Ivy Spires Debate Prep Series: All Formats, All Topics, Full Year
- Priya Khaitan
- Jul 30
- 5 min read
The 2025–26 competitive debate season is live. Whether you are preparing for World Schools, Public Forum, Policy, Big Questions, or Extemporaneous Speaking, this series covers every verified NSDA topic — unit by unit, lesson by lesson, across 40 weeks.
This is the master hub for the entire Ivy Spires Debate Prep Series. Bookmark it, share it with your students, and return to it each time a new unit drops.
What This Series Is
The Ivy Spires Debate Prep Series 2025–26 is a structured, year-long blog curriculum covering all five competitive debate formats. Every post is anchored to an actual NSDA topic or motion — no hypothetical resolutions, no outdated material.
Topics are sourced directly from speechanddebate.org and verified against NSDA Nationals 2026 official materials, including the published World Schools prepared and impromptu motion list and the Extemp question sets.
The series is organised in 10 units, each covering a 4-week competitive window. Free pillar posts give you the topic overview, driving question, and strategic framework. Subscribers to the Ivy Spires Knowledge Packet receive the full lesson content — case maps, evidence briefs, PREP structures, argument blocks, and complete round briefs.
The Five Formats — What You Are Preparing For
World Schools Debate
World Schools is a 3-versus-3 parliamentary format. Every motion begins with 'This House' — framing the debate as a legislative body deciding policy. Eight speeches per round: three from each side plus two reply speeches.
NSDA Nationals 2026 prepared motions: the Democratic Party's electoral strategy, courts overturning referendums, the feminist movement and choice feminism, generational quotas in major legislative bodies, and banning facial recognition technology in public spaces.
NSDA Nationals 2026 impromptu motions: opposition to commemorating national war heroes, openness to dating someone with different political beliefs, whether binge TV releases harm arts and culture, preference for direct cash transfers over goods-based welfare, and prohibiting media from reporting perpetrator demographics in crime stories.
Public Forum Debate
Public Forum is a 2-versus-2 format with monthly resolutions. The 2025–26 calendar: UK rejoining the EU (Sep–Oct), lawful access to encrypted communications (Nov–Dec), China's international resource extraction (January), sports betting regulation (February), corporate acquisition of single-family residences (March), Presidential war powers (April), and the Nationals resolution on using force to remove authoritarian leaders.
Policy Debate
Policy runs one resolution for the entire academic year. The 2025–26 topic: the United States federal government should significantly increase its exploration and development of the Arctic. Students build Affirmative plans, Negative disadvantages, counterplans, and kritiks across the full season.
The 2026–27 preview topic — national health insurance — is introduced in Unit 10 to give students an early advantage for next season.
Big Questions Debate
Big Questions is a 1-versus-1 philosophical format with a year-long resolution. The 2025–26 resolution: Creativity is a more powerful force than intelligence.
Students build Affirmative cases around transformative societal impact, and Negative cases around the foundational role of intelligence in enabling creativity itself. The resolution rewards definitional precision and philosophical depth.
Extemporaneous Speaking
Extemp is a solo event: speakers prepare a 5-minute speech in 30 minutes on a current events question, using only files they bring to the event.
NSDA Nationals 2026 International questions: Myanmar's elections, the Ukraine peace process, Taiwan's chipmaking role, Greenland, the Israel-Palestine ceasefire, declining US foreign aid, the Maduro capture, Sudan's civil war, Iran's economy, and India-Pakistan relations in 2026.
NSDA Nationals 2026 US questions: tariffs and foreign policy, Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party, Congressional reaction to military force in Venezuela, social program fraud, the $1.5 trillion defense budget, media consolidation, RFK Jr.'s health agenda, ICE agent training, Mike Johnson's House majority strategy, and Jerome Powell's relationship with Trump.
The Full Series — Unit by Unit
Unit 1 — Weeks 1 to 4: Format Foundations. All five formats introduced across four lessons. The Big Questions resolution on creativity versus intelligence is introduced and the year-long definitional framework begins.
Unit 2 — Weeks 5 to 8: Europe, Democracy and Electoral Politics. PF September–October on the UK and EU. WS Prepared Motions 1 and 2 on the Democratic Party and courts overturning referendums. International Extemp on Russia-Ukraine and Myanmar.
Unit 3 — Weeks 9 to 12: The Arctic and Great Power Competition. The full-year Policy topic on Arctic exploration and development. PF November–December on tech encryption and lawful access to encrypted communications.
Unit 4 — Weeks 13 to 16: Surveillance, Privacy and Technology. WS Prepared Motion 5 on banning facial recognition technology in public spaces — directly linked to Knowledge Packet Issue PM-05. PF January on China and critical minerals. Big Questions AFF framework build begins.
Unit 5 — Weeks 17 to 20: Domestic Economics and Regulation. PF February on sports betting. PF March on corporate acquisition of housing. WS Prepared Motion 3 on choice feminism. US Extemp on tariffs and the Federal Reserve.
Unit 6 — Weeks 21 to 24: War Powers, Generational Politics and Democracy. PF April on Presidential war powers. WS Prepared Motion 4 on generational quotas. WS Impromptu Motion 4 on direct cash transfers versus goods-based welfare. Extemp on Venezuela, foreign aid, and the defense budget.
Unit 7 — Weeks 25 to 28: Identity, Media and Representation. WS Impromptu Motions 1 and 5 on war heroes and media crime reporting. Big Questions live cross-examination round. Extemp on Myanmar elections and media consolidation.
Unit 8 — Weeks 29 to 32: WS Impromptu Mastery. Impromptu Motions 2 and 3 — dating across political beliefs and binge TV releases. Reply speech mastery. Points of Information technique.
Unit 9 — Weeks 33 to 36: International and US Extemp — All 20 NSDA Nationals 2026 Questions. Every question covered across four lessons with background briefs, PREP structures, and timed simulations. The India-Pakistan question is treated as a priority for Ivy Spires students.
Unit 10 — Weeks 37 to 40: Nationals Simulation and 2026–27 Preview. PF Nationals on using force to remove authoritarian leaders. US Extemp finals questions. Policy 2026–27 on national health insurance introduced.
How to Follow This Series
Every unit has a free pillar post covering the driving question, topic overview, and strategic framework. These posts are open to everyone.
Subscribers to the Ivy Spires Knowledge Packet receive the full lesson content for each unit. New posts are delivered to subscriber inboxes on a fortnightly schedule, timed to the competitive calendar so you are always prepared before the topic goes live at your next tournament.
Subscribe at ₹999 per month to access all lesson-level content and receive every new unit post the moment it drops.