School debating in Scotland

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, 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, 12 school pupils are chosen to trial and from this group a team of 5 is chosen.

Scotland has won this tournament 4 times, in 1990,1999, 2007 and 2012, and reached the outrounds of the competition every year since they began competing in it, except in the 2013 tournament, held in Antalya, Turkey.

The Law Society Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament

Main article: The Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament

This competition, organised by the Law Society of Scotland, is a Scottish schools debating competition, with the trophy currently held by the 2016 winners, Caitlin Sherrett and Finlay Allmond of Nairn 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.

The Courier and Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland Schools Junior Debating Competition

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 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. There are many school s competing 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 of 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. 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. There is however a new competition which has been formed to replace it, run with the support of GSK it will start 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. Finalists are Robert Gordon's College, Morrison's Academy, the High School of Dundee and Forfar Academy.

The ESU Scotland Juniors Competition

The largest competition in Scotland for S1-S3 debaters and is run by 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 and also 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.

Aberdeen University Debater Schools Competition

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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
2005	THBT ASBOs are ineffective	TH supports the policy of shoot-to-kill against suspected suicide bombers	THW introduce compulsory organ donation	THW ban advertising aimed at children	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
2009	THW scrap the war on drugs	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	TH regrets the commercialisation of Christmas	THW allow euthanasia	(in Harry Potter land) THW tell the Muggles everything	UNKNOWN
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

Glasgow University Union Schools Debating competition

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	N/A	THBT George W Bush is the greatest threat to world peace	UNKNOWN
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	N/A	THW create an independent state of Palestine	UNKNOWN
2005	THW ban junk food in schools	THW reform the house of lords	THW adopt a shoot to kill policy	N/A	THBT politicians do not have a right to a private life	UNKNOWN
2006	THBT religion has no place in school uniform	TH Supports Scottish independence	THW support assisted suicide	N/A	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	N/A	TH defends Musharraf's right to rule	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	UNKNOWN
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	TH supports 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	UNKNOWN
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

2010's tournament is believed to have been held on Monday 1 November and the winners were Callum 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".

Edinburgh University Schools

Year	Winner	Best Speaker
2013	George Watson's - David Wolffe and Dan Roberts	Katie McClean - St Columba's
2014	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

[2]

Other Tournaments

• ESU Mace - a competition open to schools throughout Britain
• The Glasgow University Union Schools' Debating Tournament
• The University of Dundee Schools' Competition
• The University of St Andrews Senior Schools' Debating Competition.
• Aberdeen University Debater Schools' Competition
• Edinburgh University Schools' Competition
• Edinburgh University Juniors Schools' Debating Competition
• Robert Gordon's Juniors School's Debating Competition

Website And Information

Comprehensive debating resources can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20081202005922/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/debatinginschools/

References

1. www.connectcommunications.co.uk. "Glasgow Academy retains Dewar Debate title: The Journal Online". www.journalonline.co.uk.
2. http://media.wix.com/ugd/3b59ec_f442b4efe57c4bf6855a8e6e7692abc6.pdf