Debate Topics Bank — 100+ topics sorted by theme and level (A2 → C1)

School and education

The safest place to start a school year: everyone has first-hand experience and nobody needs background knowledge. The one angle to shut down early is judgement of a named colleague or a specific class.

• A2Should students be allowed to eat in class?
• A2Should the school day start at ten in the morning?
• A2Should schools have a dress code?
• B1Should homework be limited to one hour a night?
• B1Should every student have to learn a second language?
• B1Should schools ban energy drinks?
• B1Should final exams be replaced by coursework?
• B2Should university tuition be free?
• B2Should students be allowed to grade their teachers?
• B2Is setting students by ability fair?
• C1Can standardised testing measure what education is for?
• C1Does school exist to serve the student or the economy?

Technology and artificial intelligence

Students are more fluent here than most teachers, which usefully rebalances who speaks. Demand a concrete example behind every claim, or the debate turns into slogans within five minutes.

• A2Should phones be kept in lockers during school hours?
• A2Is it rude to check your phone while someone is talking to you?
• B1Should students be allowed to use AI for homework?
• B1Should video games carry age ratings like films?
• B1Should driverless cars be allowed on public roads?
• B2Should AI-generated images be labelled by law?
• B2Do recommendation algorithms narrow what we think?
• B2Should facial recognition be used in public places?
• B2Should the biggest technology companies be broken up?
• C1Can a machine be the author of a work?
• C1Has automation delivered on its promise of more free time?

Environment and climate

The trap here is the sermon: worded loosely, the green side wins before anyone speaks. Keep only motions where the measure costs somebody something real — a tax, a ban, a restriction.

• A2Should shops charge for plastic bags?
• A2Should school canteens have one meat-free day a week?
• B1Should short domestic flights be banned where trains run?
• B1Should supermarkets be forced to give away unsold food?
• B1Should fast fashion be taxed?
• B2Is a carbon tax fair on people who have no alternative to driving?
• B2Should water be rationed during droughts?
• B2Is nuclear power an acceptable climate solution?
• C1Is economic growth compatible with falling emissions?
• C1Can one generation legitimately commit the next?

Work and money

An uneven theme: some students have worked, others are imagining it. Draw the sides at random, or the debate becomes those who know against those who guess, and half the room goes quiet.

• A2Should teenagers be given pocket money?
• A2Is a summer job a good idea?
• B1Should tipping be replaced by higher wages?
• B1Is a four-day working week realistic?
• B1Should unpaid internships be illegal?
• B2Should the minimum wage be the same across the whole country?
• B2Should the highest salaries be capped?
• B2Would a universal basic income work better than existing benefits?
• C1Is work still the main source of social recognition?
• C1Does what a job pays tell us anything about its value?

Health and food

Run under one absolute rule: never let this drift towards the bodies, weight or eating habits of the students in the room. Every motion below is about a collective rule — advertising, canteens, prices, labelling.

• A2Should vending machines be allowed in schools?
• A2Should sports clubs be free for students?
• B1Should junk food advertising be banned before eight in the evening?
• B1Should sugary drinks be taxed?
• B1Should gym membership be paid for by the health service?
• B2Should nutrition labelling be compulsory on every product?
• B2Should vaccination be mandatory for contagious diseases?
• B2Should organ donation work on an opt-out basis?
• C1Should the way a person lives affect their access to treatment?
• C1Can our food choices be called free when advertising shapes them?

Cities and transport

Very productive in a multicultural class: everyone compares with the city they came from, and everyday vocabulary is enough to join in from A2 upwards.

• A2Should buses and trams be free for students?
• A2Do e-scooters belong on the pavement?
• B1Should city centres be closed to cars?
• B1Should home delivery cost more than it does now?
• B1Should short-term holiday lets be limited?
• B2Should public transport be free for everyone?
• B2Should cities build upwards to house everyone?
• B2Does CCTV actually make a city safer?
• C1Can a city be both desirable and affordable?
• C1Should the right to housing outweigh the right to property?

Media and information

Keep the debate on mechanisms — funding, algorithms, anonymity, liability — rather than on a named outlet. The moment a newspaper is named, the class sorts itself by political family and the arguing stops.

• A2Is it better to get the news on television or on your phone?
• A2Should there be a minimum age for social media accounts?
• B1Does online anonymity do more harm than good?
• B1Should influencers follow the same rules as advertisers?
• B1Should news websites be free to read?
• B2Should platforms be liable for what their users post?
• B2Should journalism be funded with public money?
• B2Should the right to be forgotten outweigh the right to report?
• C1Is neutral reporting an achievable goal?
• C1Can a democracy function with state secrets?

Culture, sport and leisure

The fallback theme when the mood in the room is tense: the arguing stays serious and nobody feels targeted. Also useful straight after a difficult topic, to close the lesson down gently.

• A2Are team sports better than individual sports?
• A2Should museums be free for young people?
• B1Are video games art?
• B1Should concert tickets have a price cap?
• B1Should e-sports count as real sport?
• B2Has professional sport become an advertising business?
• B2Should the Olympic Games continue?
• B2Should museums return objects taken during colonial rule?
• C1Should the arts be funded by the state?
• C1Can a work of art be separated from the person who made it?

Society and justice

The richest theme and the riskiest. Always draw the sides at random, and say before you start that the position argued commits nobody — that is what makes these motions teachable without anyone being assigned an opinion.

• A2Should the voting age be lowered to sixteen?
• A2Should volunteering be part of the school year?
• B1Should voting be compulsory?
• B1Should fines be based on income?
• B1Should national service be brought back?
• B2Is prison for punishment or for rehabilitation?
• B2Should some political representatives be chosen by lottery?
• B2Should companies be required to publish their pay gaps?
• C1Should free speech have legal limits?
• C1Is there a duty to obey an unjust law?

Everyday life and family

The A2 reservoir: familiar vocabulary, short turns, everyone has something to say within the first minute. Always word these around a general rule, never around one student’s household.

• A2Should teenagers have a curfew?
• A2Should parents know their child's phone password?
• A2Is it better to live in a city or in the countryside?
• A2Should people keep pets in a flat?
• B1Should household chores be shared on a written rota?
• B1Is it a problem to still live with your parents at twenty-five?
• B1Is giving money instead of a present a lazy way out?
• B2Should young children's screen time be limited by law?
• B2Should grandparents be paid for regular childcare?
• C1Is there any privacy left inside a connected home?
• C1Has free time become another kind of work?

A quiet class

Use the A2 motions from "Everyday life and family" or "Cities and transport", even with a B2 group. The vocabulary is already there, the first sentence comes without effort, and the silence breaks. Move back up the abstraction ladder next lesson, on the same theme.

Mixed abilities in one room

Choose a theme, not a motion, and spread the levels inside it: A2 students take the concrete version ("Should homework be limited to one hour a night?"), B2 and C1 students take the abstract one ("Can standardised testing measure what education is for?"). Bring both groups together at the end — the A2 students follow the harder debate because they have been working the same ground.

Sensitive topics — which to avoid, and why

Leave out, unless you have built a specific framework for them: immigration and asylum, religion and religious dress, abortion, gender identity, capital punishment, any ongoing armed conflict. They are not forbidden subjects in themselves, but in an ordinary classroom they turn the debate into a vote on people who are sitting in the room, and the student concerned cannot help but feel judged. Handle with care, and only if the group climate allows: compulsory vaccination, prison, pay gaps, short-term holiday lets. In every case, point the question at a general rule — a law, a tax, a ban — and never at a group of people.

A multicultural class

"Cities and transport", "School and education" and "Everyday life" pay off best: everyone compares with the city or country they came from, and that comparison is a contribution rather than a difference to justify. Avoid motions that assume detailed knowledge of one national system (pensions, press funding, university admissions): they quietly advantage the students who grew up in the country.

How do I stop a topic from going off the rails?

Three precautions cover almost every case. First, draw the sides at random: nobody is arguing their own opinion, so nobody can be reduced to what they said. Second, word the motion around a collective rule — a law, a tax, a ban — and never around a group of people. Third, announce before you start that you will cut off any turn aimed at someone in the room rather than at an argument, and do it the very first time. If it still turns, stop the debate and have everyone write down the strongest argument on the opposing side: moving to writing cools a room immediately.

Can political topics be debated in class?

Yes, and they are part of the job: a political question is by definition one where two legitimate values collide, which makes it excellent debate material. The line to hold is not avoiding politics, it is refusing to turn the lesson into an opinion poll. Sides drawn at random, a motion about a specific measure rather than about a party, and a teacher who never states their own position: on those terms, compulsory voting or a salary cap runs perfectly well. What to leave out are the topics that amount to asking the class to vote on the existence or the rights of some of its own members.

How do I adapt a B2 topic for A2 students?

Bring the question down from the abstract to the concrete and from the general to the lived. "Is economic growth compatible with falling emissions?" becomes "Should shops charge for plastic bags?": the same theme, the same underlying clash between individual cost and collective benefit, but vocabulary students already own and an experience they have actually had. Two further levers: cut speaking turns to thirty seconds, and put three sentence openers on the board ("I think… because…", "That is not a good idea, for two reasons…", "I agree with X, but…"). An A2 student is rarely short of ideas — they are short of the first sentence.

Can I reuse this list freely?

Yes. Copy it, print it, cut it up, translate it, add your own motions, hand it to colleagues or to your students. It is free with no strings: no account to create, no email to leave.