Shrewsbury Pupils Reach International Debate Final

Two Shrewsbury pupils, Elsa and Matthew, recently achieved an impressive result as Novice Finalists at the Diliman Debate Open.

The debate is an international online competition aimed primarily at university debaters preparing for the World University Debating Championships.

As Matthew W describes in his write up of the event, the competition took place over two intensive days and consisted of five preliminary rounds, each requiring speakers to deliver a seven-minute speech after just 15 minutes of preparation, without the use of the internet or external assistance. This format placed a strong emphasis on clear thinking, breadth of general knowledge and the ability to construct arguments under pressure.

Matthew adds that they competed against teams from universities and schools around the world, including the University of Chicago, the University of Tokyo and UNSW Sydney, many of whom went on to compete at the World University Debating Championships. Motions covered a wide range of complex global and philosophical issues, from international politics in Southeast Asia to the role of “chosenness” within major world religions.

After the preliminary rounds, the pair placed 22nd out of 70 teams overall, and 4th among the eight teams selected to advance to the Novice semi-finals, a category reserved for teams with no more than one year of university-level debating experience. They won their semi-final debate and progressed to the final, where they narrowly lost to a strong Japanese university team.

Individually, both pupils also achieved notable speaker rankings among a field of 137 speakers. One pupil placed joint 24th overall, while Elsa placed 41st, with Elsa recording the second-highest speaker score in Round 4 and her partner achieving the fourth-highest score in the same round.

This outstanding performance reflects both pupils’ intellectual agility, confidence and commitment to high-level debating, and represents a significant achievement on an international stage.