Students perform superbly in Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition

Worth students performed superbly in the Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition with one pairing finishing sixth out of 52 teams and missing out on a place in the grand final at the Oxford Union by one place.

Eight members of our Senior Debating Society took part in this prestigious competition and all did well while competing against schools from around the South of England. This was only the second year Worth had entered and overall the results were an improvement from last year’s impressive showing.

For one team to finish sixth was an excellent result and the girls who achieved that are on the reserve list for the final.

The Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition is organised as a short-prep British Parliamentary Debate format. Each team debates twice on two different motions and in two different roles. The motions being debated were, ‘This House believes globalisation has done more harm than good’ and ‘This House would require old people to pass a test before they are allowed to vote’.

Worth runs a thriving Debating Society and there have been several successes to celebrate in recent years including winning the Ethics Cup, a national debating competition, in 2022 and the Hartland International Debating Competition in 2024.

Mrs Dawn Clubb, who runs the Debating Society at Worth, was particularly impressed by the students who competed in the Oxford Schools’ Competition. She said: “I am incredibly proud of all of them and particularly the girls as it was their last public competition for the School. It was a great accomplishment. Every year we seem to get better.”

For more on the Debating Society and other societies we run at Worth click here.