British Parliamentary
At St Leonard’s, this competition forms part of the training program for students competing in the Australian Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships.
What is it? Four teams of two verse each other in a series of secret topic debates.
The difference? You get to challenge the other team in their speeches.
It’s insane. It’s intense. It’s serious fun.
British Parliamentary (BP) style debates have four teams of two speakers who debate a motion (topic). Two teams debate in the affirmative role as the Government and two debate in the negative role as the Opposition.This means that you are not only competing with your opposition, but the other half of your own side!
Teams on the same side of the topic (Government or Opposition) must remain consistent with each other, but are still competing against one another. At the conclusion of the debate, the adjudicator ranks teams in the debate from first to fourth. This means that two teams on the same side of a topic may get very different results. A team wins based upon the strength of their arguments, the degree to which they are able to ‘control’ the debate, and the amount to time which is spent discussing their team’s case.
Each competition takes place over a single day, with students participating in a training session conducted by experienced British Parliamentary debaters, before taking part in a three round tournament of secret-topic debates. The winning teams then compete for the title in a grand final, held on a separate day. The BP Competition offers students an excellent grounding in British Parliamentary style, as well as the opportunity to develop new skills in a friendly and competitive environment.
Senior Competition (Years 10 to 12)
Debaters will attend a training session before participating in three secret topic debates.
Two speakers speak in any one debate, and up to three speakers are allowed to help prepare. Teams must contain a minimum of two and a maximum of three speakers.
Further Information
For more information about both the Junior and Senior competitions, please see the DAV British Parliamentary Debating Website:
For an introduction to British Parliamentary debating, please look at this document: