Public Speaking and Debate Summer School in Oxford

Why Study Public Speaking and Debate?

Do you want to deliver speeches that will convince your audience in any setting? Great public speaking and debating skills are key to excelling in any career, from landing jobs to impressing your colleagues in work presentations. Become a powerful public speaker on our Oxford Royale Academy Summer School. Learn how to manage your voice and body language, control nerves, write and deliver an effective speech from start to finish, and debate seamlessly with your peers. You’ll learn famous stylistic techniques for a flawless argument and challenge yourself with diverse public speaking scenarios, from individual speeches to team debates.

Join our Oxford Summer School, and shape your career and identity as a truly inspirational speaker.

The Oxford Royale Experience

New Perspectives 13-15

Broadening Horizons 16-18

World Classes, World Class

Select your curriculum

New Perspectives: Public Speaking and Debate (Option)

Course Summary

In this Public Speaking and Debate course you’ll learn how to compose a speech on a particular topic, compose a strong argument, and respond composedly to different speakers. Under expert guidance, discover more about the intricacies of debate, from selecting a topic to generating and allocating arguments, the roles of different speakers, and using stylistic techniques to achieve maximum effect. Test your new skills by preparing speeches on your favourite topics and participate in debates with fellow members of your class. By the end of the course, you’ll be on easy terms with the ‘three Ms’ of public speaking: manner, method, and matter.

Topics Covered

By the end of this course you will have:

Learnt how to structure a speech and how to provide and link arguments when appropriate
Understood rhetorical techniques such as repetition and alliteration
Have been inspired by world renowned speeches
Learnt how to debate through simple practical small team debates

What’s Included?

Residential in prestigious campuses: University of Oxford
For ages: 13-15 | Price from £4,995
A truly international environment – over 150 nationalities at ORA in 2019
An inspiring Public Speaking course taught by experts
Accommodation, meals, tuition and cultural programme
Education travel insurance provided
Graduation, report cards and certificate
Maximum of 12 students per class for core morning lessons
Maximum of 15 students per class for afternoon workshops
20+ hours tuition / week

This course is part of the New Perspectives Programme

The New Perspectives Programme is Oxford Royale’s most popular and flexible summer course for ages 13-15. Providing the opportunity to tailor your preferred course by combining multiple options from our extensive selection, New Perspectives is ideal for students looking for a broader academic summer experience.

Find out more here

Broadening Horizons: Public Speaking and Debate (Option)

Course Summary

Over two weeks, you’ll work on practical aspects of speech giving, such as body language, clarity of delivery and maintaining eye contact with your audience. Gain wide-ranging experience of public speaking and debate, and, by the end of the course, have a firm grounding in essential skills and feel confident in your ability to take on new challenges. In each session you’ll be shown new techniques and strategies, and then given plenty of opportunity to put these into practice. Sessions are structured so that there is plenty of time for questions and discussion; this approach is central to all ORA courses, but none more so than Public Speaking and Debate, where the chance to speak up is paramount. The two-week period leads up to a formal debating competition for the whole class on a chosen subject.

Topics Covered

By the end of this course you will have:

Learnt how to structure a speech and how to provide and link arguments when appropriate
Understood the practical aspects: eye contact and body language
Have been inspired by world renowned speeches
Learnt how to debate through simple practical small team debates and the class-wide debating competition

What’s Included?

Residential in prestigious campuses: University of Oxford
For ages: 16-18 | Price from £4,995
A truly international environment – over 150 nationalities at ORA in 2019
An inspiring Public Speaking course taught by experts
Accommodation, meals, tuition and cultural programme
Education travel insurance provided
Graduation, report cards and certificate
Maximum of 12 students per class for core morning lessons
Maximum of 15 students per class for afternoon workshops
20+ hours tuition / week

This course is part of the Broadening Horizons Programme

Take this as one of your options in the Broadening Horizons programme, ORA’s most popular summer programme for ages 16-18. With the opportunity to tailor your course by combining multiple subjects, Broadening Horizons is the ideal programme choice for students looking for a broader academic summer school experience.

Find out more here

Experience life on the campus of the University of Oxford

What’s life like at the oldest university in the English-speaking world? Join us this summer to find out! Your Oxford summer school is hosted in historic residential colleges where you will experience authentic undergraduate life. Sleep in student bedrooms set in centuries-old quadrangles, socialise in vibrant student common rooms, and relax in glorious college gardens. Take your place in vaulted halls where students have dined for over eight centuries. Learn in lecture theatres and laboratories where groundbreaking discoveries have been made, and study in the classrooms where 55 Nobel prize winners developed the key academic and life skills crucial for future success.

Live

Dine

Study

Hear from eminent guest speakers

Baron William Hague of Richmond speaks at our Great Debate event in Oxford

We know that you’re already passionate about your chosen subject. But have you ever wanted to find out more about another field, to explore paths as yet undiscovered? Wouldn’t it be great to listen to and debate with leading figures from the worlds of culture, media, sport and academia, while boosting your confidence and public speaking skills?

Here at ORA, we can help with that! In Oxford, you will enjoy fantastic talks from world-renowned guest speakers, from eminent Cabinet Ministers and ambassadors, to celebrated explorers and globally esteemed businessmen and women, all of whom are ready to share the secrets of their success with you. Unique among Oxford summer schools, our guest lecture programmes will help you to explore and debate the challenges facing the world today, from climate change to global security and the spread of misinformation, boosting your summer of learning even further!

Join exciting activities and trips

Summer should be fun, right?! Don’t worry, we get that - we never forget that you’re on holiday! We can help you to uncover Oxford’s secrets, from the best coffee shops to the dreamiest riverside parks, from Oxford’s very own castle to must-visit shops, galleries and museums. You and your friends will enjoy an amazing extra-curricular timetable, including dazzling graduation balls, excursions offering a glimpse of Britain’s past, and much more. Make Instagram-worthy memories as you visit glitzy attractions such as the bright lights of London’s theatres, Windsor Castle, and Blenheim Palace.

Experience quintessential English activities

Try a range of sports and activities

Explore all that Oxford has to offer

Enjoy inspirational excursions

Join exclusive parties

Something for the parents too...

Would you like to network with high achievers from over 170 countries, and gain your own taste of the Oxford experience? And would you like to visit classic venues such as the Ashmolean, the world’s oldest university museum? Or Oxford’s Grand Cafe, site of England’s first coffee house? If so, our parents’ events are definitely for you!

At the beginning of each summer school, we invite students’ parents, families and carers to join us for a reception hosted at a stunning Oxford venue. Mingle with other high flyers, and meet senior ORA staff and company founders who will be delighted to answer your questions about the summer school. Build new connections while enjoying an exclusive peek into the experiences that your children will enjoy this summer. We can’t wait to meet you!

Any questions?

Check out our FAQs

Once you have decided which course you would like to attend, you can book online using our secure booking system. Once your application has been submitted, you will be sent an email confirming that it has been received.

If you prefer, you can download an Application Form by clicking here. You can return the Application Form to us by any of these methods:

Scan and email to admin@oxford-royale.co.uk
Fax to +44 (0) 845 280 01 22
Post to Oxford Royale Academy, Yarnton Manor, Church Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1PY, UNITED KINGDOM.

Once your booking has been processed by one of our members of staff, you will receive email confirmation of your place on the course of your choice. A Welcome Pack will be available to download from the ORA Portal from April. If at any time you would like to discuss your booking with a course advisor, please feel free to email admin@oxford-royale.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 1865 954 800.

All courses require a deposit payment to secure the booking. For Summer 2021, this is £995 GBP for all two-week courses for ages 13+, and £395 for one-week courses for 8-12 years. You may either pay the full course fee when you book your place, or pay the deposit amount and then the balance at a later date. The balance clearance is required at least 60 days before the start date of the course. Where the student is booking less than 60 days before the start date, the balance must be covered in full.

New online enrolments will require a Debit or Credit Card payment of at least the deposit amount. If you would like to enrol and make your deposit payment via Bank Transfer, please contact our Admissions team, who will be happy to assist you in doing so. (admin@oxford-royale.co.uk)

Payments for existing enrolments can be made via a number of methods, including domestic and international bank transfer, credit or debit card, as well as local payment options; please log in to your ORA Portal and click on the ‘Pay Now’ button on your booking details.

All course fees include the following:

Classes and tuition (20 taught hours per week)
Study files/materials
Guest lectures by academic speakers
Personalised academic reports and graduation certificate
Accommodation in your chosen location (see our accommodation page for the specific colleges and locations)
Meals in the Hall
Free WiFi (subject to availability)
Daily updates for parents and family on the ORA campus blogs
A wide selection of afternoon and evening activities
Coach excursions
Welcome and graduation events (parents invited)
A multitude of extras, including an ORA notebook and branded clothing

Yes, students will be awarded an Oxford Royale Academy Graduation Certificate in their chosen course upon satisfactory completion of the course. This will be presented in a graduation ceremony on the final evening of the course.

Most of our accommodation sites offer a mix of single and twin bedrooms, with some campuses having en-suite bedrooms available and others have shared bathroom facilities between a small group of same-sex students. If you have a particular preference for a certain room type, you can make a request on booking, which may be granted subject to availability. If a particular room type is required for medical reasons, please contact our Admissions Team who will be able to check availability on different sites, depending on the course chosen.

Sharing your room with fellow students is a great way of getting to know people and making friends.

All our programmes take place in a secure environment. Our students are supervised 24 hours a day by campus staff. All students must check-in regularly during the day: at roll-call at breakfast; at their morning classes; in the afternoon for lessons, workshops or activities; at dinner and in the evening before curfew. All campuses have a curfew.

Each campus office has its own safe where students may deposit items of value such as passports, travel documents, bank cards etc.

All campuses have residential staff who can be contacted 24 hours a day.

If your country is part of the EU or the European Economic Area you will not require a visa to enter the UK. It is always safest to check whether you need a visa with the relevant authorities.

Students attending our USA Summer Schools may be able to enter the USA on the Visa Waiver programme – we can provide individual support on request for those that do need a visa.

If you wish to change your course or study options (including dates), please do not hesitate to contact us. However, changes to courses are always subject to availability. For this reason, it may be more difficult for us to accommodate any changes requested less than 60 days before the course start date.

Oxford Royale Academy’s terms and conditions for refunds are as follows:

Any cancellation must be received in writing and can only be on the following terms:

no refund of deposit will be made under any circumstances, once the two-week cooling-off period has concluded;
for cancellations before your course start date, the remainder of the course fees less the deposit amount will be proportionally refunded as per the table below:

Period Before Start Date	Total refunded
120+ days	100%
90-119 days	50%
45-89 days	10%
0-44 days	0%

All students registered to attend our English Language courses will be required to take an English Language Placement Test, which will assess the relative abilities of each student. Students are then placed into ability groups based on the results of their assessment, and the material that they study is tailored to the level of the class.

Once you have booked your place on a course we will send you information on how to take our online Placement Test. This test should take approximately one hour and should be taken by the student at least one month prior to their arrival date.

Please note that Oxford Royale Academy English courses do not cater for beginners in English.

It is certainly possible to take more than one course and combine a variety of study programmes. This can be done in two ways:

Enrol on two different programmes. For example, you may wish to have two weeks on the Broadening Horizons course and then two more weeks on the Oxford Enterprise Programme.
Enrol on the same programme twice, but choose different subject options. For example, you may wish to have four weeks on the New Perspectives course, choosing Creative Writing & Experimental Psychology for the first two weeks, followed by Human Biology and Physics & Chemistry for the second two weeks. Four-week courses include New Perspectives, Broadening Horizons and Oxford Summer English only.

Students staying for two consecutive sessions will be provided with accommodation for the Saturday night, and their campus will provide supervised activities between their first session ending and second session starting. Should you have any queries about how to take more than one course please do not hesitate to contact us.