World Schools Style debate

World Schools Style debate (alternatively WSS, WS, or WSD) is one of the most widely used debate formats in secondary schools. It was designed in 1988 to be used at the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC), but became a global standard for secondary school debate as WSDC gained popularity. WS is most similar to British Parliamentary, Australasian, and Karl Popper debate formats. The rules of WS are contained in the WSDC rulebook, with other users of the format explicitly using these rules at their competitions (e.g. EuroSDC). The interpretation of these rules differs across various historic and geographic contexts, leading to frequent clarifications and adaptations at the WSDC.

Each debate comprises eight speeches delivered by two teams of three members, representing the Proposition and Opposition. One team is in favour of a debate motion, typically expressed as a statement beginning with "This House" (e.g. This House Would Ban Alcohol). When used internationally, the topics debated are generally relevant on a global scale, thus debaters are expected to consider the entire world in their examples and argumentation. The first six speeches are eight minutes in duration, with each team then finishing up by giving a four-minute concluding reply speech. In Impromptu debate, teams of three to five debaters are given 60 minutes to prepare for their speeches; in prepared debates, the motion is announced days to months before the debate to allow for research and preparation. At the WSDC, prepared motions are released 8 weeks before the competition. Notably, debaters can prepare for the latter with the help of their coaches, the internet, and any other resource, whereas they may only converse within the team for impromptu debates.

The role of the first speaker is to open up the case of the proposition. This involves:

Their duty is to respond to the definition and arguments given by the Proposition while typically presenting a counter-case. This involves:

Their role is to rebut the arguments given by the other side and respond to the rebuttal given by the other side, ensuring that their arguments still stand. They are allowed to introduce weighing metrics such as the scale, intensity, likelihood, consent, or moral importance of the impacts of an argument, by which that argument should be credited more by a judge than another argument. Eventually, they can continue with their team's case and must give new arguments.

The third speaker has to re-structure the whole debate, often along the lines of clashes or themes around which the debate has revolved, filter the key issues of the debate and prove that the other side's case does not stand while proving that their case does, convincing the judges to vote for their side. This involves:

World Schools Style debates include an additional speech from each team, called the reply speech. This is a short, four-minute speech given by either the first or second speaker from the team, and presented in the opposite speaking order to the rest of the debate (i.e. the Opposition delivers the first reply speech, followed by the Proposition). The functions of the reply speech are to:

The reply speech is sometimes referred to as being a "biased adjudication" of the debate, because its format is similar to that of an adjudicator's oral feedback on the debate, but with the purpose of convincing the audience that the speaker's team was victorious. The retrospective nature of the reply speech means that no new material may be introduced in this speech.