Primary Schools State Debating Championships

Years 5 and 6

Representative regional teams engage in a series of round-robin debates and workshops with experienced adjudicators. At the end of 5 rounds of competition, 4 teams compete in semi-finals with the winners going on to meet for the state championship.

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What is the Primary Schools State Debating Championships?

In our debating competitions we split NSW up into ten different regions. Each region runs debating trials to pick a squad of their very best primary school debaters. That squad goes on to represent the region against the other nine regions at a championships debating camp where the 40-odd best debaters in the state battle it out to see which region comes out on top. The championships camp will run at Mulgoa (near Penrith) from Sunday 2 to Wednesday 5 November 2025, and there's a fee for students who are selected to represent their region, though there's also some assistance available to speakers to help with travel costs. You can see a lot more detail information on the championships by downloading the 2025 Primary Schools State Debating Championships Information Guide (PDF 716.11 KB)

What are the rules of the championships?

  • Competitors must be from Year 5 or Year 6 and attending a NSW government public school. Only one student may be selected per school and each student may compete at state level only twice.
  • The regional representative squad can consist of up to five members.
  • Debates will run following the standard rules of the Premier's Debating Challenge, including a one-hour unassisted preparation time and a 4-minute speaking time.
  • Each team will debate five times in the round-robin section of the championships.
  • The four teams with the most wins will move on to the semi-finals. They will be ranked by the adjudicators so that the best two teams are given the opportunity to meet in the state final.
  • In the event that teams draw for semi-final spots, tiebreakers will be applied in the following order: head-to-head, strength of win, strength of schedule, adjudicator ranking. If more than 2 teams are drawn, the tiebreakers are applied in order until one team is eliminated and the process is restarted.
  • The winners of the semi-finals will proceed to the state final. All teams are expected to attend the state final.

How do I find out about the trials in my region?

The trials for the 2025 tournament will be advertised here as soon as they're planned. We'll also email any teacher who has a team in the Premier's Debating Challenge as soon as the plans get nailed down.

Region Trials information
Hunter/Central Coast TBA (email: [email protected])
Illawarra and South East TBA (email: [email protected])
New England TBA (email: [email protected])
North Coast TBA (email: [email protected])
Northern Sydney TBA (email: [email protected])
Riverina TBA (email: [email protected])
South Western Sydney TBA (email: [email protected])
Sydney TBA (email: [email protected])
Western NSW TBA (email: [email protected])
Western Sydney TBA (email: [email protected])
The 2024 champions representing Sydney region
(Left to right): The 2024 champions from Peakhurst PS, Bellevue Hill PS, South Coogee PS, Engadine West PS, Russell Lea PS, Leichhardt PS

All Arts Unit programs are inclusive. If support is required to participate in the Primary Schools State Debating Championships, please email [email protected] so that we can assist.