A very early start and four fiercely challenging rounds of debating tested Will and Arjan’s strategy as well as their stamina. Across the day, motions covered a range of challenging social and cultural topics, from whether ‘the development of AGI should be restricted exclusively to government-controlled or funded institutions’ to whether the ‘narrative that women can have it all’ does more harm than good.

Will and Arjan debated with great skill and confidence, illustrating their points with logical intuitions and knowledge drawn from their academic studies. They achieved two second place rankings in debates, as well as a third and a fourth place, which was a very commendable set of results.

Qualifying for Finals Day is an exceptional achievement. The experience of not only visiting but also competitively debating at the Oxford Union was a memorable one for our very talented debaters.