Sixth Form students from six schools from across London fought for a place at the Debating Matters national final in July.

On Friday March 11, Queens’ School in Bushey were victorious and impressed judges with their sharp ideas and approach to the topics.

The 16-18-year-olds took part in a series of debates on topics such as compulsory vaccinations for children, gender quotas in the workplace and genome editing as part of the competition.

Sophie Long, from Queens’ School, said: “I found the day eye opening.

“You don’t get to choose the issues and this means you are open to new points of view and opinions that might change yours.”

The competition involved nearly 300 schools and 2,000 students from around the UK and provides experience for the students equipping them to tackle some of the big issues affecting society today.

Jason Brian, director of the Debating Matters competition, said: “The competition prides itself on taking young people seriously, valuing ideas and allowing free debate.

“Some of the brightest and best students are taken out of their comfort zone by tackling these topics.

“The quality of debaters was again exceptionally high in the London Inner Region so congratulations to Queens’ School.

“We emphasise substance, not just style of debating, and all students have done incredibly well to get this far.”

The Debating Matters competition is supported nationally by the Wellcome Trust with prizes being donated by a number of organisations including London Transport Museum.