Top Debaters

Our debaters have excelled at some of the most prestigious national and international competitions this term.

In the Oxford Schools’ contest, three of our teams qualified for finals day at the Oxford Union, debating against teams from across the world. South Hampstead was one of only three schools to have three teams qualify for the finals. Despite this being a competition for students in the Upper Sixth and below, our pupils were amongst some of the youngest competitors: Camille, Molly and Sophia in Year 9; Lara and Olivia in Year 10; and Charlotte in the Lower Sixth.  Congratulations to Sophia and Olivia who placed 12th out of over 100 teams.

Our debaters also triumphed at the International Competition for Young Debaters, arguably the world’s most prestigious U16 debating competition in English – Chiara in Year 9 will be joining Camille, Molly, Sophia and Olivia for another trip to the Oxford Union for the finals day next month.

Other recent successes include Lara and Molly placing second in the open rounds of Imperial Juniors to make the Gold Final, and Olivia and Sophia reaching the Silver Final; at UCL Schools, Charlotte and Camille reached the Silver Final; while Emma in Year 11 and Chiara and Sophie in Year 9 made the Regional Final of the English Speaking Union’s Public Speaking Competition.

Meanwhile, via our award-winning Debate Hub initiative, we continue to expand public speaking and debating opportunities via coaching sessions at numerous state primaries and by hosting regular, inclusive competitions at South Hampstead, encouraging more pupils to speak up and speak out.