Open for Registration:
- KMAT Great Debate (email TheGreatDebate@kmat.org.uk to register)
- ESU Schools’ Mace Debate Competition (open until 16 Sep)
- Bright College Schools Online 2026 (open until 18 Sep)
- LSE Schools (open until 26 Sep)
- South Hampstead Public Speaking (open until 28 Sep 9.00am)
- BDO Competition (state school only)
- Birmingham Schools (open until 16 Oct)
- South Hampstead Autumn Debating (open until 8 Oct)
- South Hampstead Winter Debating (open until 8 Oct)
- DebateHub Year 5&6 Championships (open until 12 Oct)
Scroll down for more information on each competition (listed chronologically). Past competitions have been archived:
Brighton College Schools Online 2026
This is a full-day, online only event organised by Brighton College.
The competition runs from 8.30am to 8.00pm and consists of four rounds of debating, breaking to multiple finals.
Event Details
- Date: 3 October 2026
- Location: Online only
- Format: British Parliamentary, 5-minute speeches
- Fees: £50/team
Find out more:
LSE Schools 2026
This is a full day, in-person competition organised by the London School of Economics debate society.
The competition runs from 8.15am to 7.30pm and consists of four rounds of debating, breaking to Gold, Silver, and Novice finals.
Please contact lsedebate@gmail.com for more information.
Event Details
- Date: 10 October 2026
- Location: London School of Economics
- Format: British Parliamentary, 5-minute speeches
- Team cap: up to 5 teams per school
- Fees: £35 (non-fee-paying schools), £85/team (fee-paying schools)
Find out more:
South Hampstead Autumn Public Speaking
This is an afternoon public speaking competition organised by South Hampstead High School.
Students must pre-prepare a 5m speech on any topic they wish. They will deliver the speech once (twice if they make the final) and answer questions on it. They will also ask questions to other students who give speeches and ‘compere’ (chair) one other student who they’ll be paired with on the night.
A briefing video on the format can be found here.
Event Details
- Date: 12 October 2026, 4.15pm to 8.30pm
- Location: South Hampstead High School, London
- Format: 5-minute speech with Q&A
- Age range: Years 7 to 13
- Fees: Free (non-fee-paying schools), £15 per student (fee-paying schools)
Find out more:
The KMAT Great Debate 2026
This is a free competition open to Year 7 to 9 pupils from any secondary school in Coventry and Warwickshire. It consists of two stages: i) qualifying rounds and ii) a Finals Day for top-performing teams. Click for more information.
Debate Boxing format: Topics are provided to competitors in advance, but sides are only announced 5 minutes before the debate. Competitors can research the topic in advance, but are only allowed to bring the notes from their 5 minutes of preparation into the debate.
There are 5 qualifying rounds. Schools can enter up to 4 pupils; their qualifying scores are added together and the top 10 schools qualify to Finals Day. On Finals Day, individual students compete in 5 rounds, with the top two in each group going through to the next round. There is an award for both the winner and the top school (based on cumulative scores).
Event Details
- Location: Kenilworth School, Warwickshire
- Format: ‘Debate Boxing’ – see description for more information
- Age range: Years 7-9
- Fees: Free
- Team cap: up to four pupils per school
- Qualifying rounds: 29 and 30 September and 1 October
- Finals day: 14 October 2026
Find out more:
The BDO Debating Competition (state school only)
This is a free afternoon event jointly organised by DebateHub and BDO, open to state schools only.
The event will consist of three preliminary rounds in the South Hampstead debate format. Teams are of three speakers each, with two teams per debate. Teams have 15 minutes of preparation time after the motion is released, and every member on the team will speak once, delivering a 5-minute speech.
All ability levels are welcomed.
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Event Details
- Date: 23 October 2026, 4.15pm to 8.30pm
- Location: BDO LLP, 55 Baker Street, London
- Format:3-v-3, 5-minute speeches
- Age range: Years 10 to 13
- Fees: Free
Find out more:
Birmingham Schools
This is a full day, in-person competition organised by the University of Birmingham’s debate society for pupils in Years 9 to 13.
The competition runs from 8.30am to 8.00pm and consists of four rounds of debating, breaking to four concurrent finals. There is no registration fee for this competition.
Please contact j.dyke@guild.bham.ac.uk for more information.
Event Details
- Date: 24 October 2026
- Location: University of Birmingham
- Format: British Parliamentary
- Team cap: 80 teams
- Age range: Years 9 – 13
- Fees: Free
Find out more:
South Hampstead Autumn Debating
This is an afternoon event organised by South Hampstead High School, running from 4.15pm to 8.30pm, with two concurrent streams.
The event will consist of three preliminary rounds in the South Hampstead debate format. Teams are of three speakers each, with two teams per debate. Teams have 15 minutes of preparation time after the motion is released, and every member on the team will speak once, delivering a 5-minute speech.
This competition is designed for beginner and intermediate debaters; experienced debaters are recommended to sign up for the Winter competition on 5 December instead (though all debaters are welcome at both competitions).
Event Details
- Date: 10 November 2026, 4.15pm to 8.30pm
- Location: South Hampstead High School, London
- Format: 3-v-3, 5-minute speeches
- Age range: Two streams: Years 7-9, and Years 10-13
- Fees: Free (non-fee-paying schools), £55/team (fee-paying schools)
- Team cap: None, but competition is frequently oversubscribed so no teams guaranteed
Find out more:
Belvedere Debating
This is an afternoon event organised by Belvedere Academy, running from 4.15pm to 8.30pm, with two concurrent streams.
The event will consist of three preliminary rounds in the South Hampstead debate format. Teams are of three speakers each, with two teams per debate. Teams have 15 minutes of preparation time after the motion is released, and every member on the team will speak once, delivering a 5-minute speech.
Event Details
- Date: 12 November 2026, 4.15pm to 8.30pm
- Location: Belvedere Academy, Liverpool
- Format: 3-v-3, 5-minute speeches
- Age range: Two streams: Years 7-9, and Years 10-13
Find out more:
Debate Hub Year 5&6 Debating Championships
This is an afternoon event organised by Debate Hub, running from 3.30pm to 7.00pm, for Year 5 and 6 pupils only.
The event will consist of three preliminary rounds. Teams are of three speakers each, with two teams per debate. Teams have 15 minutes of preparation time after the motion is released, and every member on the team will speak once, delivering a 3-minute speech.
Schools must bring one DBS checked adult per two teams, and those adults must be willing to chair judge if asked (though usually the judging is done by South Hampstead students).
Event Details
- Date: 23rd November, 3.30pm to 7.00pm
- Location: South Hampstead High School, London
- Format: 3-v-3, 3-minute speeches
- Age range: Years 5 and 6 only
- Fees: Free (non-fee-paying schools), £30/team (fee-paying schools)
- Team cap: None, but competition is frequently oversubscribed so no teams guaranteed
Find out more:
ESU Mace Debating Competition
The ESU Mace is one of the oldest and largest school-level debating competitions in the UK. It consists of first and second round heats in November 2026 and January 2027, a Regional Final in March 2027, and a Finals Day for regional champions in May 2027. All rounds take place in a 3-v-3 prepared format, with motions and positions shared in advance. Click for more information.
Heats: Schools are grouped into heats
within their regions, usually with around six schools in each event. At the end of each heat, a pre-selected number of schools progress to the next round, depending on the number of entries in the region. Each region has six places available in the regional finals.
Regionals and Finals Day: Each of the 12 regions will host a regional round, with the top team of each region being named the Regional Champion and proceeding to Finals Day.
Sign up on the ESU website to be notified when registration opens, and reach out to competition@esu.org with any questions.
Event Details
- Format: 3-v-3 speeches, with 7 minutes for the first four speakers and 5 minutes for the summary speech
- Age range: Years 7 – 13
- Fees: £65 – £75
- Bursaries: Available for schools with high levels of FSM and EAL students
- Team cap: One team per school
- Heats: November 2026 and January 2027
- Regional round: March 2027
- Finals Day: May 2027
Find out more:
South Hampstead Winter Debating
This is a full-day event organised by South Hampstead High School, with two concurrent streams. Each stream will consist of four preliminary rounds, breaking to Gold, Silver, and Bronze finals.
This is designed to be a preparatory competition for Oxbridge and ICYD in Spring term and tends to be very competitive, with appropriately challenging motions. Less experienced debaters are recommended to take part in the South Hampstead Autumn competition instead (10 November).
Event Details
- Date: 5 December 2026, 9.30am to 7.00pm
- Location: South Hampstead High School, London
- Format: British Parliamentary, 5-minute speeches
- Age range: Two streams: Years 7-9, and Years 10-13
- Fees: £35/team (non-fee-paying schools), £75/team (fee-paying schools)
- Team cap: None, but competition is frequently oversubscribed so no teams guaranteed