News Success for Antara and Franny in Durham University Debating Schools Competition 20.04.2023

Our fabulous Year 11 debating team, Antara and Franny, went on an intrepid adventure to Durham for the Durham University Debating Schools Competition at the end of March.

This competition is an important event in the debating calendar, with top teams from northern and Scottish schools competing, as well as some more familiar local names.  This is a residential competition and one of the first to go back to ‘live and in person’.  Motions ranged from the gig economy, to MPs staying through their term, to whether programmes such as Mock the Week are beneficial. Debaters have to be versatile to cope with the range of motions, but it is a great way of making rapid improvement.

Our debaters did a fantastic job, keeping calm and learning to play to their strengths even when finding the right venue was tricky. They finished an amazing first for the novices, which is something to be very proud of. We understand that Antara’s dad was so impressed that he now wants to be a debate coach!