Monday evening witnessed a great final in the Year 9 competition as Queens’ proposed and Farfield opposed the motion This House would scrap GCSE examinations and replace them with ongoing teacher assessments. The proposition stressed the need to act to reform GCSEs to reflect the skills required in life and to tackle growing stress and anxiety over terminal examinations in schools. Farfield countered with the unfairness of a teacher-driven system without guaranteed standardisation and regulation. The contest proved a brilliant summary of the current debate about the pros and cons of teacher-assessed grades. The debate was incredibly close but the victors and winners of this year’s Carolyn Thomas Trophy are Farfield.