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World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC)

The world championship of university debating, held each New Year.

Editions

Greyed years are editions we don’t have a tab for yet. Know where one is?

Field strength over the years

How strong each edition’s field was, on the cross-tournament strength scale.

Older editions predate a lot of the rating data we hold, so early years can read lower than they really were.

  • 2018Above Average
  • 2020Premier
  • 2021Average
  • 2022Premier
  • 2023Ultra Premier
  • 2024Ultra Premier
  • 2025Ultra Premier
  • 2026Ultra Premier

What gets set here

The topic mix across 1 analysed edition. Tap a year to see that edition alone.

19 categorised motions across all editions.

Economics21%
Social & Identity21%
International Relations16%
Politics11%
Technology11%
Religion5%

It changes when you break

Outrounds here lean Social & Identity: 30% of outround motions, against 11% in the inrounds.

Grand final motions, year by year
  • 2026This House, as an average person in a developed country, would lead a life heavily prioritising long term commitments (people, places, vocations, etc.) over heavily prioritising flexibility and keeping options open · Social & Identity

What it takes to break here

  • 202618 pts · 79.5 speaks50/337 broke

18 points has guaranteed the break in 1 of 1 editions with break data.

How scoring works here

Field average 76.8 across 1 scored edition.

  • Top speaker pace83.4
  • Top-10 pace81.8
  • Top-20 pace81.2

Median average speaks at each finishing position, across 1 edition.

Records

  • Best speaker average83.4 🇬🇧 Bharath A., 2026
  • Biggest field398 teams 2016
  • Strongest field2026 Ultra Premier

Top speakers in this series

The highest speaker averages recorded across every analysed edition.

  1. 1🇬🇧 Bharath A.83.4
  2. 2🇦🇺 Udai K.83.2
  3. 3🇦🇺 Jack S.83.1
  4. 4🇬🇧 Max R.82.8
  5. 5🇬🇧 Gareth Y.82.6
  6. 6🇺🇸 Amitai P.82.3
  7. 7🇬🇧 Sophie H.82.2
  8. 8🇯🇵 Nasa T.82.2
  9. 9🇧🇬 Maria M.81.9
  10. 10🇧🇬 Alek S.81.9
  11. 11🇬🇧 Maximus P.81.8
  12. 12🇧🇬 Velina A.81.8
  13. 13🇦🇺 Jack G.81.6
  14. 14🇦🇺 Samuel D.81.6
  15. 15🇺🇸 Clement T.81.4

Who chairs it

Adjudication-core members from the editions where we know the panel.

  • Boby R.2 editions
  • Chuan-Zheng L.2 editions
  • Duncan C.2 editions
  • Ioana B.2 editions
  • Jordan P.2 editions
  • Lehakoe M.2 editions
  • Lucian T.2 editions
  • Sella N.2 editions
  • Steph W.2 editions
  • Uphie A.2 editions
  • Boemo P.2 editions
  • Dan L.2 editions

We only know the panel for 6 of 13 editions. Know who chaired another year?