Dear Supporters,
As another school year draws to a close, we now have the opportunity to reflect on what has been a remarkable year for schools debating in Scotland. Over the last few months, YSS has travelled the country delivering Speak Up Scotland workshops, run the third annual Highland Schools Debating Competition, supported a number of other regional competitions around the country, and seen many of our workshop participants achieve success at international events.
Read on to find out more about the end of our 2025/2026 school year and what is coming up in 2026/2027.
Speak Up Scotland
Our flagship Speak Up Scotland programme, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund and our other generous funders, continues to deliver free debating workshops to state schools across Scotland.
This year has seen Speak Up Scotland continue to expand its reach, introducing over a thousand young people to debating through fun, interactive workshops while helping schools establish effective debating clubs. It has been especially rewarding to see so many state schools that first encountered debating through Speak Up Scotland now competing successfully in competitions across Scotland. You can find more information on these successes further on in this newsletter.
Debaters at the Speak Up Scotland Workshop at Knox Academy in May.
A particular highlight of the last few months was delivering workshops at Aboyne Academy and Banchory Academy in Aberdeenshire on June 12th. It was wonderful to see how much debating has developed in this region, with pupils showing tremendous enthusiasm and confidence throughout the workshops.
“Thank you to Jordan from Young Speakers Scotland for delivering such an engaging and interactive workshop to our debaters this afternoon” – teacher at Banchory Academy.
None of this would be possible without the continued support of our funders and volunteers. Thank you for helping us to increase the reach of our events, and to strengthen our efforts to ensure that every young person in Scotland, regardless of where they live, has the chance to access the myriad benefits debating offers.
Debaters at the Speak Up Scotland Workshop at Banchory Academy in June.
Highland Schools Debating Competition
On 22 June, we were delighted to run the third annual Highland Schools Debating Competition in Dingwall, supported by Brodies LLP. This competition has, in a short period of time, firmly established itself in the debating calendar; and its growth has come alongside an increase in Highland debater representation at national events, including the Mace Grand Final and trials for the National Team.
Twelve teams from across the Highlands gathered to compete this year. In a further sign of this event’s growing profile, we had several participants travelling from outside the Highlands to compete at the competition for the very first time.
Following three excellent rounds and a Grand Final, Thurso High School were crowned champions, with the composite team of Dingwall Academy and Larbert High School finishing as runners-up. Grantown Grammar School and Forres Academy also reached the Grand Final. The motion for the Grand Final, ably debated by all four teams, was “This house supports Scottish independence”.
“The Highland Schools’ Debating Competition has been a truly thrilling competition to take part in. The first year it ran was actually my first time ever debating, and it was ultimately what sparked my love for it. We’ve loved coming each year, and as this will be our final year attending, winning is absolutely ending on a high note for us.” – Ava, debater at Thurso High School.
Thurso High School, winners of the 2026 Highland Schools Debating Competition.
Other Regional Competitions
One of the most encouraging developments in recent years has been the growth of regional debating competitions in Scotland. By fostering regional connections through the Speak Up Scotland programme, we have seen an increased demand for these sorts of competitions; and a willingness from schools to host them, knowing that there are local schools willing to compete.
James Young High School, winners of the 2026 West Lothian Schools’ Debating Competition.
In May, Young Speakers Scotland was pleased to support both the West Lothian Schools Debating Competition and the Craigmount Schools Debating Competition, both on Friday 29th May. These events are designed primarily for S1–S4 pupils, many of whom were taking part in their first competitive debate. YSS provided organisational support, motions and judges for the West Lothian event, while supplying judges for the Craigmount competition.
James Young High School won the West Lothian Competition, and Currie Community High School won the Craigmount competition. Well done to all the participating schools, and a particular well done to the Craigmount pupils, who ably ran a 32 team tournament to schedule – no small feat!
Currie Community High School, winners of the 2026 Craigmount Debating Competition.
On 18 June, we assisted with judging at the Ayrshire Cup, run by Wellington School. Congratulations to Currie Community High School, who were crowned champions after a highly competitive day of debating. The other schools in the final of the Ayrshire Cup were Stewart’s Melville College, Woodfarm High School and the Wellington School.
“Young Speakers Scotland is a huge part of this year’s success for Currie. I don’t know where we would we be without all the competitions and training sessions you have organised.” – Teacher at Currie Community High School.
We are looking forward to continuing our support for regional competitions next year. If you are a school or local council interested in hosting a competition, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
2026/2027 Events
Preparations are already well underway for another exciting year of debating events.
Registration for both the Schools’ Mace and the Public Speaking Competition will open on 20 August.
Following the successful introduction of the Persuasive Speaking and After-Dinner Speaking categories this year, the Public Speaking Competition will continue in the same format, while the Schools’ Mace will once again feature regional qualifying rounds in the British Parliamentary (BP) format leading to our national Finals Day.
The dates for 2026/2027 rounds are as follows:
- Angus Mace Round – 24 September
- Ayrshire Mace Round – 1 October
- Edinburgh Mace Round – 3 October
- Highland Mace Round (Inverness) – week of 5 October, date tbc
- Highland Mace Round (Thurso) – 7 October
- Public Speaking Preliminaries (Edinburgh) – 14 November
- Mace Final (Edinburgh) – 27 Feb
- Public Speaking Final (Edinburgh) – 13 March
Training Days
Over the Autumn term, we will be delivering regional training days in different parts of Scotland as part of our Speak Up Scotland programme, making it easier for schools to access high-quality coaching before entering competitions.
These days will be run by our Programmes Director, alongside a team of volunteers. They are completely free for schools to take part in. Days will begin with a series of fun, interactive workshops and culminate in practice debates – with volunteer judges offering individualised feedback to all participants.
The first training days will take place in:
- Angus – 1 September
- Thurso – 17 September
If your school would be interested in attending either of these days, please email events@youngspeakersscotland.org.uk.
Alongside these events, further Speak Up Scotland workshops will continue throughout the Autumn.
Debating Events Calendar
You can find our online calendar here. We will update this with dates for all YSS events, as well as other debating events in Scotland. If you are a teacher looking for competitions to enter or training sessions to take part in, you can find them all here.
If you are planning to run an event, and would like it included in the calendar, please email events@youngspeakersscotland.org.uk.
Scottish National Team
On 13 June, the Scottish Schools Debating Team held the final training day for the 2025/2026 Junior Squad.
As has become tradition, the day concluded with the Junior Scotland Cup, giving participants the opportunity to put into practice everything they had learned throughout the year. After three preliminary rounds and a closely contested final, team “Pink Sparkly Unicorns” – made up of Gideon (Nairn Academy), Amelie (George Watson’s College), Juliet (Currie Community High School) and Alice (James Gillespie’s High School) – were crowned champions.
It was particularly encouraging to see so many pupils from Speak Up Scotland schools represented within the junior national team structure. Their success highlights the pathways that now exist for young debaters across Scotland, from a first workshop in school, through to representing Scotland at the highest levels.
The 2025/2026 Scottish National Team Junior Squad.
The Thistle Cup
This June also saw the Scottish National Team organise the Thistle Cup, a 40-team online fundraising competition featuring national teams and some of the strongest school debaters from around the world. This event took place on the 19-21 June.
Our Programmes Director, Jordan, was a Deputy Chief Adjudicator at this event, which was won by England in an excellent final against Denmark.
It was especially pleasing to see pupils from Speak Up Scotland schools competing alongside experienced national teams in such an exceptionally strong international field, demonstrating just how far Scottish school debating has developed.
Thank you to everyone who helped organise and support this ambitious event!
World Schools Debating Championships
We would like to wish the Scottish National Team and their coaches the very best of luck as they travel to Kenya to represent Scotland at the World Schools Debating Championships in July. We know they will be outstanding ambassadors for Scottish debating, and we look forward to following their progress!
Applications for next year’s team (including the junior stream) will open in August. For application forms, email scottshdebatingteam@gmail.com.
Thank You
As the 2025/2026 school year comes to an end, we would like to thank everyone who makes our work possible through their support. The Scottish debating community continues to grow, and our work simply would not be possible without our volunteers, our funders, the teachers who run debating clubs and, of course, the debaters themselves.
From classrooms in every corner of the country to regional competitions and international events, it has been inspiring to see so many young people finding their voice.
We wish all pupils, teachers and supporters a relaxing summer break, and we look forward to welcoming you back for another exciting year of debating in August.
With very best wishes,
Jeff Lovitt
Chair