This years 48 Qualifying Rounds will see 192 schools compete for one of just 48 Regional Final places. From Stirling to Exeter, Norwich to Liverpool, students from across the UK will be debating a range of contemporary social, political, scientific and cultural issues from the 5 October.

To see which rounds are happening in your area, see the full list below.

Scotland & Northern Ireland

Fife & Stirling, 9 November
Lanarkshire, 10 November
Edinburgh, 29 November
Glasgow, 30 November
Derry, 1 December
Belfast, 2 December

North East & Yorkshire

West Yorkshire, 21 October
Gateshead, 2 November
Newcastle, 3 November
Leeds & Bradford, 4 November
Middlesbrough, 9 November
North Yorkshire, 6 December

North West & North Wales

North Wales, 11 October
Manchester, 19 October
Blackburn, 3 November
Staffordshire, 8 November
Lancashire, 10 November
Merseyside, 7 December

Central

Leicester, 5 October
Birmingham, 6 October
Nottingham & Derby, 13 October
Sheffield, 2 November
Oxfordshire, 11 November
West Midlands, 30 November

East

Bedfordshire, 7 October
Hertfordshire, 12 October
Northamptonshire, 13 October
Cambridge, 20 October
Norwich, 7 December
Essex, 8 December

West & South Wales

Swindon, 12 October
Cheltenham, 14 October NB: this is a daytime event
Bristol, 4 November
Devon & Cornwall, 24 November
Somerset, 25 November
South Wales, 29 November

London & South

South London, 5 October
Hampshire, 18 October
Berkshire, 19 October
West London, 20 October
North London, 24 November
East London, 6 December

South East

Surrey, 6 October
Brighton & Hove, 7 October
Canterbury, 11 October
Folkestone & Dover, 21 October
Reigate & Crawley, 25 November
West Kent, 9 December

A few Qualifying Round places are still available, so if your school is interested in taking part please contact Justine Brian on 020 7269 9233 to find out about availability.

FURTHER HELP

If you are interested in attending a Qualifying Round to see Debating Matters ‘live’, contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). For more information about the competition, and its unique format, have a look at our Taking Part section.