On Tuesday 9th December, the NLCS Ideas Hub hosted the North London and East Anglia Regional Round of the Ethics Cup.
The Cup is a national competition, run by St Andrew’s University, with the mission of producing “a more civilised form of debate.” The teams respond to various ethical case studies, from genetic engineering to the use of deepfake images, and respond by building a philosophical position. They are then interrogated by rival teams and judges. The event created a real buzz of activity, with all the competitors demonstrating the superb oracy skills as well as critical thinking.
With schools coming from as far as Britain’s most Easterly town (Lowestoft), we had over a hundred visitors from an interesting variety of schools, including the Perse School from Cambridge, Framlingham College and the Iceni Academy, from Norfolk. After three rounds, NLCS were in contention but just missed out on the final. The finalists were two state schools: Bentley Wood and Woodhouse College. Both schools are seasoned campaigners in the cup and both were extremely well prepared. NLCS team members consoled themselves with the knowledge that it was their first attempt at the competition and so to come third is a real achievement.
Congratulations to Woodhouse College, who narrowly beat Bentley Wood and they now progress to the final at St Andrew’s University. It was great to share the benefit of our Ideas Hub facilities with our partner schools and so we aim to host the event again next year.
James Holt, Head of Theology & Philosophy
