Cherwell College Oxford supports the Inter-Varsity Debating Competition

Katya Kryvonos, a representative from Cherwell College Oxford: “We are very fortunate at Cherwell College Oxford to be able to partner with the Oxford Union and be able to host some of the national debating competitions which run annually in November and March every year. In return for hosting these competitions at our premises, and as a reciprocal gesture, the Oxford University undergraduates, who are also the committee members at the Oxford Union, run weekly workshops for our students during the Michaelmas Term, which is the autumn term here, in Oxford. Extra-curricular and enrichment activities are considered as a very important part of the College life at Cherwell. And this forms part of that curriculum where students attend weekly debate workshops, which are not just mere discussions of topical issues. They are based and they’re structured on the British Parliamentary debating system. Students are able to learn the particular rules of the debate and they are able to articulate their ideas in a concise and effective way which obviously helps them not just simply to debate effectively but also helps them in other spheres of their lives. To structure their essays or to be able to convey their arguments in a more effective way. We feel that those are important life skills and that they will serve students a great purpose outside the college walls and maybe one day they will join Oxford and will be able to continue debating competitively here in the Oxford Union or at other university societies”

Oxford Schools’ debates, run by the Oxford Union, is the largest British Parliamentary school-level debate competition in the world, and the largest debating competition in the UK, aimed at students aged 14-18. The Oxford Union is the world’s most prestigious debating society, with a reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. It holds no political views and is a forum for debate and the discussion of controversial issues offering freedom of speech.