School Debates
The Leeds Salon has run an annual school debating competition for years 10&11 students since 2014, as well as many other one-off competitions for both years 10&11 and sixth form students. In 2023, we began an annual sixth form competition in partnership with the Royal Armouries Museum (Leeds).
Our competitions rely on our list of Judges, who give up their time freely to engage with the young people on important contemporary issues. And for all our competitions, we use the format and topic guides of the Academy of Ideas sixth form Debating Matters competition, for whom we’re also Partners.
Between 2016 and 2018, we also presented The Leeds Salon Individual Prize at the Debating Matters Yorkshire Regional Finals to the individual who best exemplified the spirit of Enlightenment inquiry by asking lots of good, incisive questions. From 2024, we resurrected the prize for the Royal Armouries Sixth Form Debating Competition.
If your school would like to take part in our competitions, or help to run your own, email us at contact@leedssalon.org.uk
The Leeds Salon Annual Years 10&11 Debating Competition
In 2014, Leeds Salon began its annual debating competition for years 10&11 (ages 14 to 16 years) as a one-off event involving just three Leeds schools. The next year we introduced qualifying rounds to include more schools to compete to win a place in the final.
Since 2023, leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (Leeds) have been our Headline Partner, making it The Womble Bond Dickinson / Leeds Salon Years 10&11 Debating Competition.
The 2025 qualifying rounds begin in January when six schools will compete in three rounds to win a place in the final, to be held at Womble Bond Dickinson’s Leeds offices before Easter.
Years 10&11 Finals: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025
Royal Armouries Sixth Form Debating Competition
The Leeds Salon partners with the Royal Armouries Museum (Leeds) to run an annual sixth form debating competition which takes place in November.
The first Royal Armouries Sixth Form Debating Competition was held in 2023 and involved three Leeds schools. In 2024. we expanded the competition to include six West Yorkshire schools in an all-day event. Also in 2024, leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (Leeds) became Headline Sponsors, while the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Centre of the University of Leeds provided prize sponsorship.
Royal Armouries Sixth Form Debating Competitions: 2023 | 2024
Other competitions we’ve ran:
Between 2016 and 2020 we ran the annual Tetley Years 10&11 Debating Competition for south and central Leeds schools: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020. As well as competing to be crowned Tetley Champions, the winners would go on to compete against the north Leeds qualifying round winners in the years10&11 annual final.
We’ve also ran: Lawnswood School Summer Competition (2014); Ralph Thoresby School Debating Competition as part of Headingley LitFest (2015); Jordans Solicitors Wakefield Sixth Form Competition 2015 & 2016; the first competition between Leeds City College & Leeds College of Building (2016); Lightcliffe Academy (Halifax) Summer Sixth Form Competition (2016); South Leeds Academy Christmas Debating Competition (2016); ‘Debate Outwood’ Sixth Form Competition between schools from Outwood Academy chain (2017), Gateacre School (Liverpool) Sixth Form Debate; (2018); NHS Digital/Debating Matters Sixth Form Competition at Thackray Medical Museum (2018); Bolton Sixth Form College Debating Competition (2019); ‘Debate Outwood’ Years 10&11 Competition between schools from Outwood Academy chain (2019).