With registration running a little later yesterday morning, our students could enjoy a short lie-in on their first Sunday of the session. Most students took advantage of this, but some early birds were up at the usual time to squeeze in a quick trip to Oxford or a spot of homework.

One group of students who were up bright and early were our debate team. With the Great Debate scheduled for the afternoon, it was time for final run-throughs and to do any last tweaks to their speeches.

After a bite of lunch to help calm their nerves, the students headed off to The Sheldonian Theatre for the debate. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the theatre is a very striking setting, but luckily none of our students were daunted by the grandeur. 

As today’s debate was focused on technology, the ex-presenter of The Gadget Show, Jason Bradbury, was a perfect choice for a guest speaker. Not only did he give a captivating speech on the difference between robots and humans, but he also wowed the students by bringing a hoverboard with him!

Then it was time for our students to step up to the podium. The motion for the debate was “this house believes the robots are taking our jobs”, which hit on some very relevant concerns amongst the students and their current generation. It was clear as each student had their turn that they all felt very strongly about the subject, and everyone spoke with both great emotion and flawless reasoning. Everyone thoroughly deserved the enthusiastic applause they received!

Overall, the Great Debate was a great success! Afterwards our students headed back to Balliol to relax for the evening before classes started up again in the morning.