Oxford Union Finals Day brought together 106 talented teams from all over the world (who had qualified from earlier regional rounds) to compete in a series of short-prep debates. And Team HSD rose to the occasion, finishing as the top Scottish school (19th), with Ksenia Kapelyukh the top-ranked Scottish speaker, and Ruby McIntee the second, just one point behind.

Whilst in Oxford, Ksenia, Ruby and HSD senior debating coach Irene McGrath had the pleasure of being invited to join a group of debating FPs at a dinner hosted by Steven Roy (class of 2017). Proof (if it were needed!) that ‘once a member of the HSD debating family, always a member of the HSD debating family’! 

The following week, a lack of competitive experience was no barrier to novice debater Anthony Hingston and first-time tournament attendee Reuben Stewart, as they impressed in the Edinburgh University Schools tournament. The duo finished in 3rd place, earning them a place in the final.

Also recently, Anthony and Ruby joined Sneha Sripada and Sahar Jafferbhoy to put on a well-received show debate – This House Supports positive discrimination for ethnic minorities in the workplace - at the Black Professionals Scotland meeting hosted by Morgan Stanley in Glasgow.

Debating coach Irene McGrath said, “Our debaters have really risen to the challenge - and thrill - of getting back to debating In Real Life after all these long months of doing it through their screens. They often compete against teams that are trained by professional coaches, but this year – as always – our HSD debaters have more than held their own.

“At the Black Professionals Scotland meeting, the pupils’ show debate went down extremely well with the invited audience and we received a great deal of positive feedback on their performance.”