Oxford Open 2025: motion breakdown and results
15 June 2026
We ran nine rounds across the weekend — five in-rounds on Saturday, quarters through final on Sunday — with 84 teams from 31 institutions. Here's how the motions split, and who made the final.
The in-rounds
R1: This House would ban political parties from using targeted online advertising. A gentle opener; 60/40 to Proposition across the tab.
R2: This House believes that the feminist movement should oppose the glorification of the "girlboss". The closest round of the day — top rooms split 2–2 on panel calls.
R3: This House would allow defendants to elect trial by a panel of professional judges instead of a jury. Opposition-leaning (58% of ballots), mostly on jury-legitimacy arguments.
R4: This House, as the Global South, would form a cartel on critical minerals. The heaviest knowledge round, and it showed: strong prep on lithium and cobalt markets separated the break contenders from the field.
R5 (closed adjudication): This House regrets the rise of the podcast intellectual. By all accounts a riot. We'll be reusing the theme.
The break
Sixteen teams broke, headed by Cambridge A on 14 points. Our own Oxford B broke 6th — the Union's best home-tournament result since 2022 — and Oxford C missed on speaks by 0.8, which will sting until roughly Christmas.
Out-rounds and final
Quarters ran on THW make the receipt of a state pension conditional on having voted; semis on THBT NATO should extend an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan. The final — This House believes that the West should abandon the pursuit of universal human rights in its foreign policy — went to Cambridge A from Closing Opposition on a 5–2 call, with LSE A taking second.
Full tab and adjudication team thanks are on the noticeboard. Convenors' verdict: nine rounds is one too many, and we're doing it again anyway.