[SOLVED]A formula to give a running points total and display highest score

Hi guys I'm struggling to know where to start I'm trying to make a spread sheet where there is a first, second and third place award for differing categories.

First place gets 3 pts, second gets 2 and third gets 1.
So far ive put the classes down and a header for 1st 2nd and 3rd but what im trying to do is when I type a name in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd box id like them to be awarded the respective points and each person would have their running total displayed and the one with the most points at the end when all fields are filled is displayed in the winners box.

Is this possible ?
Thanks.
Graham.

Hi and welcome to the forum

So that any suggestions get make relative to what you already have, i would suggest you upload a sample work book, (all sensitive data removed), showing what data you are working with, a few examples of what your expected outcome is, and how you arrived at that
To attach a file to your post,
click advanced (next to quick post),
scroll down until you see "manage file",
click that and select "add files" (top right corner).
click "select files" find your file, click "open" click "upload" click 'done" bottom right. click "submit reply"

Once the upload is completed the file name will appear below the input boxes in this window.
You can then close the window to return to the new post screen.

There are a number of ways to do this, give this 1 a try. In Q12, copied down...
=COUNTIF($C$10:$C$30,M12)*3+COUNTIF($F$10:$F$30,M12)*2+COUNTIF($I$10:$I$30,M12)

Also, I would advise against all the merged cells you have there, they can cause all sorts of problems later with formulas

All merging removed, I highlited Q12 and dragged down to the end of the column, clicked the formula tab and pasted the formula you gave it works perfect for the top name ie me but hasn't worked for any other names am I entering it wrongly?

Aha if I read through the formula its looking for entries matching m12 ie Graham, so if I replace m12 for the corresponding position of all entrants and paste the formula one person at a time would this work?

yup, that should do it

I presume that all references changed after you removed the merging. If you still have a problem, upload the updated sample workbook

based on the original file/layout, use this...
=INDEX($M$12:$M$24,MATCH(MAX($Q$12:$Q$24),$Q$12:$Q$24,0))

Happy to help