The Society regularly competes in national and international competitions.
What happens?
Most competitions (Intervarsity competitions, also known as IVs) are held over one or two days. During this time there are between 3 and 5 debates, before breaking to the semi finals or straight to the finals. Speeches are normally 5 minutes in length and you will be debating against teams from around the UK and around the world. Going to competitions is a great way to improve your skills and make loads of new friends.
In 2011/2012 we debated at, amongst others, SOAS, Bristol, Lancaster, York, Cambridge, NAMDA Novice, Warwick and Nottingham, as well as sending teams to both the European and World championships in Serbia and Manilla respectively. If you would like to debate at any of these, or would like to create your own team to go to another competition we can sort it out.
Costs
Team registration at competitions normally costs between £25 to £60. You have to be a member of the Society to compete, and as a member your registration will be paid for. We will also subsidise travel costs, paying for half of your travel costs, up to £10 per person. Accommodation is normally provided by the host University. Increasingly, tournaments are providing food, along with copious amounts of free alcohol.
Signing up
If you’re a society member and are interested in going to a competition you can either talk to Matt Lloyd at one of our workshops, or use this link to sign up/express your interest in going.