Fifteen finalists in Schools Challenge

Fifteen schools have been chosen to go though to the final stage of the Schools Question Time competition for 2010.

David Dimbleby and some of the 2009 student producers on the Question Time set

David Dimbleby with some of the student producers of 2009

The finalists - one school each from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the 12 BBC English regions will now put on a Question Time event in their area.

Each school will be given a grant from the Institute for Citizenship and the Parliamentary Education Service to help them plan and stage the events in March.

They will also receive professional support in staging their event during a Schools Question Time Challenge workshop.

See the 15 finalists

A team of judges will visit each of the 15 finalist schools to attend and evaluate their Question Time event and assess how well they have applied the principles of citizenship.

In early April, four schools will be declared winners.

The winning schools will be invited to nominate two pupils each who will get the chance to see a Question Time programme produced in the summer.

In early May, the eight winning students will take part in a two-day workshop with the Question Time team.

A workshop will help schools plan their Question Time event

The students will then shadow members of the Question Time production team during a programme in July.

The Schools Question Time Challenge aims to help students aged 14 to 18 in schools nationwide by supporting the citizenship curriculum, helping improve students' public speaking and listening skills, and engaging young people in society and politics.

Schools were invited last September to register for a free online education resource pack to support the teaching of citizenship and political literacy for secondary school pupils in the classroom.

The resource pack included a new Politics and Parliament Toolkit with lesson plans on the different roles of Parliament and government and voting rights and the reasons why people do or do not vote.

Forty six schools were shortlisted in the competition in November and were then given two weeks to make a five minute film debating one of the topics they suggested on their application.

The Schools Question Time Challenge is supported by UK Parliament's Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC.

Return to the top of the page

The 15 finalists

Beal High School, East

Worksop College, East Midlands

South Holderness Technology College, East Yorkshire and Lincs

Saint Cecilia's Wandsworth, London

SRC Bede Sixth Form, North East

Southlands High School, North West

St Mary's Grammar School, Northern Ireland

The Royal High School, Scotland

Testwood Sports College, South