When Georgina Baker and Hannah Mackaness rise to their feet, you can be sure that they will make a persuasive argument. Little wonder then, that the pair of S5 debaters from George Heriot’s school in Edinburgh are the Scottish schools debating champions. Indeed, when they went on to represent the country at the international debating championships, they brought home the silver medal and Georgina won the prize for the best individual speaker at the event.

They join a long line of successful Scottish debaters that includes the former Labour leaders John Smith and Donald Dewar, the former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and many members of the Scottish legal establishment.

The English-Speaking Union Scotland organises two schools debating competitions — the Juniors competition for pupils in years 1-3, and the Mace for older secondary school children. Despite a growing interest among state schools, it is the independent schools that have produced the overwhelming majority of successful debaters. Teams from George Heriot’s in Edinburgh, Robert Gordon’s college in Aberdeen and the High School of Dundee have been particularly hard to beat in recent years.

This is good to know if you aspire for your children to be advocates or parliamentarians, but is there any broader benefit to being able to argue the case for a motion in which you might not believe? There certainly is, says Rob Marrs, the union’s speeches and debates officer. “It almost goes without saying that the ability to stand up and present an argument effectively is one that is of enormous use in the modern workplace,” he says. “But the real benefits of debating go much deeper.”

Each competition requires four teams to make the case for and against a motion. Entrants in the most recent Scottish junior debating competition considered the case that “the house believes that the Government should act to encourage the production and use of biofuels”. Competitors cannot choose which side of the debate to take, however, and must respond to the case made by the opposing side immediately after they have heard its arguments.

“Debating is great for developing children’s analytical skills,” says Marrs. “Because debaters have to be on top of both sides of an argument, they must consider all the pros and cons, whatever their own feelings are. It also teaches the skills of listening very carefully to an argument being made by someone else, as well, of course, as giving a massive boost to their skills as a speaker and their overall confidence.”

The debates are judged by an expert panel. “Success does depend on individual talent,” says Marrs. “It would get nowhere, in our competitions, however, without the dedication of the teachers who put so much time and energy into developing pupils’ abilities.”

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