Dear Hong Kong Debating and Public Speaking Community,
As we enter the 2025-2026 academic year, we are elated to announce that the Senior Schools Debating Championships (SDC) is returning on 4-5th October, 2025. Senior SDC has traditionally been the training ground for our representative teams, in preparation for the Team Trials held in late October, and is a great opportunity for debaters to test their mettle in one of the biggest WSDC-style inter-school debate competitions in Hong Kong. Adding to the excitement, Senior SDC will be hosted in-person at Kellett School (Kowloon Bay Campus) for the first time.
Important information regarding the tournament and registration can be found below:
Team Registration Form: https://forms.gle/LAtc7awCfw5qdGMJ8
Registration deadline: 12th September, 2025
Date: 4th October, 2025 08:30-19:00 (preliminary rounds); 5th October, 2025 08:00-18:30 (outrounds)
Venue: Kellett School (Kowloon Bay Campus); 7 Lam Hing Street, Kowloon Bay
Cost: HKD500 per team
Eligibility: 3-5 members per team; Forms 4-6 / Years 10-13 / Grades 10-12
Adjudicators: Each registered team should be accompanied by an adjudicator — the judge must be available to judge for at least the entirety of Day 1. Adjudicators must also be provided by the breaking teams for outrounds. Furthermore, due to Kellet’s security policies, any changes to adjudication must be made at least 1 week prior to the competition.
Team cap: 36 teams. Priority for second teams will go to previously underrepresented schools.
Format: WSDC – 8-minute main speech with points of information, 4-minute replies. Prepped motion for R1, semi-prepared motion for R2-3 with 15 minutes preparation time, impromptu motion for Round 4 with 45 minutes preparation time.
Draw: R1 random; R2-4 power-paired; PQF-GF folded knockout draw
Awards: Top fifteen speaker awards (debaters contesting 3 or more preliminary round debates are eligible); the top 4 teams on the tab will qualify directly to Quarter-finals, the remaining 8 teams will compete in the Pre-Quarterfinals.
Please note that lunch will be provided by the school cafeteria, at $50 per person. The amount should be payable on the day, by Octopus card ONLY. Since the schedule only allows 45 minutes for lunch, it is assumed that all participants (students and observers) will be eating lunch at the cafeteria – those with other dietary needs will need to email us specifically to opt out. A vegetarian menu is available, and further details will be provided at a later date.
Schedule:
4th October – Day 1
08:30 – 08:45 Registration and roll-call
08:45 – 09:30 Tournament briefing
09:30 – 11:00 Round 1 prepped debate + feedback
11:00 – 11:15 Break
11:15 – 11:30 Prep time for round 2 semi-prepped debate
11:30 – 13:00 Round 2 semi-prepped debate + feedback
13:00 – 13:45 Lunch break
13:45 – 14:00 Prep time for round 3 semi-prepped debate
14:00 – 15:40 Round 3 semi-prepped debate + feedback
15:40 – 16:00 Break
16:00 – 16:45 Prep time for round 4 impromptu debate
16:50 – 18:10 Round 4 impromptu debate (silent round)
18:10 – 18:30 Tabulation of results
18:30 – 19:00 Break announcement, prizes for top speakers
5th October – Day 2
08:00 – 08:15 Registration and roll-call
08:30 – 10:00 Pre-quarterfinals prepped debate
10:00 – 10:15 Announcement of Pre-quarterfinals results
10:15 – 10:30 Prep time for Quarter-finals semi-prepped debate
10:30 – 12:00 Quarter-finals semi-prepped debate
12:00 – 12:15 Announcement of Quarter-finals results
12:15 – 13:00 Lunch break
13:00 – 13:45 Prep time for Semi-finals impromptu debate
13:45 – 15:15 Semi-finals impromptu debate
15:15 – 15:30 Announcement of Semi-finals results
15:30 – 16:15 Prep time for Grand Final impromptu debate
16:15 – 17:45 Grand Final impromptu debate
17:45 – 18:30 Announcement of Grand Final result and prize presentation
Please note that the schedule for the tournament is tentative and subject to change depending on the final team cap. Motions for fully prepared and semi-prepared rounds will be sent out 2 to 3 weeks before the tournament dates if your team is given a spot in the tournament.
For more information and any inquiries, please contact us at info@hkdsc.org. We look forward to seeing your teams and judges at SDC 2025!
Sincerely,
SDC Executive Committee