Schools’ Mace

The Schools’ Mace debating competition follows the British Parliamentary (BP) format. In the process of the competition, students develop their knowledge of the world, as well as their reasoning and presentation skills, in a fun and competitive environment.

2025/2026 COMPETITION

Entries to the 2025/2026 Schools’ Mace are now open! Click here to enter.

Entry to the Mace will cost £50 per school for state schools. For independent schools, the cost is £60 for one team, and £30 for each additional team.

The 2025–2026 Schools’ Mace will consist of three preliminary rounds held over a single day. Schools can enter a preliminary round day at whatever location suits them best. From these rounds, the best teams will break to a quarter-final.

Rounds will take place in the following locations:

• 24th September – Banchory Academy

• 4th October – Edinburgh

• 8th October – Thurso

• 9th October – Dingwall

• 30th October – Wellington School

The Schools’ Mace Finals Day will take place in February 2026. The exact date and venue will be confirmed in due course.

We will not be running the Mace as a knock-out competition. Instead, the break will be decided based on the number of wins and speaker scores teams accumulate over the course of the preliminary rounds. This guarantees schools at least three chances to debate. Your school’s assigned Mace date will see your debaters take part in three rounds over one day.

We are delighted to confirm that a Junior Final will once again be held this year. Junior teams (S1–S3) will take part in the preliminary rounds alongside other teams. The top four junior teams will be invited to compete in a dedicated Junior Final on the same day as the Grand Final.

If your school is new to the Mace Competition and would like additional information on the BP format or debating in general, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

FORMAT

Each round will follow the British Parliamentary (BP) format. This consists of four teams in each debate, with two speakers per team. One team will be declared the winner, and all speakers will receive individual scores.

Each team will participate in three debates at their preliminary round, giving all students ample opportunity to practise and improve.

MOTIONS

One of the three preliminary motions will be a prepared motion. Debaters are permitted to do research on this topic, may receive outside assistance, and can bring notes into the debate with them. Teams will not know their position in the debate (OG, OO, CG, CO) until one week before their round. Clarifications may be requested, and any clarifications issued will be made available to all participating schools.

The other two preliminary rounds will be unprepared. Teams will be given one hour to prepare, without access to outside help or the internet. Printed or written materials (e.g. case files, almanacs) are permitted.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and Grand Final will all be prepared motions, with sides and positions given in advance of the round.

2024/2025 COMPETITION RESULTS

On February 22nd 2025, Young Speakers Scotland held the Finals Day of our Schools’ Mace Debating Competition at the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. Eight teams from across Scotland participated in three knockout rounds, culminating in a Grand Final. For the very first time, we were also able to hold a Novice Final for the two best junior teams in the competition. After an excellent day of debates, Broxburn Academy was declared the Mace champions, and Currie Community High School won the Novice Final.   

Teams qualified after taking part in a series of preliminary rounds across Scotland. 39 took part, with a record 72% being from state schools, a record number for this competition. Moreover, we were able to hold a heat in the Highlands for the very first time, leading to the highest number of Highlands schools we have ever had reach our Finals Day. In total, teams from 14 different local authorities competed in the early rounds, creating a diverse and competitive field of debaters. 

7 schools progressed from these rounds to the Finals Day: Broxburn Academy, Dingwall Academy, Dollar Academy, George Heriot’s School, Invergordon Academy, Stirling High School and Wellington School. The two novice teams that progressed were from Aberdeen Grammar School and Currie Community High School.   

The Finals Day at the Faculty of Advocates kicked off with the quarter-final round, where the topic was “This house would implement quotas for domestic players in national football leagues.” After four excellent debates, Broxburn Academy, Dollar Academy, George Heriot’s School and Stirling High School progressed to the semi finals.   

The semi-final and novice final topic was “This house believes that the United Kingdom should return the Elgin Marbles”. Teams impressed the judges with their immense research on this topical issue and, after an extremely close set of debates, Broxburn Academy and Dollar Academy progressed to the Grand Final. The winner of the Novice Final was Currie Community High School.  

The Grand Final topic was “This house would grant dictators immunity from prosecution in exchange for giving up power”. We were extremely lucky to have Lady Ross KC sit on our finals judging panel, lending her immense expertise to the decision of who won the debate.   

After a brilliant, closely-fought final, the judges awarded the Mace Champion trophy to the team from Broxburn Academy. Additionally, Logan M from Dollar Academy was awarded best speaker at the Mace, and Paige G from Grantown Grammar School was awarded best novice speaker. Congratulations to all teams who took part in the competition.  

Thank you to the Faculty of Advocates for hosting this event. Debaters were thrilled to get the opportunity to debate in actual court rooms, and the interactive presentation from the Faculty on what being an advocate entails gave debaters with an interest in law an opportunity to see what doing so looks like firsthand.  

This year’s Mace demonstrated the impact of YSS’s Speak Up Scotland workshop programme. 8 state schools that took part in the programme entered the Mace for the very first time, and 5 Speak Up Scotland schools reached the Grand Final. Both teams in the Novice Final took part in our workshops. 

Moreover, it was wonderful to see former Mace competitors taking part as volunteer judges at our Finals Day. Thank you to all the volunteer judges who lent their time and expertise on the day, providing helpful feedback to our competitors.