University Debate League
UAB's University Debate League 2026
Rules of participation. Edition 2026
The UAB University Debate League aims to promote the use of the word among students, through a dialectic confrontation between several teams, who will have to defend a position for or against a current issue.
Participants
Participation in the competition is open to all UAB students who are enrolled in the current academic year 2025/2026.
The competition will be carried out by teams, which will have to be formed by a minimum of 2 students and a maximum of 5. The composition of the teams will have to be equal.
Each student can only be part of one team. A maximum of 12 teams will be allowed to participate, although the organisation will adapt the competition to the final number of participating teams.
The team must designate a spokesperson, who will act as captain and who will be the interlocutor with the head judge and the competition organisers.
Registration
Interested students must fill in the registration form. The deadline for registration is 20th January 2026.
The registration is individual and needs to be completed by all members of the team. On the form, however, you have to indicate the members of the team and which of you will be the spokesperson.
Preparation for the debates:
To prepare you for your participation we offer you a specific training, it will take place on 10th and 12th February, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. This training will be conducted in person.
On the YouTube channel of the Community Involvement Unit you will find videos of previous competitions that will help you to prepare your interventions.
The language
The language of the debate will be Catalan.
Dates
The competition will take place between 18th and 20th February 2026.
Theme
The theme of the debate will be: «Is democracy at risk?»
Competition procedure
The competition will consist of participating in at least 3 debates for each participating team and will be held in person at the UAB Theatre Hall.
The competition system will depend on the number of registered teams and will be specified in the Regulations of the XVII UAB University Debate League 2026 Edition, that will be given to participants.
Depending on the number of teams that finally participate, the number of days of the competition may vary, but in no case will the dates indicated be exceeded.
Academic Recognition
UAB undergraduate students who participate have the option of having their participation in the University Debate League recognised with 2 ECTS credits.
To obtain the academic recognition you must:
- Participate in the two face-to-face training sessions.
- Make a minimum of two oral interventions during the competition in any of the debate rounds. Interpellations from the table are not enough.
- Participate in all the debates from your team.
- Indicate this when registering for the activity
The winning team
The winning team will represent UAB in the University Debate League organised by the Vives University Network (between the 27th and 29th april at the Universitat d'Alacant).
The organisation may consider the participation of the teams participating in the 2026 edition in other inter-university competitions as representatives of the UAB and reserves the right to extend the composition of the team that participated in the inter-university competitions with members of other teams that have participated in the 2026 edition.
The best speaker
In the qualifying phase, the juries will evaluate the best speaker in each debate. The participant most highly rated by the juries in this phase will be awarded the prize for the best speaker and will receive an e-book as a prize.
