The Debate Club Zurich is active in school-level debating in Switzerland; debating is a very enriching intellectual activity which helps students to improve their confidence speaking publicly, learn to communicate clearly and develop vital critical thinking skills.
We run a number of schools debating tournaments throughout the year. If your school is interested in taking part, please reach out to us!
New Debate Tournament planned: Zürich Schools Spring 2026!
What?
A one-day tournament, where students will participate in four rounds of debate (in English, loosely following rules of World Schools Debate Championships (WSDC)), against students from schools across Switzerland.
When?
In-person at UZH/ ETH in central Zürich on Saturday, 21st March 2026 (schedule and rules down below).
How do I Sign Up?
The registration link will available in early 2026.
Registration Details
Teams of 3 students over the age of 13 may be registered. Note that all teams must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
After sign-up via the form, slots will be confirmed via Email, alongside the exact address, details on the workshops and invoicing.
A registration fee of 20 CHF per public school student (subsidised) and 100 CHF per private school student will have to be paid that will go towards a catered lunch, light refreshments, as well as a modest compensation for our judges.
Why Participate?
Debating is an excellent extra-curricular activity. It helps students to build confidence with public speaking, develops critical thinking skills and teaches them how to express themselves in a structured and concise manner. Of course, it also looks great on university applications!
Additionally, many judges are part of the Swiss Debating Council, the organization that selects high-school debaters for the Swiss national Debating Team that attends the World Schools Debating Championships every year. This is a great way to get to know them!
We have received very positive feedback from schools who attended the last debating tournaments we hosted (the Swiss Schools Debating Championships 2024 and ETH Zürich Schools Debating Tournament in March and November 2025). The topics set at the Swiss Schools Debating Championships 2024 are available online (https://swissschools24.calicotab.com/_/motions/).
My students have no experience debating, can I still attend?
Yes, the tournament is designed with this specifically in mind, as it is our aim to help establish debating in Switzerland.
We will host 2 online events the week before the tournament. A show debate by experienced members of the ETH Zürich and UZH debating society, as well as a workshop on basics of argumentation.
There will also be a short speaker briefing the day of the event to reiterate the rules of the WSDC format.
Further Information on the World Schools Debating Championships: https://www.wsdcdebating.org/
What is the Schedule?
09:00-09:30: registration window (please arrive by 09:20 at the latest)
09:30-10:00: speaker briefings
10:00-11:45: round 1
11:45-13:30: round 2
13:30-14:15: lunch (provided)
14:15-16:00: round 3
16:15-16:30: break and finals announcement
17:00-18:00: grand final (debate starts at 17:00)
18:00- 18h15: closing and awards ceremony
What are the rules?
- Speeches will last for five minutes.
- There will be 3 speakers in favour (Proposition) and 3 against the motion (Opposition). The 1st Proposition starts, followed by 1st Opposition, then 2nd Proposition, then 2nd Opposition, then 3rd Proposition and lastly 3rd Opposition.
- Teams will be told the motion and their side on the day and then have 30 minutes of preparation time. During this time, they will not be allowed to consult the internet, books, nor third parties, such as a teacher.
- Speaker roles: The first speaker generally brings the bulk of the argumentation (“case”). 1st Proposition also “frames” the debate ( = giving definitions of concepts in the motion where necessary). The 2nd speakers typically also bring one new argument. The 3rd speakers don’t bring any fully new arguments. Instead, they do rebuttal (refuting arguments of the other side) and reconstruction (defending the arguments their team has brought before them). Other speakers also do some rebuttal and reconstruction (in order to engage with what the speaker(s) prior to them have said), with the exception of 1st Proposition as they are the very first speaker.
- POIs (= points of information) are short questions (max. 15 seconds) that the opposing side can ask during a speaker’s speech. The opposing side raises their hands or says: “point”. The current speaker can then choose to accept or deny a POI. It is recommended to take at least 1 POI during one’s speech. POIs cannot be asked during the first and last minutes of a speech. This is so-called “protected time”.
Questions?
No problem! Please don’t hesitate to contact our school’s officer Aude Nardelli (anardelli@student.ethz.ch) who is a previous member and coach of the German national WSDC debate team at the Debating Society Germany.
Resources
- The Global Debating Spreadsheet contains details of many different school-level debating tournaments, some of which take place online and some of which take place in Europe.