ESU Schools’ Mace Debating Competition

The ESU Schools’ Mace is part of the English-Speaking Union’s wider mission to help young people use language for understanding and constructive dialogue. Founded in 1918 by Sir Evelyn Wrench, the ESU has developed from an international fellowship organisation into an educational charity with a major programme of school debating, public speaking and cultural exchange. The Schools’ Mace is therefore more than a tournament: it is one of the organisation’s long-running ways of making serious discussion a practical school experience. The competition is described by the ESU as the oldest and largest debating competition for schools in England and Wales, serving students from Years 7–13. Its importance comes partly from the scale of the route and partly from the type of experience it creates. Teams must respond to motions, divide preparation, listen to opponents and adapt their case in real time. A student cannot rely on a polished speech written days earlier; the central skill is making a structured argument when the other side has already challenged the first version of it. That makes the Schools’ Mace especially relevant to students interested in law, politics, philosophy, economics, history or public leadership. Preparation should include current-affairs reading, short motion drills, role rotation and deliberate practice in conceding a limited point without losing the main argument. The best teams are not necessarily the loudest. They are the ones that can make a complex issue understandable, respond directly and support one another under pressure. We rate the ESU Schools’ Mace at Advanced Level. School entry makes the competition accessible, but the advanced argument, teamwork and substantial preparation demands are real. Its value is strongest when students reflect on how their reasoning changed through debate, not when they treat a single result as a complete measure of their communication ability.