Get your school involved

Teams debate four out of five motions in the League Phase. The motions are provided to participating schools after the registration deadline. Teams receive points (out of 3) for each debate, 3–0 for a unanimous win/loss, 2-1 for a majority win/loss. These are added up in the league table and their place in the table is calculated. The top 24 schools then go through to the playoffs or straight to the knockout phase.

Sixteen schools progressed to the Playoff Round and competed for eight of the sixteen places in the Knockout Round. The top eight schools without any byes in the League Phase skip this round.

We have made some changes this year to the Concern Debates programme.  The top 32 schools (including schools with byes) in the League Phase progress automatically to the Knockout rounds.   The top 16 schools will progress to the 'Cup Round' and schools 17-32 will progress to the 'Shield Round.'  The Cup and Shield stages are both in the style of a knockout competition.

Our top eight schools compete for their place in the semi-finals.

Four schools compete for the two coveted spots at the Concern Debate national final. The semi-finals usually take place in April.

The Concern Debates final takes place at Dublin City University's Helix Theatre.  This year we will be hosting two finals: The Cup final and the Shield final.  The winners of both the Cup and the Shield finals will receive a trophy for their school and Debates Mentor.