What?
A one-day tournament, where students will participate in four rounds of debate (in English, following rules of World Schools Debate Championships (WSDC)), against students from schools across Switzerland.
When?
In-person at UZH/ ETH in central Zürich on Saturday, 8th November 2025 (schedule down below).
How do I Sign Up?
Sign up for ETH Zürich Schools Winter 2025 is open from now until October 24th via the following form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9-w0PlJuAlzb4KKZUtuXBwEWBwzYykgJxCntv4FgLndqI8Q/viewform?usp=header
We anticipate high demand, and places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis – so be fast!
Registration Details
Teams of 3 students over the age of 13 may be registered. Note that all teams must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
After sign-up via the form, slots will be confirmed via Email, alongside the exact address, details on the workshops and invoicing.
A registration fee of 20 CHF per public school student (subsidised) and 60 CHF per private school student will have to be paid that will go towards a catered lunch, light refreshments, as well as a modest compensation for our judges.
Why Participate?
Debating is an excellent extra-curricular activity. It helps students to build confidence with public speaking, develops critical thinking skills and teaches them how to express themselves in a structured and concise manner. Of course, it also looks great on university applications!
Additionally, many judges are part of the Swiss Debating Council, the organization that selects high-school debaters for the Swiss national Debating Team that attends the World Schools Debating Championships every year. This is a great way to get to know them!
We have received very positive feedback from schools who attended the last debating tournaments we hosted (the Swiss Schools Debating Championships 2024 and ETH Zürich Schools Debating Tournament in March 2025). The topics set at the Swiss Schools Debating Championships 2024 are available online (https://swissschools24.calicotab.com/_/motions/).
My students have no experience debating, can I still attend?
Yes, the tournament is designed with this specifically in mind, as it is our aim to help establish debating in Switzerland.
We will host 2 online events the week before the tournament. A show debate by experienced members of the ETH Zürich and UZH debating society, as well as a workshop on basics of argumentation.
There will also be a short speaker briefing the day of the event to reiterate the rules of the WSDC format.
Further Information on the World Schools Debating Championships: https://www.wsdcdebating.org/
What is the Schedule?
09:00-09:30: registration window (please arrive by 09:20 at the latest)
09:30-10:00: speaker briefings
10:00-11:45: round 1
11:45-13:30: round 2
13:30-14:15: lunch (provided)
14:15-16:00: round 3
16:30-17:00: break and finals announcement
17:00-18:30: grand final
18:45- 19h15: closing and awards ceremony
Questions?
No problem! Please don’t hesitate to contact our school’s officer Aude Nardelli (anardelli@student.ethz.ch) who is a previous member and coach of the German national WSDC debate team at the Debating Society Germany.