Propose The Motion

The Institute of Ideas and Pfizer Debating Matters Competition is an innovative national debating competition for post-16 students.

What is the idea behind the debating matters competition?

Debating Matters seeks to offers a fresh, accessible and engaging format for debating contemporary issues. The competition has been pioneering a format for debate that takes ideas, argument and young people seriously. The focus is on content and ideas over style, encouraging young people to engage in an intelligent contest of ideas and holding up their ideas to critical scrutiny.

What’s distinctive about debating matters?

The central innovation of the Debating Matters format is the involvement of a panel of judges who join in the debates and encourage students to develop and defend their arguments. This tests students’ ability not only to make a polished and persuasive opening presentation, but also to respond under pressure, think on their feet and produce the evidence to back up their arguments. The focus on contemporary realworld issues and opening up the debate to the audience further contribute to this stimulating model for debate.

Who is debating matters aimed at?

The competition seeks to attract a diverse range of schools and colleges and to be open to students from a wide range of backgrounds. The Debating Matters format does away with the procedural formalities that can make debating appear anachronistic and irrelevant to first-time debaters, whilst also offering a potentially more demanding challenge to experienced debaters.

For me, debating serious issues with people of similar age and enthusiasm is a real joy. Having competed in Debating Matters for two years now, I know that debating is a great learning experience as well as a great confidence-booster. Having to prepare for this year’s debate was quite daunting, especially since exams were looming! Nevertheless, it’s always really satisfying to take part in such a heated argument, and even better to win one. The judges’ comments are always helpful, and a nice touch to what was a very enjoyable evening. I think it’s really important we keep debating in schools not only so that we keep alive a very British tradition that we can all be proud of, but also to give a voice to the more opinionated students across the country.

Humza Chaudhry, Kings Norton 6th Form, Birmingham

Teams

The Debating Matters Competition is for post-16 school and college students. Participants should be current sixth form students or equivalent – years 12 and 13 in England or S5 and S6 in Scotland. Competing teams are encouraged to bring along additional students to take part from the audience, although numbers should be agreed with the host school beforehand. These students can be from any year of the school and all students attending an event are eligible for best individual contribution certificates.

Number of students on a team

In the Qualifying Rounds each school or college enters one team consisting of four students. In the Regional Heats and National Final each team may consist of a minimum of four and a maximum of six students. Continuity in the students involved through the different stages of the competition is encouraged, although teams in the latter stages do not have to consist of students that took part in the previous stage.

Debate topics and draw

The debate motions for the Qualifying Rounds, Regional Finals and National Final are chosen by the Institute of Ideas and will reflect a balance between scientific, political and cultural issues.

At each stage of the competition the Institute of Ideas will perform an independently adjudicated draw to determine which teams compete against each other, as well as to determine whether a team is allocated to argue for or against each debate motion.