The Historical Association’s public speaking competition, open to school years 10 – 13
The National Archives is happy to be hosting a heat for this year’s Historical Association Great Debate. The event will take place on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 at 6pm.
If you would like to join our heat simply email Elspeth at educationbookings@nationalarchives.gov.uk and let us know why you would like to take part in the Great Debate.
What is the Great Debate?
The Great Debate is a public speaking competition where students have five minutes to present their speech arguing their answer to the question.
The competition for the next academic year will start in the autumn term of 2025 and the question being asked is:
How important are personal and public records as evidence for explaining the story, or stories, of your local area?
Evidence of the past can take on many forms, some of it is formal (birth certificates, government records etc); some might be physical structures (e.g. buildings, planted woods) and some of it informal – diaries, postcards, ephemera and letters. Historians researching a topic, person or event will often use a combination of these pieces of evidence to construct an understanding of the past. Many of the formal pieces if evidence are in the shape of public records that can are kept in local record offices, libraries, old local history books; in some instances informal records are also now kept in official archives and museums.
To answer the Great Debate question for this year we would like to hear how you have sought out your evidence and sources to make your argument to address the importance of personal and, or public records as evidence for explaining local history.
- Download the ‘rules‘ (PDF) and our ‘Public speaking guidance’ (PDF) for helpful tips on preparing a speech.
The Great Debate is divided into regional heats that take place across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in the autumn, culminating in a Grand Final in March.
Find out more at The Historical Association’s website.
Why take part?
The competition is an ideal opportunity for students to gain valuable experience in speaking to an audience and developing their debating skills, confidence and self-esteem.
The winner and runners-up of the competition will receive a cash prize. All finalists will also receive free student membership of the Historical Association.
- Read our ‘Guidance for teachers’ (PDF) to get an idea on how to introduce public speaking and the Great Debate to your students.
- Watch our video on why you should take part: What is the Great Debate?