There will be multiple rounds. In the first two rounds, participants will not be told immediately after spelling a word whether it was correct or not. They will each spell 6 - 10 words (depending on group size). Those that get 70% of the words correct in the first round will move on to the second round. Those that get 80% of the words correct in the second round will move on to the third round.

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In the third round, participants will be told immediately if they spelled a word correctly or not. If a word is spelled incorrectly, the participant is out if another participant in the round spells a word correctly. The last participant remaining is the winner. If all remaining participants in the third round spell a word wrong when it is their turn, then all participants will get another attempt until a winner is determined.

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If necessary to break a tie or finish a round on time, the participants may be given words from the list that is more advanced than their list. The beginner group, for example, would then use words from the intermediate word list if necessary to break a tie or finish a round on time. For the advanced group, they may be given words from the Black's Law Dictionary. This has not yet been necessary at one of our spelling bees, but if participants know their word list super well, it may happen if needed.

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If necessary, judges may impose a time limit for spelling a word if a contestant is taking too long.

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For Beginners Only: Beginners will start with the shortest words and will be given those first, and then the next shortest, and so on. They will only reach the longer words if participants spelled the shorter ones correctly. Beginners will be told how many letters are in the words they are asked to spell.