If you spend even a little time hanging around a BQ event, you might be called upon to keep score. If you're a player with a bye round in a tournament, for example, it's quite usual to get presented with a scoresheet.

While the scoresheet can bring to mind the evil complexities of the cricket scorebook, it's straightforward if you keep in mind two key principles:

1. Always work from the outside towards the centre.
2. Don't panic!

If you'd like to have a copy of the scoresheet to look at as you read this guide - which would be helpful - you can download the scoresheet for free right here.

Alternatively, you can take a look at a scoresheet that's been fully filled-in, and see if you can understand what's going on. And not just any scoresheet, either - this is the scoresheet for the final of the British Student Quiz Championships in 1999, back in the days of the great Oxbridge Balliol-Trinity rivalry:

Microsoft Word format: sample_scoresheet_word.doc (142 KB)
Other word processors (.rtf): sample_scoresheet_rtf.rtf (399 KB)

(NB This game uses power starters, where an early answer to a starter question is worth 15 points, and bonus questions worth a total of 30 points. It's a variation in the rules, but one you don't see all that much these days.)

Before the match

Even if it means everyone has to wait for a couple of minutes, it's worth taking your time getting the scoresheet set up correctly. A good reader won't start the game until the scorer's completely ready, mainly because they'll otherwise have to pause later to let you catch up, which is much less good.

First, fill in the top of the sheet, above the main boxes. These two lines provide the basic information about the match, allowing it to be identified later - sometimes years later, in fact.

If the game is a one-off, give it a suitable title, or just write "friendly" for the competition. "Round" is for use in tournaments; this may be the stage of the competition (e.g. quarter-final), or the number of the game in a round-robin format. The scorer is you, and the reader is the person reading the questions (which may also be you, of course, if you're on your own).

In the two long boxes either side of the "V", write the team names. Write the teams down on the sheet corresponding to where they are in relation to you in the room; so if you’re between the teams, put the team sitting to your left on the left of the sheet and so on.

Put the full name of the team members in the boxes below their team name, working from far to near as indicated. If you get each player to press their buzzer in turn and give their name, these boxes are in the same order as the lights on most buzzer system consoles (where you may also need to write the names if you are calling them out). You will notice that the boxes for starter scores below are then arranged so that the players’ boxes then correspond to how they are sitting in relation to you.

When you're writing all this information in, please do write it reasonably clearly and fully. You might think that it's "just a scoresheet", but spare a thought for some poor sap who might be trying to type up the results later (sometimes a lot later, on past form) and attempting to decipher your hieroglyphics.

During the match

As we said, the key is to work inwards. The body of the scoresheet is split in two, one half for each team.

The outermost four columns on either side are for recording the scores of each player on starter questions. All +15s (if in force), +10s and -5s go in the column of the player responsible on the line corresponding to the number of the starter. If a player gives an incorrect answer at the end of the question, there is no need to record the zero points in the scoresheet - just leave it blank.

If a player answers a starter correctly, their team receives a bonus question, which will usually be in several parts. It's up to you how you keep track of the running total through the bonus, but you will find that most readers will declare "10 from the bonus" or similar at the end of the question. In any case, the total score from the bonus question goes in the "Bon." column, and the total number of points scored from the question (i.e. starter + bonus) is then put in the "Total" column (including if the total is just -5 from an incorrect interruption).

Finally, the running score is kept in the grey "Cum." (for "cumulative") column nearest the centre. If you need to read out the score at any stage, you just need to look at the most recent scores in each grey column.

Some points to note:

• Remember always to take any -5s off the running total.
• If a starter is not answered correctly (or indeed not answered at all), move on to the next line for the next starter, so that the number of the line always corresponds to the number of the starter.
• If you get lost with the score, don't be afraid to ask the reader to stop the game at a convenient moment so that you can catch up. Everyone gets lost sometimes, so don't be embarrassed.

After the match

Write the final score for each team in the big boxes either side of the word "Final".

Then, for each player, count up the number of +15s, +10s and -5s and enter them in the boxes at the bottom of their column. If you’re playing standard BuzzerQuiz rules, there will be no +15s. Enter them as numbers – so 3, 4, 1 as opposed to 45, 40, -5.

Then, in the bottom row, write the total score contributed by that player on starter questions, this time writing, for example, +80. If this last bit has you stuck at a tournament, leave it for the person in charge to fill in.

Above and beyond the call of duty?

Once you've got the hang of the basics of the scoresheet, there's plenty of other duties the scorer can take on to help out the reader a bit. For example, if you're playing a timed game, the scorer can keep track of the clock; or if you're using University Challenge-style recognition (calling out their team and surname) of the players when they buzz, you can start practising your best Roger Tilling impersonation. But these are just extras: it's the scoresheet that matters.

In the end, scoring is pretty straightforward, and comes with the additional perk of a ringside seat right beside the reader. And remember: don't panic, and don't be afraid to ask for help.