Newcastle University Debating Society wins their first debate competition in over a decade

Newcastle University Debating Society (NUDS) has kicked off the year with its first-ever tournament victory at Norwich Mini 2025. From averaging 6 debaters per weekly session last year, we’ve grown into nearly 90 members this year with Sadif Rahman, Emily Simpson, Roza Bacha, and Lily Pepper on the committee! We meet twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) and have serious debates, training sessions, and some unstructured sessions too.

We follow the British Parliamentary (BP) debate format- a systematic structure of discourse with 4 teams of 2 members. This is the most prestigious university-level debate format as it requires critical thinking and intense engagement. For our first tournament of the academic year, we had decided to go to Norwich Mini 2025. We sent two teams- Newcastle A (Sadif Rahman and Emy Chen) and Newcastle B (Rebecca Healey and Safia Adia).

The journey there itself took us 15 hours to get down there (we blame the bus routes), but after a night of much-needed rest, our teams made their way to the tournament, bustling with teams from universities across England.

Round 1 was an interesting discourse regarding the banning of non-private commercial vehicles in major metropolitan cities. Newcastle delivered a good start to the tournament with team A and B placing 1^st  and 2^nd respectively.

Round 2 tested our knowledge of American politics. This was our first hurdle, as Newcastle A came 4^th and Newcastle B came 3^rd. This was seriously demotivating, as it had hurt our chances to make it to the finals. Statistically, we would both need to place at least 1^st and 2^nd in the next 2 rounds to stay in contention.

Round 3 was a success with Newcastle B coming 1^st and A coming 2^nd in a debate regarding the impacts of different forms of humour. These high placements it put us back in the running to win the competition.

Round 4 was closed (the results would be kept secret), which exponentially increased the tension and suspense. After an insightful debate on mental healthcare facilities, both teams were anxiously anticipating the announcements.

The finalist announcement was met with cheers- both Newcastle teams had earned places in the finals! The final motion challenged teams to comprehend and analyse complex philosophical themes alongside theories of time.

After our most difficult and thought provoking debate, the Chief Adjudicator alleviated the debaters from the suspense by announcing that “ the winner is…Newcastle A!”. The room erupted with both teams being overjoyed as NUDS had won its first debate tournament in over a decade. Celebrations were memorably wholesome as we were all extremely proud of ourselves and concluded with well-earned sleep. NUDS had also scored high individual speaker scores (Rebecca- 4^th, Sadif- 10^th, Emy- 11^th, Safia- 12^th).

The momentum carried forward the next week in York Internal. We had teams breaking into both the Novice and Open Finals, which is another phenomenal achievement for our society . Notably, our judges panelled the Novice finals and chaired the Open Finals.

With plenty of training, debates, and socials planned ahead, NUDS is excited to have a competitive and exciting year going forward. We plan on competing in many more tournaments and making 2025/25 our most successful academic year in the debating circuit- you’ll be seeing a lot more from us! We are always welcoming new members, so if you would like to get involved with NUDS, check us out on @newcastledebating on Instagram to stay updated!