FOUR talented teenagers are off to take on the UK in a hotly-fought debating contest.

The Burgate School’s Chris Garrett, Jack Rowett, George Ward and William Hall will be travelling to London to battle for the ultimate title in the national final of the Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition.

The boys, who triumphed in the South Regional Final earlier this year, will be joined by teachers Kevin Rowett and Nina Lister.

The Institute of Ideas and Pfizer Debating Matters Competition is a national sixth form debating competition involving 192 schools and more than 1,000 students across the country, and now only eight schools remain in the competition.

The finalists will be pitted agains judges including author and writer Anthony Horowitz, professor emeritus of geriatric medicine and consultant physician Raymond Tallis and director of Cross Street Films Beeban Kidron.

Topics up for debate at this year’s final include some of the most challenging issues facing society today.

Students will be tackling questions of whether prisoners should have the vote, if IVF should be provided for older women and whether the burqa ban should be considered outside France.

Other events and expert witness seminars on the finals topics will be held for the debating teams as well as a Question Time-style debate held by Institute of Ideas director Claire Fox, with guest appearances from leading economist Ruth Lea, BBC foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley and former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris.

If they win, Burgate will take home £2,000 worth of books for their school library from prize sponsor Hodder Education, and some exciting prizes for |themselves.

The school’s gifted and talented coordinator Evan Bailey said: “It is a significant achievement reaching this stage of the competition in our first year of entry and we wish our debating team the best of luck in their efforts.”