International Debaters

South Hampstead was the top ranked UK team at the Finals’ Day of the International Competition for Young Debaters held at the Oxford Union.

Three of our top debating teams made the finals of the global contest, arguably the world’s most prestigious U16 debating competition in English. Over 300 teams competed in the regional rounds of the event with only 48 making it through to Finals’ Day.  Although primarily for Year 10 students, the majority of our qualifying debaters are in Year 9.  Together, they travelled to the Oxford Union – a venue that has played host to many illustrious speakers, from Winston Churchill to the Dalai Lama – for an all-day event of competitive debating.

Although they very narrowly missed out on the grand final to teams from India and Canada, Sophia and Olivia were the highest-ranked UK team in the whole competition, coming 5th overall, with Lara and Molly hot on their heels in 6th place and Camille and Chiara coming 10th. Molly also came 10th as an individual speaker, out of 97 students. Congratulations on another set of outstanding performances.