Sixth Form pupils Georgie (J) and Josh (A) have qualified for the Oxford Union Debating Competition finals after successfully debating two motions in the regional round.
The pair were competing against more than 30 other teams with seven of them awarded places in the finals where they will be joined by the other regional winners.
The debates followed parliamentary procedure with four teams per debate and because of the speed debating format, each team took part in two debates. Georgie and Josh were given the motions just 15 minutes beforehand and had to prepare statements off the top of their head with no help from technology or books allowed. Their two motions were ‘All media organisations should provide neutral coverage’ and ‘London should host the Olympic Games every four years.’
Georgie was delighted to have improved on last year’s result and provided an insight into the challenges of their debates:
“We were the closing two speakers in both of our debates and had to raise points that had not been spoken about during the debate. We were not allowed to confer with the other team who were arguing our side which made it really challenging having to come up with something new on the spot. It really tested our creative thinking skills.”
