimum four rounds of play

  • $140 USD per student

International History Bee

  • Individual event – minimum four rounds of play

  • $140 USD per student

International History Bowl

  • Team event – minimum of five rounds of play
  • $535 USD per team of 3+ students, $395 per team of 2 students, $295 per team of 1

Championships Exams

  • $25 USD per student per exam

Shuttle fee from Phuket Airport to JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa

  • $28 per person each way

Invoices

Invoices will be sent via Flywire after registration. Any other payment methods must be pre-approved by IAC. Please email suopeng@iacompetitions.com if you wish to pay by any other methods.

Payments

Payments may also be made in cash at the tournament site. There is no surcharge on the above listed prices for paying in US Dollars or Euros. There is a 5% surcharge for paying in Thai Baht and a 10% surcharge for paying in any other currency.

Wire Transfer Fee

There is a 30USD fee for paying via international wire transfer in USD only.

2026 Requirements

Reader Requirements

  • Schools are required to bring a reader who can speak English clearly for every two teams they bring or fraction thereof (This means that one reader is required for one or two teams; two readers are required for three or four teams; etc). The penalty for each missing reader is $150 for the Academic Bowl and $200 for the History Bowl. Single-student Academic Bowl or History Bowl teams are exempt from this requirement, but dual student teams are not.

  • Schools/groups are required to bring a reader who can speak English clearly for each individual Bee competition in which they have at least two competing students. If there are 9-16 students from a school/group competing in an individual Bee, then two readers must be provided (and 3 readers for 17-24 students, etc.) A missing reader in each Bee competition incurs a $100 penalty. The penalty fees are used to pay for outside staff to make up the shortfall.

Competition Room Requirements

  • Schools are also required to provide one competition room for the History Bowl and History Bee if they have 1-3 teams, and two rooms if they are bringing 4 or more teams. Solo student teams are exempt from this requirement. The competition rooms are guest rooms that the players or families are staying in. These will be set up to be used as competition rooms during the History Bowl and History Bee preliminary rounds. There is a $150 fee per missing room that is required if this cannot be provided. Please let us know if you don’t wish your rooms to be used.

Accommodation Requirements

  • Please note that with the exception of students and teams from Phuket, staying at the host hotel is required for all students. The hotel must be booked using our hotel registration form or link.

  • Students competing in the Academic Bee must stay the night of June 11th.
  • Teams competing in the Academic Bowl must stay the night of June 11th or 12th.
  • Students competing in the Science Bee and/or Geography Bee must stay the night of June 12th.
  • Students and teams competing in the History Bee and/or History Bowl must stay the night of 13th.

Additional Hotel & Travel Information

If you don’t see rooms using the online link, please use the PDF form! For last minute bookings, please email the hotel at  Juthathip.Munthaporn@marriott.com for bookings! Please do NOT make hotel reservations in advance through any other method! Please note that with the exception of students and teams from Phuket, staying at the host hotel is required for all students. Reservations made at the hotel in a different way (i.e. calling the hotel, using the usual hotel website, a different reservation number, or on a 3rd party website, such as hotels.com) are invalid, and any family or school booking this way will not be allowed to compete unless they reserve via the online link! For information on the hotel’s refund policy, please contact the hotel directly; International Academic Competitions is not liable for any refunds for cancelled hotel rooms or meals.

Note that the following rates are only guaranteed for reservations made on or before 28 May, 2026! International Academic Competitions cannot guarantee the rate after that, though the policy of needing to stay at the hotel still applies.

The hotel rate is 5400 THB (6400 THB for pool access and 7900 THB for family lagoon pool access studio) on the nights of 11, 12, and 13 for double occupancy (includes service charge and government taxes). This fee includes daily breakfast for up to two. The Gala Dinner on 13 June is mandatory and the cost is 1450 THB per person. If you wish to come earlier or stay later, our rate is guaranteed from the nights of 9 June to 17 June. Please email the hotel if you wish to book a longer stay.

Costs for a 3rd person in the room are as follows (does not include gala dinner which is obligatory for anyone staying in the room on the night of 13 June):

Extra person using extra bed (12 years and older) with breakfast: 1600 THB per person

Extra person using extra bed (under 12 years) with breakfast: 850 THB per person

Check in is at 15.00 (3pm) each day and check out is at 12.00 (12pm) each day, with the exception of Sunday, 14 June when the check out time is at 13.00 (1pm)

Aside from the buffet breakfast included in the room rate and the obligatory gala dinner, IAC has also secured flat rate meal prices of 550 THB per lunch and 650 THB per dinner from lunch on 11 June through dinner on 14 June. These are optional (i.e. you are welcome to get lunch or dinner [aside from the gala dinner on Saturday] on your own, either at the resort or outside the resort) and must be booked through the hotel (tell them you want to book the flat rate dinner) by 23 May, 2026.
All guests are also welcome to a 20% discount on a la carte food purchases (this does not include the meal rates above or for the gala dinner) as well as a 20% discount on purchases at the Quan Spa on the resort grounds. Be sure to ask for these discounted rates!

When making flight reservations, please be sure to fly into Phuket International Airport (airport code HKT). Be advised that the resort is roughly 65-75 minutes north of the airport. IAC will once again organize airport shuttles. Shuttle prices are $28 USD per person one way or $56 per person round trip. To book shuttles, please complete this form; or if you have further questions about shuttles, please email nolwenn@iacompetitions.com

If your team is competing in the History Bowl on Sunday, 14 June, please do not book flights back before 5:30pm if at all possible! If you need to book a flight between 4:00pm and 5:30pm, please contact us to check with us if this is advisable before booking your flights!

Registration & Payment Deadline: May 28, 2026

Championship Exams, History Bee Qualifier, and Shuttle deadline will be extended to June 4, 2026.

Refunds & Late Fees

  • If payments (including any fees for not providing readers and/or hotel rooms for games) are not received by 1pm Thailand time on Sunday, June 14, then a 15% surcharge will be added to any outstanding amounts.

  • Exchange rates are calculated by the interbank exchange rates posted at www.xe.com at the time payment is received.

  • Students and teams registering after May 28 (registration deadline) will be charged a 10% late registration fee regardless of payment method. Students and teams registering after June 4 will be charged a 30% late registration fee regardless of payment method.

  • You can cancel your registration for free (minus a $50 refund fee regardless of the amount) until May 28, 2026 (which is the registration deadline) by emailing suopeng@iacompetitions.com.

  • Teams and students dropping between May 28, 2026 and June 4, 2026 owe 50% of their registration fees. Participants / schools are liable to pay these registration fees regardless of whether or not they have actually submitted payment, as by this point, we need to have hired and paid for staff, their travel, and the awards based on our original registration numbers.
  • Teams and students dropping on or after June 4, 2026 owe 100% of their registration fees. Participants / schools are liable to pay these registration fees regardless of whether or not they have actually submitted payment, as by this point, we need to have hired and paid for staff, their travel, and the awards based on our original registration numbers.

Event Registration

International Academic Bee Asian Championships

The IAC Asian Championships begins on Friday with the International Academic Bee Asian Championships. This competition is open to all students and does not require prior qualification.

International Academic Bowl Asian Championships

The International Academic Bowl Asian Championships is open to all students and does not require prior qualification. As in the History Bowl, there are 3 age divisions, up to 4 players play at any time, and all students on a team must be attending the same school. Questions are played according to the Academic Bowl format, which can include questions from all academic disciplines. Further information on the Academic Bowl of Asia, including sample questions, a rules sheet, and a scoresheet for practicing is available here.

International Science Bee Asian Championships

On Friday evening, we held the International Science Bee Asian Championships. Students must have qualified for the ISB Asian Championships through any of the three versions of the Science Bee Regional Finals.

International Geography Bee Asian Championships

On Saturday morning, we held the International Geography Bee Asian Championships. Students must have qualified for the IGB Asian Championships through any of the three versions of the Geography Bee Regional Finals.

International History Bee Asian Championships

On Saturday afternoon, we held the International History Bee Asian Championships. The Final Round will take place Sunday morning. Students must have qualified for the History Bee Asian Championships through either the Gamma, Alpha, or Beta versions of the History Bee Regional tournaments.

International History Bowl Asian Championships

On Saturday evening and Sunday morning, we held the International History Bowl Asian Championships. The Playoff Rounds will take place Sunday afternoon. School teams must have qualified for the History Bowl Asian Championships through either the Gamma, Alpha, or Beta versions of the History Bowl Regional tournaments.

Asian Championships Exams

International Academic Competitions is also pleased to present the Asian Championship Exams. These were offered in the following subjects:
Science: Biology, Environmental Science, Geography: Asian Geography, Historical Geography, Map and Flag, Geography Photo Quiz
History: Ancient History, Recent History, Asian History, Military History. None of these require prior qualification, and all can either be registered for either in advance or at the Asian Championships. The cost of each is 25 US dollars per exam. Each exam has 75 questions and is scored on the basis of 2 points for a correct answer, -1 for an incorrect response, and 0 points for a question left unanswered. There will be separate age divisions and awards for Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School, and Elementary Division students – the age cutoffs are the same as for the Bee competitions. Each exam is 25 minutes.

If you are interested in sample questions, past National Championships Exams on a variety of subjects (some of which are also being held at this year’s Asian Championships) have been held at the USA National Championships since 2020. These are linked here along with their answer keys.

History Bee Qualifier

This event is open to all students who have not qualified for the History Bee Asian Championships. Students in the qualifier compete in one round with the top half of students in each age division qualifying for the History Bee Asian Championships. Students who qualify would then immediately compete in the History Bee Asian Championships preliminary rounds. Students who don’t qualify would then compete in the Open History Bee taking place the same time as the History Bee Asian Championships.