Students from Queens' School in Bushey are to go head-to-head against five schools from the region in one of the toughest debating competitions in the UK.

On April 26, students Claire Thomas, Neelan Chharo, Fiorella Volonnino, Salma Begun, Isabel Annal and Sam Munson, will represent their Aldenham Road school at the regional final of the Institute of Ideas Debating Matters competition.

While there they will argue a series of different topics including whether the Olympic Games are too costly in the current economic climate.

And they will have to prove their debating prowess at the event at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, in a bid to reach the national final this summer in London.

Students will have to argue their position before a panel of judges and then be quizzed on the merits of their argument by questions posed by both the judges and members of the audience including their fellow students.

Teacher Kevin Rooney, who has organised the students, said: "This is a great test of our students' abilities. This is a tough competition - it's not your usual posh Oxbridge-style debates with the ‘point of order’ stuff, it's a really battle of wits.

"We've taken part in the competition for the past seven or eight years, and during that time I've seen students reduced to tears – that's how tough this competition is.

"We were given the motions a few weeks ago and students have been busy researching in preparation for the contest.

"The school has reached the final on three occasions and won twice, and I hope we'll do well again this year. As to whether we'll win, I'd hate to guess.

"But there is no doubt in my mind that this competition is character building and the students taking part are always up for a good argument."

The competition is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.