- 4 teams2 for Government, 2 for Opposition
- 2 eachspeakers per team
- 8 speechesone per speaker
- 7 mineach speech
- 15 minprep after the motion is announced
The four teams
Each side of the debate, Government (for the motion) and Opposition (against it), has two teams. The two teams on a side are called a bench. Opening teams speak in the first half of the debate and closing teams in the second half.
Teams on the same bench must agree with each other (they cannot contradict the team before them), but each team is ranked on its own. A closing team that simply repeats its opening team will lose to it.
Speech order
The sides take turns, Government first. Every speech is 7 minutes, and there are no reply speeches. The whips give the last two speeches.
- Prime MinisterOpening Government, 7 minutes
- Leader of the OppositionOpening Opposition, 7 minutes
- Deputy Prime MinisterOpening Government, 7 minutes
- Deputy Leader of the OppositionOpening Opposition, 7 minutes
- Member of GovernmentClosing Government, 7 minutes
- Member of OppositionClosing Opposition, 7 minutes
- Government WhipClosing Government, 7 minutes
- Opposition WhipClosing Opposition, 7 minutes
Signals: a single knock or bell at 1:00 and 6:00 marks the window for points of information, and a double knock at 7:00 means time is up. At Worlds a speaker gets about 15 seconds of grace to finish, and judges ignore anything said after 7:15.
What each speaker does
Prime Minister
- Defines the motion and sets out Government's model (what exactly it proposes).
- Presents Government's first arguments.
- Has no one to rebut yet, so the whole speech builds the case.
Leader of the Opposition
- Rebuts the Prime Minister.
- Presents Opposition's first arguments, and may offer a counter-proposal.
- Is the only speaker who can challenge an unfair definition.
Deputy Prime Minister
- Rebuts the Leader of the Opposition.
- Rebuilds and deepens the Prime Minister's case.
- Usually adds one more argument for the opening team.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
- Same job as the Deputy Prime Minister, for Opposition.
- Defends Opposition's case and adds to it before the closing teams speak.
Member of Government
- Brings the extension: new material Government has not yet offered.
- Rebuts Opposition, without contradicting Opening Government.
Member of Opposition
- Brings Closing Opposition's extension.
- Answers both Government teams, staying consistent with Opening Opposition.
Government Whip
- Sums up the debate for the Government bench, organized around the main clashes.
- Shows why their own extension matters most.
- New examples and rebuttal are fine. New arguments this late are discounted if they are unfair to the other side.
Opposition Whip
- Sums up the debate for the Opposition bench.
- Gives the last speech of the round, so new arguments are not allowed (no one could answer them).
Extensions and knifing
The closing teams prepare without knowing what the opening teams will say, so they have to adapt fast. Their main job is the extension: something new that moves their side forward. It can be a new argument, a new group of people affected, deeper analysis of an existing point, or a new way to frame the debate.
- Judges only credit a closing team for what goes beyond its opening team. Repeating the opening half earns little.
- Having an extension is not enough on its own. It has to be the material that best persuades the judge.
- Knifing means contradicting a team on your own bench. Teams get little or no credit for arguments that knife their side. Saying "even if Opening Government's point fails, this still holds" is not knifing.
Points of information
A point of information (POI) is a short question or comment offered to the speaker by someone from the other side. In BP, both teams on the opposite bench can offer POIs, so Opening Opposition can question the Government Whip. The person offering stands and says "Point of information" or "On that point", and the speaker accepts or declines.
- POIs can only be offered between 1:00 and 6:00. The first and last minute are protected time.
- A POI lasts up to 15 seconds, and the speaker should not cut it off early.
- Speakers are expected to accept at least one, ideally two. Closing teams use POIs to stay visible in the first half of the debate.
- After a POI is declined, wait about 10 seconds before offering again. Constant offering (badgering) is not allowed.
Motions and prep
The motion is announced 15 minutes before the round. Each team prepares on its own, with only its partner, and no coaches or internet. Many motions come with an info slide that explains background terms.
Recent Grand Final motions at the World Universities Debating Championship include "This House opposes the norm to prefer the natural to the artificial" (2024) and "This House Supports the shift away from the traditional left-right spectrum in the politics of major democracies" (2025). Browse more in the WUDC motions by year or the Motion Bank.
How judges decide
There is no single winner in BP. Judges rank all four teams from first to fourth, and ties are not allowed. They judge as an "ordinary intelligent voter": a well-informed person with no fixed views on the topic, who is persuaded by explained arguments, not by the judge's own knowledge.
| Rank | Team points | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 3 | The most persuasive team in the room |
| 2nd | 2 | Strong, but beaten by the first team on a key clash |
| 3rd | 1 | Made real contributions that were outweighed |
| 4th | 0 | Contributed least to the debate |
Each speaker also gets a score from 50 to 100. An average speech scores 75, and most scores fall between the high 60s and low 80s. The scores have to match the ranking: the first-placed team must have the highest combined score. A panel of judges talks it through and tries to agree; if it cannot, it votes, and the chair breaks a tie on an even panel. Across a tournament, teams are ranked by total team points, with speaker scores as the tiebreak.
Tips and common mistakes
- Opening teams: set the debate. A clear model and strong first arguments make it hard for closing teams to outshine you.
- Closing teams: plan two or three extensions. The opening team may run your best idea, so have a backup ready.
- Compare, don't just list. Say why your point matters more than the other team's, including the team on your own bench.
- Never knife. Disagreeing with your opening team costs you credit, even if you think they were wrong.
- Offer POIs early. A closing team that says nothing for the first half can look absent.
Key terms
- Bench
- The two teams on the same side: both Government teams or both Opposition teams.
- Model
- Government's plan for how the motion would work in practice.
- Extension
- The new material a closing team brings to the debate.
- Knifing
- Contradicting a team on your own bench.
- Info slide
- Background text shown with the motion to explain key terms.
- Squirreling
- Defining the motion in a way that dodges what it plainly means.
- Protected time
- The first and last minute of a speech, when no POIs are allowed.
- Team points
- 3, 2, 1 or 0 points for finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a round.
Where it is used
The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC, or "Worlds") uses BP and draws hundreds of teams from around the world each year. BP is also the format of the European Universities Debating Championship, and most university debate societies in the UK, Ireland, Europe, Africa and Asia. Some high school tournaments and classes use it too, because a room of eight speakers lets everyone take part.