The Premier's Debating Challenge for Years 7 and 8
Open to NSW government school students, the competition culminates in a three-day championship camp that includes workshops with some of the state's most experienced adjudicators.
Latest news
The zone champions have been decided and the 2023 regional finals series is underway! The remaining teams are competing in a knockout regional finals series, and we'll announce the teams that eventually win through to be named regional champions below. The ten regional champions head to a 3-day debating tournament to decide the state champion, and you can download all the information about that camp here if you're one of the lucky schools involved or just want to see how things work: 2023 Years 7 and 8 State Debating Championships Information (PDF 473.51 KB)
| Region | Champion |
|---|---|
| Hunter/Central Coast | TBD |
| Illawarra and South East | TBD |
| New England | Guyra Central School |
| North Coast | TBD |
| Northern Sydney | TBD |
| Riverina | TBD |
| South Western Sydney | TBD |
| Sydney | TBD |
| Western NSW | TBD |
| Western Sydney | TBD |
You can use this link to see a summary of the teams in their zones and their win/loss record, and you can also download the official 2023 Years 7 and 8 Debating Information (PDF, 1.07 MB). Thanks to all the teachers and students who competed in 2023 and best of luck to the remaining finalists!
About the competition
The Years 7 and 8 age division was introduced in 1998 so that for the first time students could debate in a state-wide competition all the way from Year 5 up to Year 12. Today, debating topics cover a wide range of contemporary issues relevant to junior secondary students. Every debate in the challenge is a one hour preparation debate, so that teams do not know the topic or which side of the debate they are on until one hour before the debate starts. The state champion team will be awarded The Lloyd Cameron Cup which is named in honour of the longest-serving Speaking Competitions Officer.
Format of the competition
Teams will be organised into zones of six (occasionally fewer depending on entries) and will receive their draw before the start of Term 2. Each team will complete 3 debates against other teams from their zone whenever suits them before mid-Term 3. Once those 3 rounds are completed the team(s) with the best record will be declared the zone champions.
Zone champions move on to a regional knockout finals series following which the 10 regional champion teams attend a 3-day championships tournament in Sydney. The championships camp will run in December and includes workshops with some of the state's most experienced adjudicators.
