School debating in Scotland is a competitive activity taken up on an extracurricular basis by many schools across the country. The main format of schools debating in Scotland is British Parliamentary Style, and competitions in this format are mostly run by universities across Scotland, although more national university competitions, such as Oxford and Cambridge, hold regional rounds in Scotland as well. The BP format of debating consists of teams of two from individual schools. However, School debaters also have the opportunity to debate in the Worlds format of debating, if they are selected to represent their country as Team Scotland at the World Schools Debating Championships. Each year, twenty-four school pupils are chosen to trial and from this group a team of five is chosen.
Scotland has won this tournament five times, in 1990,1999, 2007, 2012 and 2024. They reached the outrounds of the competition every year since they began competing in it, except in the 2013 tournament, held in Antalya, Turkey.
See main article: The Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament.
This competition, organised by the Law Society of Scotland, is a Scottish school debating competition, with the trophy currently held by the 2024 winners, Finlay Sayers and Sarah Pym of Broxburn Academy. The tournament is currently sponsored by the Glasgow Bar Association and Simpson and Warwick Solicitors. The 2007 final was won by Craigmount High School of Edinburgh and chaired by Nicola Sturgeon MSP. The High School of Dundee finished second. The 2008 final was won by Joanna Farmer and Michael Sim of Robert Gordon's College, and the High School of Dundee again finished second. In 2009, Allen Farrington and Cosmo Grant from The Glasgow Academy won the trophy. In 2010, the trophy was retained by The Glasgow Academy by Séamus Macdonald McGuigan and Oscar Lee. Craigmount High School dominated the early 2010s, winning the trophy in both 2012 and 2014.[1] In 2015, Jamie MacLeod and Ewan Redpath of Madras College, St Andrews, won the competition. The 2016 final was won by Finlay Allmond and Caitlin Sherret of Nairn Academy. In 2017 Douglas Academy won the final. Peebles High School won in 2018, 2020 and 2021- this makes them and Craigmount High School tied for the most Donald Dewar victories (Craigmounts’ victories being previously stated). The 2019 winners were Bearsden Academy, breaking up the Peebles victories, and the runners up were Balfron Academy. Fortrose Academy won in 2022, with the High School of Glasgow winning second place. In 2023 the winning team was Broxburn Academy’s Emma Bell and Ruby Ferguson, with the runners up being from Balfron. Broxburn won again in 2024, the winning team being Finlay Sayers and Sarah Pym, with Balfron coming second.
This competition is organised by the Courier newspaper, and is open to Junior school debaters in the area covered by the newspaper. It is sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. The competition is in an extended BP format, with three teams on each side rather than the more usual two, and is run on a knock-out basis, with 72 original teams being reduced to six finalists over the course of preparation rounds. Many schools compete for the grand prize, from all over Scotland. The Grand Final is run, with the help of the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society, in Lower Parliament Hall, St Andrews, with the winners receiving a trip to America, and the runners-up a break in London. In the 2002 Grand Final, the judges deemed that the quality of debate was so high that all competing teams were given honorary membership in the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society.
Winners of the 2006/2007 competition were Shona Young and Kirsty Paterson-Hunter of Kinross High School, who spoke in opposition to the motion that 'This House Would Ban Non-Reconstructive Cosmetic Surgery' winning on a unanimous vote. The runners-up were Marianne Inglis and Catherine Lovegrove from Morrison's Academy, who argued for the motion.
Winners of the 2007/2008 competition were Emma Robertson and Ruth Thomson of Morrison's Academy, Crieff. The motion was "This House would ban Gambling" and the team successfully opposed the motion and won an all expenses paid trip to America. Among the finalists were a team from Robert Gordon's, two Morrison's teams, and a team from St John's.
For the 2009-'10 season, the competition will not run, and its future looks to be in turmoil since the main sponsor (CIOBS) pulled out. However, a new competition has been formed to replace it, run with the support of GSK. It started in the spring of 2010. The new competition, the East of Scotland Debater, has since started. Regional heats have taken place, and the final will be held on 4 June in St Andrews University's Parliament Hall. The finalists were Robert Gordon's College, Morrison's Academy, the High School of Dundee, and Forfar Academy.
The largest competition in Scotland for S1-S3 debaters is run by the English-Speaking Union Scotland. The 2006/7 competition received 113 entries. The competition is in BP format, with four teams of two competing in the debate.
The 2007 grand final took place in the National Galleries of Scotland. The winners were Georgina Barker and Hannah Mackaness of George Heriot's School. The other finalists were Emma Robertson and Catherine Lovegrove of Morrison's Academy, who were the runners-up, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School and Dumfries Academy.The 2012 Grand Final took place in the Scottish Parliament building. The finalists were teams from George Heriot's School, Mearns Castle High School, Grove Academy and St. Columba's School. The final was won by the team from St Columba's. The 2014 Grand Final also took place in the Scottish Parliament building. The finalists were teams from George Heriot's School, Dollar Academy, George Watson's College and Douglas Academy. The final was won by the team from Douglas Academy.The 2015 Grand Final was hosted by Standard Life in Edinburgh. The finalists were teams from Clifton Hall School, Morrison's Academy, George Watson's College and Renfrew High School. The final was won by the team from Clifton Hall School.
| Year | R1 Motion | R2 Motion | R3 Motion | Final | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | THW make voting compulsory | THW legalise euthanasia | THW plan for peace by preparing for war | THW place further restrictions on asylum seekers entering the UK | ||
| 2004 | THBT nuclear power is the future | THBT there is no place for school uniform in today's society | THW withdraw British troops from Iraq with immediate effect | THW abolish child labour in the third world | ||
| 2005 | THBT ASBOs are ineffective | THS the policy of shoot-to-kill against suspected suicide bombers | THW introduce compulsory organ donation | THW ban advertising aimed at children | ||
| 2006 | THBT political parties should be funded by the state | THW ban home schooling | THW boycott the Beijing Olympics | THW prosecute the parents of obese children | ||
| 2007 | THW vote for an independent Scotland | THW introduce compulsory national service | THW torture terrorist suspects in the interest of national security | THBT juries in the trials of under-18s should be composed of their peers | ||
| 2008 | THW ban experiments on animals | THW prevent individuals with a criminal record from holding elected office | THBT the BBC cannot justify the licence fee | THBT foetal abnormality does not justify late abortion | ||
| 2009 | THW scrap the war on drugs | |||||
| Jan - 2011 | THW abolish NATO | THBT members of extremist political parties should not be allowed to teach in schools | THBT tax payers should fund the Royal Wedding of Kate and William | THBT developing countries should pay university tuition fees for female students only | ||
| Nov - 2011 | THW assassinate dictators of oppressive regimes | THW abolish the right to strike | THW ban Islamic women from wearing the veil in Britain | THW privatise all universities | ||
| 2012 | THBT the UK should leave the EU | THW give prisoners the vote | THW ban designer babies | THBT hip hop does more harm than good | Robert Gordon's College | |
| 2013 | THBT the Arab Spring has not resulted in positive change | THR the commercialisation of Christmas | THW allow euthanasia | (in Harry Potter land) THW tell the Muggles everything | ||
| 2015 | THW give refugees the right to vote | THW not prosecute non-violent offenders motivated by social justice during US race riots or protests | THW introduce gender-neutral schools in the UK | THW allow military personnel to opt out of military operations based on conscious objections | St Columba's |
| Year | R1 Motion | R2 Motion | R3 Motion | R4 Motion | Final Motion | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | THBT if you're old enough to pay taxes, you're old enough to vote | THW rather have a presidential limo than a royal carriage | THW kill killers | THBT George W Bush is the greatest threat to world peace | |||
| 2004 | TH Disagrees with the redeployment of the Black Watch in Iraq | THBT there should be no doctor/patient confidentiality for those under 16 | THW remove the charitable status of fee-paying schools | THW create an independent state of Palestine | |||
| 2005 | THW ban junk food in schools | THW reform the house of lords | THW adopt a shoot to kill policy | THBT politicians do not have a right to a private life | |||
| 2006 | THBT religion has no place in school uniform | THS Scottish independence | THW support assisted suicide | THW take pre-emptive military action against North Korea | High School of Dundee | ||
| 2007 | THW legalise euthanasia | THW pay a salary to mothers who stay at home | THW include Christian references in the EU constitutional treaty | TH defends Musharraf's right to rule | |||
| 2008 | THW teach creationism alongside evolutionary theory in the science classroom | THBT social networking sites do more harm than good | THW ban extremist political parties from standing in elections | THW invade Zimbabwe | TH fears a resurgent Russia | ||
| 2009 | THW legalise all drugs | THW ban prisoners from publishing accounts of their crimes | THW force feed anorexics | THBT private education is pernicious and should be halted immediately | THBT the military targeting of any place of worship is a crime against humanity | ||
| 2010 | THW use torture in the interrogation of terror suspects | THW make Gaelic compulsory in schools | THW make foreign aid conditional on the promotion of women's rights | THW impose harsher sentences on celebrity criminals | THW legalise gay marriage | Dollar Academy | |
| 2011 | THW make travellers travel | THBT occupation should not be used as a tool of political discourse | THW ban advertising aimed at children | THW enforce random drug testing in schools | THW offer military assistance to resistance groups that support democratic change in nations | Dollar Academy | |
| 2012 | THW ban strikes for teachers | THW criminalise hate speech on social media | THW introduce quotas for women on Olympic teams | THW support an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran | THW re-elect Barack Obama | ||
| 2013 | THW ban the sale and consumption of alcohol | THBT during an economic crisis the UK govt should suspend all aid to 3rd world countries | THW make it compulsory for fathers to take parental leave from work | THS Earth First in using illegal tactics against groups that may harm the environment | THBT the Scottish govt should use the national curriculum to promote Scottish nationalism in Schools | ||
| 2014 | THBT individuals should pay for their own Higher Education | THW impose a sin tax on products containing meat | THBT the West should actively support armed uprisings against authoritarian regimes | THBT developed countries should not accept skilled migrants from developing countries | THW reintroduce mandatory national service for young people in the UK | Stewart's Melville College | |
| 2015 | THBT the government should fund only degrees that have a high graduate employment rate | THW make voting compulsory in all elections | THW introduce a 50% quota for women on the boards of large companies | THW replace juries in criminal trials with a panel of judges | THBT the EU should force Britain to accept a substantially higher number of refugees | High School of Dundee | |
| 2016 | THS the military's use of Facebook Live in combat situations | Stewart's Melville College | |||||
| 2017 | THBT individuals that partake in risky behaviour should pay higher taxes | THBT women from privileged backgrounds should not be allowed to be leaders of feminist movements/groups | THW make voting in national elections compulsory | ||||
| 2019 | THW make the teaching of Modern Political Studies mandatory in schools | THW allow voters to buy and sell their votes | |||||
| 2021 | THR the narrative you should respect your elders | THBT social movements should predominantly rely on youth engagement | THO the glamorisation of professional video game streamers | St Columba's | |||
| 2022 | Broxburn Academy | ||||||
| 2023 | THBT people should have the legal right to sue their parents for a bad uprbinging | THW ban AI generated art | THS giving environmental personhood to internationally recognised important environmental spaces (e.g. Mount Everest, the Amazon) as a form of conservation | THW require that all countries allocate a fixed percentage of their GDP to fund global poverty alleviation | THP a world in which the majority of people are pessimistic about human nature | Dollar Academy |
The 2010's tournament is believed to have been held on Monday, 1 November and the winners were Calum Worsley and Ruth Cameron (1st proposition) of Dollar Academy "A". The other finalists included Dollar Academy "C" (Thomas Clode and Anna George) and George Heriot's "A". They are believed to have debated the motion: "This House would legalise gay marriage."
Forty teams from all over Scotland and northern England competed debating four motions: "This House would use torture in the interrogation of terror suspects"; "This House would make Gaelic compulsory in schools"; and "This House would make foreign aid conditional on the promotion of women's rights"; "This house would impose harsher sentences on celebrity criminals".
| Year | R1 Motion | R2 Motion | R3 Motion | Final Motion | Winner | Best Speaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | THBT the state should forcibly remove the children of underage parents | THW arm all police officers with guns | THW make voting in elections a condition for receiving state benefits | ||||
| 2012 | THW ban arranged marriages | THBT, in times of recession, the government should cease the funding of the arts | THW ban media coverage of police brutality | THW make the forced conscription of soldiers a war crime | Dollar Academy - Calum Worsley and Ruth Cameron | Joshua Richards - George Heriot's | |
| 2013 | George Watson's - David Wolffe and Dan Roberts | Katie McClean - St Columba's | |||||
| 2014 | THW give doctors, not parents, the final say on medical decisions concerning children | George Heriot's - Charlie Holmes and Hamish Barker | Katie McClean - St Columba's | ||||
| 2015 | High School of Dundee - Ciara Mitchell and Rachel Allen | Jodie White - George Watson's | |||||
| 2016 | High School of Dundee - Ciara Mitchell and Ivan Kapelioukh | Jodie White - George Watson's | |||||
| 2023 | THW introduce compulsory ethics classes at all levels of education | THP a world in which all humans can measure the amount of happiness they'll experience in a relationship before entering it | TH, as a recent graduate, would pick a self-fulfilling job over a high-paying one | THR the popularisation of anti-elite satire content (e.g. The White Lotus, The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, Succession) | St Leondards School - Isla Hutchinson and Cornelia Kallblad | Logan Moss - Dollar Academy | |
| 2024 | TH, as the European Union, would not grant membership to Scotland in the case of Scottish independence | THP artists who write love songs about general experiences of love, rather than specific personal experiences | Assuming capacity, THP that parents choose to be actively involved in their child's schoolwork as opposed to prioritising academic independence | THP the Jedi philosophy to the Sith philosophy | Broxburn Academy - Sarah Pym and Lena Zielinska | Natalie Yeung - Dollar Academy |
| Year | R1 Motion | R2 Motion | R3 Motion | R4 Motion | Final Motion | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | THW ban violent video games | THW end the right to strike | THW ban the payment of ransoms | ||||
| 2011 | THW raise the UK retirement age | THW prohibit software in media to cosmetically enhance models | THBT the UK should give development aid only to democracies | ||||
| 2014 | THW negotiate with terrorists | Stewart's Melville College | |||||
| 2019 | THS a maximum voting age | ||||||
| 2022 | THW give doctors, not parents, control over children's medical decisions | THW make trade union membership compulsory for all workers | In a world where superheroes exist, THW require superheroes to publicly reveal their identity | TH, as the Scottish Conservative Party, would split from the UK Party and completely rebrand itself | High School of Dundee | ||
| 2023 | THBT football clubs should fire managers who underperform for more than one season | THP that universities choose candidates based on their own internal review systems (such as interviews, internal tests, applications, etc.), rather than based on school results | When recovering during and after periods of economic downturn, THW prioritise direct spending (e.g. infrastructure projects, jobs programmes), as opposed to giving citizens money to spend themselves (e.g. tax cuts, specific stimulus packages) | THP a multi-party system (e.g. Labour, SNP, Conservatives, Greens, Lib Dems) to a two-party system (e.g. Democrats, Republicans) | THBT childhood years are the best years of your life | Dollar Academy |
The ESU Mace is a Debating competition open to schools across Scotland. The Mace has its own format, with two teams of two giving two seven minute speeches and a four minute reply. In the qualifying heats there are three rounds, one motion being long preparation and two being given on the day, and the top teams are chosen to move on to the finals day. The finals day also has three rounds (all long prep) where the winners of each debate are allowed to progress to the next round. The 2024 winners of the Mace was Sophie Hannigan and Callum Hendry of St Columba's, the other team in the final being Doller Academy's Natalie Yeung and Logan Moss. The same St Columba's team were also the 2023 runners up, with that years winners being Emma Bell and Emma Crow of Broxburn Academy (with Lucy Spencer speaking in the qualifiers).