On February 28 2024, we held our annual Frankly Speaking debate competition in collaboration with the US Embassy London and the DAR Walter Hines Page Chapter. We welcomed over 30 upper secondary school students from across 7 UK schools to participate.

The teams were challenged to debate motions across a range of topics such as climate change, AI, the national curriculum and UK/US relations.

This year, the entire competition was held at the US Embassy building in Nine Elms, London. Competitors had a marvellous opportunity to debate in the main hall of the Embassy building and all participating students impressed the judges and engaged in highly intellectual and persuading debates.

In addition to student debaters, this year’s competition marked the second time that the competition was chaired by student invigilators. Students from across the participating schools stepped up to help coordinate the competition and proved valuable assets in the smooth running of the day.

The winning school in the Junior category, Years 10 and 11 was Westgate School. The individual runner up was George Vizitiu from the Central Foundation Boys School whilst the individual winner was Grace Dicker, both from Westgate School. The top prize for this competition is an exciting tour of the Houses of Parliament with the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE – made possible with support from the DAR.

The winning team in the Senior category, Years 12 and 13 was Eltham College. The individual runner up was Miles Cobourne from Eltham College and the winner was Eleanor Roberts, also from Eltham College. Eleanor Roberts is nominated to join students from across Europe and the United States at the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute at Purdue University in Indiana to explore American culture and politics, while learning about the opportunities and challenges of civil society.

We’d like to thank all the schools for their participation and support, we are already looking forward to the 2024 competition!