The Leeds Salon is a public discussion forum founded in February 2009. The Salon organises discussions around political, cultural and scientific issues, with the aim of challenging any orthodoxies along the way, defending and developing the legacy of the Enlightenment and, above all, providing a space where free speech can take place. Find out more.
salon & school debating news
The next Leeds Salon will be spring 2026
Sixth Form Debating Competition 2025
Tuesday 25th November the Royal Armouries Museum (Leeds) hosted its third, annual sixth form debating competition in partnership with The Leeds Salon, and this year sponsored by the UK’s Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Forum – UKREiiF.
The competition was expanded for the second year running to now include eight Yorkshire schools: Abbey Grange CofE Academy, Beckfoot School, Bradford Grammar School, Grammar School at Leeds, Guiseley School, Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College, Pudsey Grammar School and Queen Ethelberga’s School.
The schools were divided into two groups conmpeting in a knock-out format, Group winners Bradford Grammar School and Abbey Grange Academy met in the final debating ‘Trial by jury should be removed in certain cases’. And, after a high quality debate, the judges’ declared Abbey Grange Academy as Royal Armouries Champions 2025.
Read about it in the Yorkshire Evening Post and on the Abbey Grange news page.
There were also three Royal Armouries individual prizes, which went to:
- Best Individual: Ruth Rudman, Abbey Grange.
- Highly Commended: Iris Podesta, Guiseley School.
- Commended Individual: Nathan Powley, Abbey Grange.
And a separate Leeds Salon Individual Prize was awarded to the person who best represented the spirit of Enlightenment inquiry by asking lots of good questions, and this went to Eliza Salmon from Guiseley School.
The competition uses the format and topic guides of Debating Matters.
Sponsored by:
Prize Sponsors:
Womble Bond Dickinson / Leeds Salon Years 10&11 Debating Competition 2026
The qualifying rounds for the Womble Bond Dickinson / Leeds Salon Years 10&11 Debating Competition 2026 take place in January. This is the thirteenth year of Leeds Salon’s annual competition for 14-to-16-year-olds, and the fourth year with leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (Leeds) as Headline Partner.
Eight schools will take part divided into four qualifying rounds: Abbey Grange CofE Academy, Cardinal Heenan Catholic High, Carr Manor Community School, Guiseley School, Mount St Mary’s Catholic High, Pudsey Grammar School, Roundhay School and UTC Leeds. The four qualifying round winners will then meet in the final on Wednesday 1st April 2026 at the offices of Womble Bond Dickinson.
Womble Bond Dickinson / Leeds Salon Years 10&11 Debating Competition 2025
The final of the ‘The Womble Bond Dickinson / Leeds Salon Years 10&11 Debating Competition 2025’ took place on Wednesday 2nd April at the WBD Leeds offices – the third year leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (Leeds) has been Headline Partner in the twelfth year of our annual competition for 14-to-16 year-olds.
The three qualifying rounds winners – Abbey Grange CofE Academy, Carr Manor Community School and Guiseley School – completed over three debates on: ‘Humanity should fear advances in artificial intelligence‘, ‘Western museums should repatriate culture artefacts‘ and ‘Assisted dying should be legalised‘.
Carr Manor Community School were declared 2025 Champions for the first time in only their third final.
There were also three individual prizes awarded to: ‘Best Individual’ Molly Megginson of Carr Manor; ‘Highly Commended Individual’ Eliza Salmon of Guiseley, and ‘Commended Individual’ Felix Whittaker of Carr Manor.
Prize Sponsors for the final were Royal Armouries Museum (Leeds), the University of Leeds’ Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre and UKREiiF – the Leeds-based UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum – who all contributed to the packages of prizes.
Thank you to our teams of panel and individual judges: John Connor, David Cole and Razvan Popa of Womble Bond Dickinson; Director General of the Royal Armouries Nat Edwards, the University of Leeds’ Dr Mark Westgarth and Ruby Hornsby, artist and director of The Firmament Annabel Carington, co-founder of Freedom in the Arts Denise Fahmy, BBC Leeds journalist Julia Bryson, assistant director at HMRC Russell Thomas, NHS Englands’ Paul Butterworth, law student Sasha Watson and Leeds Salon co-founder Michele Ledda.
Prize Sponsors
