About us

Royal Holloway’s Debating Society offers you a chance to engage in great conversations, and nurtures student’s passion for engaging in discussion with each other. Whether you have experience or not, it doesn’t matter for we all have had to defend our opinions at some point in our lives! Our society offers a range of opportunities to allow you to do this, from our Monday Socratic Debates to our very own Varsity team which specialises in British Parliamentary debating (BP), our society promises you that there is something in it for all debaters - new and experienced, experimenting and seasoned. Whatever experience you do, or do not have, we are here to help develop that!

Along with our weekly open debates and varsity training sessions, we also plan on holding events with guest speakers, show debates and social events as well as attending varsity competitions available to varsity members. This is a society open to all students and we are excited to see you join us in the upcoming academic year to embrace the spirit of debate and enjoy it as much as we all do.

We cannot wait to see what you bring to the society and how you will make it flourish.

Membership

We offer two different kinds of membership: standard and varsity

• Standard: with this membership, not only will you be invited to all social events but can also attend Open Debates. Any show debates and guest speaker events you will also be able to either attend for free or with a discount (depending on the demand of the event). All Varsity members will need to also hold a Standard membership as well as a Varsity membership. This membership will be £5.
   
• Varsity: Varsity is for those of you interested in not only participating with the Royal Holloway debating society but offers you the chance to meet and compete alongside other varsity teams in the country. The team is open to all abilities and backgrounds! We will be competing in all sorts of events this year, aimed at all abilities. The debate team is all about furthering your communication skills, all whilst growing as a team, and having fun along the way! The commitments attached to this membership include weekly training sessions with the team, travelling to competitions, and representing the university at events, such as show debates. This membership will cost £10 (excluding the £5 for the Standard membership). To participate in competitions, it will cost £15 for term 1, and £15 for terms 2 and 3. 

Events and Activities

In 2023/24 we planning on holding events in-person, however, this will be subject to any further SU and government guidance. That being said, we are going to plan events flexibly so that if we do need to move online, we will have a plan. The descriptions of each event will be written as though they will be taking place in person.

The events we plan to offer are as follows.

• Monday Open Debates: these debates are open to everybody - members and non-members - and are a chance for the entire student body to discuss motions set by the committee. It is a perfect chance for people to dip their toes and experience debating in a relaxed environment. You can vote for the motions, and find details of each debate, on our Instagram @rhul_debatingsoc; they are typically held 7-9PM in McCrea 2-01. It will also be followed by drinks at Crosslands.
   
• Thursday Varsity Training: this is for varsity members. In this time, we will be preparing for upcoming competitions. They will be run by our Varsity Captains, Ella & Carys, and followed by a trip to the pub!
   
• Speaker events: These will be ticketed events depending on which membership you hold. These events will usually take place during Monday Debates where the committee has invited an external speaker to join. These may also be for special events including show debates, so definitely keep an eye out in case we invite a guest who you’d be interested to see speak!
   
• Show debates: these will be special events either in collaboration with other societies and/or with a guest speaker. They will be a varsity held event but members and other students are encouraged to come and watch!
   
• Social events: there will be a range of social events open to all members from pub nights to fundraising events to maybe even collaborations with other societies so keep an eye out on our Facebook and Instagram to see what events we have coming up!

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or feedback you want to send our way, contact us on any of the following!

You can also drop us an email, at debating@royalholloway.su.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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