Lathallan pupils through to semi-finals of national debating comptition

The second-round heats of the annual debating competition in January saw 32 teams from 31 schools debate the motion ‘This house would introduce university fees in Scotland’.

The 16 teams going through to the semi-final in March wowed the judges with their arguments for and against the motion, with the proposers citing a potential boost to university resources, while those opposing the motion raised the issue of accessibility to higher education.

In the semi-final debaters are presented with the motion just one hour before the debate and must prepare their arguments without the aid of smartphones, computers or newspapers.

Georgia Turnbull, Careers and Outreach Co-ordinator at the Law Society of Scotland, said: “ The standard of debating was very high making it difficult for our judges to select the successful teams going through to the semi-final. In the semi-finals we will see a new challenge for our talented semi-finalists, where the motion is unseen.

The overall winning team will receive £1000 from the society .