Cambridge Schools

Registration for Cambridge Schools 2023-24 has now opened! You can find more information on the 2023-24 edition of the Competition, as well as the link to the registration form, here.

Organised annually by the Cambridge Union – the oldest debating society in the world – the Cambridge Schools’ Debating Competition (“Cambridge Schools”) is one of the world’s biggest schools debating competitions in the world.

Every year, thousands of talented debaters across the world compete for the opportunity to travel to Cambridge to participate in Finals Day, and ultimately for the prestigious honour of being named Schools’ Champion. The Competition offers an excellent opportunity for students to develop their public speaking and critical thinking skills and is not to be missed!

Finals Day is held in the historic Cambridge Union building, which has hosted speakers such as  the Dalai Lama, US President Ronald Reagan, and Margret Thatcher. The tradition of high quality speakers continues to this day, with the Union having recently hosted individuals such as Bernie Sanders, President of the UK Supreme Court Baroness Hale, and Stephen Hawking, to name a few. To learn more about the Cambridge Union, please visit http://www.cus.org.

1. Competition Structure

The competition consists of two stages:

  1. Regional Rounds, and
  2. Finals Day

All regionals and Finals Day will be held on either Saturdays or Sundays.

All debates (for both regionals and Finals Day) are held in the British Parliamentary (“BP”) format. You can find a guide on BP here.

Regional Rounds: These normally take place between January and March

  • Each regional consists of 4 rounds, in which participants will be judged by experienced university-level debaters
  • As the rounds progress, teams will be paired up for other teams with equal points as them
  • After 4 rounds, the top teams from each regional “break” to Finals Day
  • Participants will receive feedback for the first 3 rounds; and although there is no set time for feedback for the 4th round, participants are encouraged to find their judges after the break announcement and ask for personal feedback

Finals Day: Whereas all teams participate in regionals, only a mere handful participate in Finals Day. Finals Day will consist of 4 in-rounds, after which the top 8 teams will advance to the semi-finals. The best 2 teams in each semi-finals will advance to the grand final, where one will be crowned Schools’ Champion!

2. Eligibility

All participants must be (a) studying at a secondary school, and (b) at least 13 years old and no older than 19 years old by Finals Day. We recommend schools put forward debaters who are at least 15, but younger debaters are still encouraged to sign up.

3. Fee Waivers

Every year, we offer thousands of pounds in full and partial registration fee waivers. You will have the opportunity to apply for a fee waiver when registering your teams.

4. Workshops & Resources

As part of Cambridge Schools we offer a workshop on debating for teachers and students.

If you are new to debating, you might find these resources helpful: