A DEBATING team from a local school has been crowned champions of a national competition.

The team from Beckfoot School in Bingley won the Debating Matters National Final, held at the British Library in London this weekend.

They beat 12 schools from across the UK over three days of intense debate.

The Beckfoot team prepared for over a month and won all four of its debates, tackling issues such as the need for public libraries and physician assisted suicide.

In the semi-final, George Loftus and Ed Ford beat Withington Girls’ School, a leading independent day school from Manchester, by arguing we should still expect online privacy in a digital age.

Students Awais Nazir and Felix Bunting then triumphed in the final debate against Douglas Academy, a comprehensive school from Glasgow, by arguing we should permit the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

Teacher and debate coach Chris Toole said: “We did this for Bradford. Everything you hear in the news about Bradford is bad. We wanted to change that and show everyone how smart our young people are. We’re over the moon. The whole weekend was a team effort.”

Head teacher of Beckfoot School, David Horn said: "It’s amazing to think Beckfoot are national debating champions. It’s great for Beckfoot. Great for Bradford. Great for state education."

Student Awais Nazi said: "It’s been an absolutely fantastic experience."