Article written by Jose, Year 12 Economics student.

On Saturday 10 October, my debating partner Anish and I represented Latymer at LSE Schools 2026, a British Parliamentary debating competition hosted by the LSE Students' Union Debate Society. As someone who loves economics, spending a whole day at the London School of Economics arguing about everything from universities to US politics felt like a real privilege.

The competition

The tournament was big with 32 debates in each preliminary round, so around 128 teams took part, from schools including Eton, Westminster, St Paul's Girls', Tiffin Girls', Tonbridge and Wellington. It was a great chance to hear how students from so many different schools build an argument.

The day started at 8.30am and ran into the evening. In British Parliamentary debating, four teams of two share a room, two on each side, and the judges rank all four from first to fourth. After four preliminary rounds, the top teams went through to Gold, Silver, Bronze and Novice finals.

Our four rounds

Anish and I debated from all four positions across the day, which meant adapting our approach every round.

Should confessions stay secret?

The highlight for us was Round 2, where we were ranked first in our room on the motion "This House would abolish clergy–penitent privilege". This motion asked whether religious leaders should lose the legal right to keep confessions private in court. The info slide explained that a priest who refused to testify could be prosecuted and jailed, which made the stakes feel very real.

We were Closing Government, the last team speaking for abolition, so we had to bring something new after the opening team had already set out the main case. Weighing up the costs and benefits on each side, the way you would in an economics essay, helped us find a fresh angle. We were really pleased to be ranked first in a room with teams from Sacred Heart, Southend High School for Boys and Tonbridge School, all of whom made strong arguments.

Looking at the tournament's motion statistics afterwards, it was a close motion overall: across 32 rooms, Government teams averaged 1.59 points to Opposition's 1.41.

The rest of the day

Round 1 asked whether the US university system is better than the UK's, a question many of us are starting to think about for ourselves. Round 3, on the rise of biopics, put us in a room with teams from Eton and Tiffin Girls'. Round 4, on whether the US Democrats should focus on the left wing or on moderates, was one of the most interesting for me as someone who follows economics and policy. Every round taught us something, and the adjudicators' feedback was really useful.

It was also great to see other Latymer teams doing well, including Daphne, who won their room in Round 2.

The finals

The day ended with four finals:

I loved how broad the motions were, from religious law to cinema to American politics. In BP you usually get about 15 minutes to prepare and you don't choose your side, so you have to be ready to argue either way.

What I took away

LSE Schools 2026 was a brilliant experience. I learned a lot from debating against students from so many schools, and I'm grateful to Anish for being a great partner and to the LSESU Debate Society for organising the day.

I would especially like to thank Miss Vu for her support and encouragement. Thank you also to Latymer's Economics Department and the school for giving us this opportunity. I'd encourage anyone interested in economics, politics or just a good argument to give debating a try!